NTPC is a vertically integrated electrical utility providing generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to the vast majority of the NWT. NTPC’s systems serve a population of approximately 45,000 in an area of 1.3 million km². Many of the communities served by NTPC are only accessible by air, barge or winter road.

Objects of the Corporation

Under section 5 of the NTPC Act, the objects of the corporation are to:

• generate, transform, transmit, distribute, deliver, sell and supply energy on a safe, economic, efficient and reliable basis;
• supply water and sewerage services;
• undertake programs to conserve energy;
• ensure a continuous supply of energy adequate for the needs and future development of the Territories; and
• undertake any other activity authorized by the Executive Council.

Service Area, Current Operations, and Challenges

The corporation provides retail service to most communities and wholesales to a distribution utility that sells power directly to customers, mostly in the Yellowknife and Hay River areas. NTPC employs close to $500 million in assets to provide this service including three hydroelectric systems, 26 diesel plants, five solar arrays, one wind turbine, two battery storage systems, and one natural gas plant. The company has about 200 employees with headquarter operations in Hay River and annual revenues approximate $110 million.

The utility is currently facing the following challenges:

1. Aging infrastructure: Similar to most utilities in North America, NTPC core assets are aging – This situation creates upward impact on rates due to a) replacement assets cost significantly more than original costs and b) in order to continue providing improved service, replacement assets can be materially more complicated (and expensive). In addition, certain key assets are approaching the end of design life, meaning rehabilitation is no longer feasible. These projects are larger, riskier and often exceed the financial and internal resources of the company.
2. Cost of Electricity: There is a high cost to deliver power in the North given the use of diesel in remote communities and 100% reliance on diesel for back up generation in all communities. The small scale, isolated and non-integrated systems means that there are limited economies of scale available to NTPC.
3. Shrinking customer base: In the past decade, electricity sales have declined by approximately half a percent per year as the result of stagnant/declining population as well as very little new industrial activity such as mining.  As a capital-intensive business, the loss of customer base is challenging to absorb where costs of business are largely fixed in nature.
4. Climate Change Objectives: the GNWT has committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This will require not only decarbonization of the existing electricity system but also expansion of electricity supply using low carbon generation options to support the electrification of end uses. NTPC must balance these objectives against the need to have a secure, reliable and affordable electricity system.

Regulatory Environment

It is a fully regulated public electrical utility. Regulation is provided by the NWT Public Utilities Board (PUB), a quasi-judicial regulator under the NWT Public Utilities Act.  This oversight requires PUB review prior to changing customer rates for service or construction of large capital projects.