Baker Lake is taking strides towards becoming a leader in green-energy planning in Nunavut.

Baker Mayor Kevin Iksiktaaryuk said hamlet council passed its community energy plan on April 4.

He said the municipality is currently working on updating its website and people should soon see information regarding the strategy.

SA国际影视传媒淭he plan is an approach that will ensure the prosperity of our community,SA国际影视传媒� said Iksiktaaryuk.

SA国际影视传媒淏aker Lake is known as one of the cleanest, if not the cleanest community in Nunavut. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 something we really pride ourselves on.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e done a lot of work to our garbage dump to get it operating at an efficient level. WeSA国际影视传媒檝e worked with Agnico Eagle and local company PeterSA国际影视传媒檚 Expediting Ltd. to co-ordinate the removal of dangerous goods from our dump.SA国际影视传媒�

In addition to the work done at the local dump, Iksiktaaryuk said Baker Lake has a good group of volunteers who gather every year for the hamletSA国际影视传媒檚 spring cleanup to ensure the community has a clean summer.

He said years ago, the community also implemented a single-use plastic ban on shopping bags.

SA国际影视传媒淲e approved a bylaw on it to, again, support a clean community.

SA国际影视传媒淪o thereSA国际影视传媒檚 really been a lot of community effort and coordination to ensure that we have a clean and beautiful town.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e well-known as a clean, green town as is and weSA国际影视传媒檙e really hoping to further that. And, with our community energy plan, kind of become a community leader in green energy for the region and the territory.SA国际影视传媒�

Iksiktaaryuk said he feels that Baker Lake has developed a great community energy plan.

He said heSA国际影视传媒檚 very hopeful that the strategy will not only bring cleaner energy to the community but also generate more prosperity through the Independent Power Program and the Commercial Independent Power Program (CIPP), which are available from the Qulliq Energy Corporation (QEC).

SA国际影视传媒淭hese programs can bring additional revenues in, so we can do even more for the community. The commercial program is geared toward smaller-scale projects and Baker is already a CIPP partner with the QEC.

SA国际影视传媒淲e already have solar panels installed upon our recreation centre. That, in itself, allows us to provide energy into the grid through the CIPP program. For 2023, we produced more power than we actually used for the whole year.

SA国际影视传媒淢ost of that, probably, comes from the summer, just because the sun is always out. During winter you expect a lower output but, throughout the whole year, we generate more power than we consume at the recreation centre.

SA国际影视传媒淲ith that success. weSA国际影视传媒檙e looking to roll out more green energies into the community and just kind of build on that.SA国际影视传媒�

Iksiktaaryuk said his personal definition of green energy is lower carbon-emission infrastructure for the municipality.

SA国际影视传媒淎s we all know, our hamlets are funded through the territorial government. I donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to say we have our hands tied, but we do have limited funds. The municipality of Baker Lake, for years, has done quite well. We havenSA国际影视传媒檛 seen a deficit for a few years now.

SA国际影视传媒淲e run a pretty balanced budget and I hope to continue that so the hamlet can do more for the community.

SA国际影视传媒淢y platform, when I ran for mayor, was infrastructure development, economic development, more transparency from the municipality and better communication.

SA国际影视传媒淭hose are all things that we keep looking to improve upon.SA国际影视传媒�

Iksiktaaryuk said other communities in the region have community energy plans being developed by the Kivalliq Inuit Association, or Kivalliq Alternative Energy, which is a partnership between Northern Energy Capital and Sakku Investments Corp.

He said Baker Lake chose to go in a different direction and develop its own.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e had a few community members who are very passionate about green energy, and theySA国际影视传媒檝e worked with the municipality to help us develop our own energy plan.

SA国际影视传媒淢oving forward, ISA国际影视传媒檓 hoping to provide the community with more meaningful infrastructure, job creation, economic development and additional revenue so that the municipality can do more for its residents.

SA国际影视传媒淢y hope is to do this in a very transparent manner, where we provide the community with information that itSA国际影视传媒檚 entitled to hear. ISA国际影视传媒檓 also looking to create a condensed version of our minutes, so that we have a standard procedure for prepared minutes that can be read on the radio and posted on social media.

SA国际影视传媒淢y first year in office has also been about bylaw policy review and reform. A lot of our bylaws are outdated, so having updated ones that reflect our ever-changing community is my priority for the first year.SA国际影视传媒�