Hay River council votes to give power distribution contract to NTPC

Hay River councillors voted Thursday night to replace the town's current power distributor, privately-owned Northland Utilities, with the government-owned Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

In a joint news release, the town and the power corporation said customers in Hay River can expect a 20 per cent drop in their overall electricity rate, due to reductions to the distribution and back-up generation rates.

The town's new franchise agreement with the power corporation for the supply and distribution of electric power would start after Nov. 30, which is when the Northland Utilities franchise is set to expire.