The Northwest Territories has signed on to an energy deal that the province of Ontario is billing as a “national energy corridor.”

It launches a process to identify opportunities to connect power grids across the country.

The deal, which is a memorandum of understanding between Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Yukon, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories, was announced on March 4. 

Canada’s power grids are like “13 islands,” Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of energy and mines, said at a news conference last week. 

“In the territories’ case, it’s even more exacerbated,” he said. “They’re micro grids, islands within islands.”

In a written statement to CBC, the N.W.T. Department of Infrastructure wrote that the N.W.T. government considers the partnership agreement an “important first step” to reducing barriers on electricity infrastructure between provinces and territories as demand for electricity grows.

“At the same time, the GNWT is interested in identifying opportunities for mutually beneficial electricity trade where it is feasible and advantageous for the Northwest Territories,” the statement read.

How could it help?

In the Northwest Territories, there are two power grids operated by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC): one north of Great Slave Lake and one south of it. There are also 20 independent systems. 

NTPC declined an interview to discuss what the deal could mean for its operations.

“While this agreement provides reason for optimism, NTPC is not prepared to speculate about the potential impact the agreement may have until further information is available,” wrote Doug Prendergast, a spokesperson for the power corporation, in an email.

He wrote that NTPC is aware of the agreement and looks forward to learning about how it may support NTPC, which has “spoken in the past about the need for investment in new and replacement electricity infrastructure.”

Energy minister Caroline Wawzonek was not available for an interview to discuss the deal.

But she is quoted in a March 4 news release from the Ontario government saying, “With this type of long-term vision, strengthening transmission connections between jurisdictions will help unlock strategic projects, reduce reliance on diesel and position the North as a key contributor to Canada’s clean energy future.”

Yukon’s minister of energy, mines and resources, Ted Laking, told reporters at the news conference announcing the deal how the cold stresses power grids in the North to the point where mines have had to disconnect from the grid to ensure enough electricity is available for Yukon residents during spells of extreme cold.

“Without reliable, affordable power, northern Canadians remain vulnerable, and critical mineral development remains stranded potential,” he said. 

What comes next

Some provinces and territories, such as the Yukon and B.C., have been in bilateral talks to connect their power grids, but until now, no government was making the case “to work together on building a strategy that includes cost, timelines and to have a centralized vision,” Ontario’s Lecce said. 

While the federal government has yet to sign on to help build any such initiative, he said, his takeaway from discussions with federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson so far is that the Canadian government wants the provinces and territories to bring forward a plan. 

He said part of the deal’s vision is to enable selling excess power within the country, rather than exporting it to the United States, as Ontario currently does. 

There is no cost or timeline associated with the project yet because the next step is for planners to develop a strategy, Lecce said. 

“We’ve got a problem, we’ve agreed to the problem definition,” he said. “We agreed to a mechanism to fix it.”