N.W.T.'s two biggest power companies in turf war

The Northwest Territories Power Corporation and Northland Utilities are competing to provide electricity to mining customers in the South Slave region.

The power corporation has applied to the territory's Public Utilities Board for what amounts to a monopoly for the area from Fort Resolution to the Hay River Reserve,communities that are about 130 kilometres apart.

In regulatory documents, the power corporation said it's been in discussions with Tamarlane Ventures, which wants to revive the old Pine Point lead and zinc mine, as well as Avalon Rare Earth Metals, which plans to set up a ore processing plant in the area.

But Northland Utilities wants the mines as customers too, and is fighting the application.

In documents to the Public Utilities Board, Northland Utilities said, "it defies common sense" to grant an exclusive franchise in an area where another utility has infrastructure and has not even been consulted.

Northland Utilities distributes electricity in Hay River, Ndilo and Yellowknife and owns most of the transmission lines in the area.

The Public Utilities Board is considering arguments from both sides. The board will make recommendations to Glen Abernethy, the minister of public works, in the coming weeks.