NTPC vows to cut power outages in Yellowknife
The president of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation says outages in Yellowknife will be cut by 70 per cent over the next three years.
The corporation is facing mounting criticism in the wake of dozens of blackouts this year.
"I’m here to say there will be no further rate increases with regard to this work. We’ll work within our existing repair, maintenance, and replacement budgets. We are going to focus on Yellowknife's system. It is the hotspot today and we are certainly going to dedicate some resources to it," said the corporation’s president Emanuel DaRosa.
DaRosa said the power corporation will set up more bird deterrents along transmission lines and add more devices to guard lines against lightening strikes, which have caused 40 per cent of the problems this year.
There have been more than 50 power outages in the city this year, but the corporation says each resident has experienced an average of only 16.
The corporation wants to cut that to an average of five. However, that number is still about twice the national average.
Back in the spring, the power corporation applied for rate increases of more than 25 per cent over the next four years.
