Solar Project in Old Crow Could be Shelved for 1 Year, if Federal Funding Doesn't Come Through

Monday, 8 January 2018 08:53

VGFN councillor Dana Tizya-Tramm says the $1 million from Ottawa should have already been allocated. He says construction needs to start, while ground is frozen.

A solar project in Old Crow could be in limbo, if the Vuntut Gwitch’in does not get the federal funding needed to move the project into construction this spring. The First Nation is waiting on approval of $1 million from Ottawa, which they would use to leverage more dollars through the Arctic Inspiration Prize.

Vuntut Gwitch’in councillor Dana Tizya-Tramm says the First Nation may hear from the federal government about the funding towards the end of March, which might put the project on the shelf for approximately one year as construction needs to begin while the ground is still frozen. “These monies were supposed to come down already, which would have lined the coffers for our territorial government, which be able to then pass it on to other projects like ours. We should know by fiscal year end, which puts our project in a precarious place. We may not be able to at that point to ascertain the amount of funds to initiate the project. Which means you would see years and years and years of inertia lost. We would just have to park it for next year, which would really be too bad.”

Tizya-Tramm is optimistic about the project, understanding that the federal bureaucracy is busy at the moment with other initiatives like recreational marijuana legislation and defining the split departments of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. Yet he cautions waiting another year to get the project going would be detrimental. “It will hurt us if we have to wait year, because then we'll have to park our consultants and park the negotiations. It's going to be difficult to get all of this going again, when we have this beautiful inertia and everything is falling into place.”

The solar project would produce 900 kilowatt hours of energy, reducing diesel consumption by 93,000 litres per year, if started this spring. Tizya-Tramm is still a big believer in the project saying its all-around good. “This project is extremely fundable, and it's going to really contribute to the Yukon, as being on the cutting edge of First Nations relations, green energy and pushing us to the point of being leaders in the entire country. Unfortunately, at this point its not coming down fast enough.”

(Dan Jones Whitehorse Jan. 5, 2018)