NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Sahtu Settlement Area, North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, governance, policy, electricity, energy

Objective(s): To determine the extent to which changes are occurring with respect to electricity generation and use at the community level in three communities in Northwest Territories.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5165. Along with community partners, the project will seek to determine: 1) the extent to which changes are occurring with respect to electricity generation and use at the community level in three communities in NWT; 2) how, what and who is involved in the governance of energy within communities and how this is evolving; and 3) whether or not there are links between energy system change and these evolving governance structures. To this end this research will help determine the extent to which existing policy supports for energy system change, such as conventional support for innovation (e.g. tax credits and financial assistance to help spur demand) may be the most appropriate ones to help foster energy system change in the electricity sector at the community level in the Canadian Arctic and subarctic regions. The research team will continue to conduct in depth analyses of three case studies, which reflect the various attributes of interest with respect to energy system change and energy governance. The idea of the project is to focus on communities in the NWT that have various kinds of governance structures: the City of Yellowknife (the municipality) that has an existing structure while also being in a location with evolving governance structures (Akaitcho Dene First Nations), Colville Lake that has a settled land claim agreement and is negotiating a self-government agreement, and Tulit'a that is also beginning self government agreement negotiations. The bulk of research/data collection will consist of semi structured interviews, focus group sessions, oral story telling as well as analysis of various documents (e.g. City of Yellowknife council minutes). The research team plans to do a short policy briefing and community presentation. If funding is not available, or travel restrictions do not allow, researchers will conduct online webinars to present findings to the communities. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 9, 2022 to December 31, 2022.