Working to strengthen reliability across the North

The transmission line from Taltson after vegetation management in August

After a challenging year, here's how we are improving systems and preparing for the future

By Belinda Whitford, October 17, 2025

Reliability sits at the heart of everything we do at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation – right after safety and our commitment to the people who work here. When customers flip a switch, they expect the lights to come on. That expectation drives every decision we make, every project we undertake, and every challenge we tackle across 1.2 million square kilometres of northern territory.

This year has tested us. Outages are up across our territory – we know it, you've felt it, and we have shared your frustration. After all, we live here too. And our workforce carries deep pride in our mission, and in serving the people of the North.

 I work with NTPC because I believe deeply in this company's crucial role in the North's transformation.

That’s why we’ve refocused efforts on our reliability improvement program – to strengthen systems, improve coordination, and prepare for the future.

Outages have many causes – some within our control, others not. Equipment failures, extreme weather, fires, fallen trees, and the challenges of maintaining aging infrastructure across vast distances all play a role.

While we can't eliminate every outage, we know reliability is the top concern for our customers. We work diligently to minimize frequency and duration of outages, we respond as quickly as we can when they occur and we communicate with our customers and key stakeholders throughout the event. We want to ensure they have the best information and can also make the best decisions about responding to the situation.

Crucial role

Let me tell you a bit about why this matters so much to me. I've spent more than 25 years with NTPC, working across regulatory affairs, finance, and now operations. I'm a Northerner – born and raised. I work with NTPC because I believe deeply in this company's crucial role in the North's transformation.

You need power to build an economy, to support communities, to enable the future we're all working towards. That's why reliability matters so much.

You need power to build an economy, to support communities, to enable the future we're all working towards. That's why reliability matters so much, and why we're constantly working to improve it.

We've launched a comprehensive reliability improvement program across all our systems. We're conducting protection coordination studies, intensifying vegetation management, completing preventive equipment overhauls, and enhancing emergency response capabilities. This work will significantly strengthen reliability going forward.

Our two major hydroelectric systems – Snare serving Yellowknife and surrounding communities, and Taltson serving the South Slave region – have been built up over decades. Each time we've added equipment or expanded the system, we've installed protection systems to safeguard that equipment if there's a fault.

Improving reliability

As systems grow and evolve over decades, protection settings that work well individually can sometimes interact in unexpected ways. This year, we're completing comprehensive studies of our protection settings on both hydro systems. These studies will identify where settings need better co-ordination, and give us a roadmap for improvements. This work will significantly improve overall system reliability.

As reported earlier this year, the Snare Falls unit had been experiencing intermittent trips for 18 months. Through systematic investigation, including diagnostic testing, we identified the root cause and completed the necessary repairs during our scheduled summer maintenance shutdown. The unit is now operating reliably.

This preventive maintenance is critical to avoiding breakdowns during the coldest months when our customers need power most.

Throughout the summer, we also completed scheduled overhauls on generators across our communities served by diesel, ensuring units are ready for winter demand when loads increase. This preventive maintenance is critical to avoiding breakdowns during the coldest months when our customers need power most.

Keeping up with trees, brush and other vegetation encroaching on our transmission lines is critical but challenging. These lines carry power from major hydro generation sites into communities – they're the arteries of our system. We regularly manage vegetation around them to prevent interference that can cause outages, but some areas are difficult to access and require taking sections out of service.

On a hydro system, that's expensive because it means running diesel generation instead. But this year we're making it happen. The extended Taltson outage for surge tank repairs makes the transmission line available for intensive vegetation work using helicopters to reach challenging areas. On the Snare system, individual units can go offline for clearing while others keep power flowing and we are continuing the vegetation work on this transmission line as well.

Challenges are intensifying

Wildfires in both zones over the past two years, combined with extreme drought conditions, have weakened root systems. That could increase the risks of tree contacts this winter when cold temperatures and high winds hit. This vegetation management work is aimed at preventing as much of that as possible.

These improvements position us to handle today’s challenges while preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities.

The challenges we face are intensifying. Weather events now impact entire regions simultaneously. Procurement delays mean longer waits for critical parts. Many communities require charter flights for emergency access.

Our experience this summer in Hay River – when demand for power to cool buildings peaked during a heat wave just as backup diesel units failed – underscored the importance of robust contingency planning.

We're responding with better contingency planning for planned equipment outages, improved emergency response training across the corporation, and redundant communication systems so we can co-ordinate effectively during emergencies. These improvements position us to handle today’s challenges while preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Stronger energy future

As we implement new territorial energy policies – integrating more renewable generation, reducing diesel dependence while maintaining it for backup reliability – we're modelling and forecasting community demand for electric vehicles, alternative energy adoption, and system changes. The goal is ensuring continued reliability during the transition and after.

We're also refocusing on our asset management framework – the systematic approach to maintaining, upgrading, and replacing equipment strategically. This helps us make smarter investment decisions that maximize reliability for customers.

The North's energy transformation depends on reliable electricity. That's been true throughout my career here, and it will be true for decades to come. Every day, our teams work to meet that challenge – maintaining systems in extreme conditions, responding to emergencies across vast distances, and planning for a stronger energy future for all of us.

Join us on the journey. Find more details on this Powering the North website, subscribe to receive updates and follow us on socials.

Belinda Whitford is chief operating officer of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.