Paulatuk, Northwest Territory, calls itself the southern wind capital of the Arctic.
People in the community have long harnessed the power of its strong southerly winds: they powered boats before engines were common, formed snowdrifts that could be read for directions on land, and used to dry meat in preparation for storage.
And now, the village also wants to convert that wind into electricity.
It’s part of the community’s ambitious goal to one day become carbon neutral. But everyone, from residents to those leading the project, agrees that making sure homes don’t waste energy is a critical part of the goal.
“The winds are what make the turbines run, but they are also what make our units, our homes, cool,” said Lily-Ann Green. She is a mother, resident and member of the Paulatuk Energy Working Group.
Green said many people in Paulatuk do not have adequate weather stripping on their doors and windows. Sunlight comes in through the cracks in summer, he said.
“And during the winter months, when it’s windy, then yes, a lot of people, a lot of us, have to put a blanket in the entryway…we’re trying to keep our units as warm as possible, with whatever we have, and the same goes for the windows as well.”
Kourtney and Stacy Wolkie are raising their family in a three-bedroom Housing NWT unit. They have been waiting years to replace missing closet doors, install door handles, and fix window latches.
The need to seal the drafty front door with silicone from October to May each year is another challenge they face. It keeps cold air out in the winter months, but they say it’s far from an ideal solution.
“If by accident there is a fire here, how are we going to escape our house? Because all the windows are blocked, our front door is blocked and the only way out is through the back door and that’s a long way out,” Stacy Wolkie said.
According to a 2024 Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics report, nearly half of housing in Paulatuk is considered to be of basic need, meaning it is not considered adequate, adequate or affordable for those who live in it. Paulatuk is the Northwest Territory community with the second highest percentage of households having a basic need.
Paulatuk’s vision for a renewable energy project includes one or more wind turbines, solar panels and a battery storage system. Green supports the project and hopes it will improve the future of his grandchildren.
But without addressing the problems with people’s homes, Green questions the point of generating clean electricity. And that’s something the task force’s recently released community energy plan, called Sivulliit Energy, aims to address.
“I’m glad Lily brought it up. The idea of powering an inefficient, wasteful home with natural energy? It’s not good,” said Raymond Ruben, mayor of Paulatuk and chair of the task force, during a course on community energy systems in Paulatuk earlier this month.
“We want to help our local people have better homes, more efficient homes. We’re not going to feed or waste energy on something that’s inefficient.”
When presenting the energy plan at the course, Grace Nakimayak, the task force’s clean energy coordinator, described a section of the plan on housing and energy efficiency as one of its most important parts.
“Our houses are outdated and seasonal changes cause drafts,” the plan says. “Some homes struggle with damp, multi-generational living, mold and overcrowding. All of these have a big impact on the comfort and longevity of a home, but most importantly on the health and safety of its inhabitants.” [residents].
Few people own their own homes, according to the plan, and most homes are owned and maintained by Housing NWT.
Nakimayak said the task force is carrying out a housing research project with the National Housing and Research Council NWT that will install devices in Paulatuk homes to collect information on how fuel and electricity are used.
He said the devices will be installed in five or six homes by early spring. The plan is to collect data for two years, Nakimayak said, and the hope is to expand to more households, if the project can get more funding.
Under the clean energy plan, that information will be used to make recommendations to the Northwest Territories government.
Nakimayak said the task force is also organizing a course on housing and energy efficiency that will take place in the spring. He said it will cover small things people can do to prepare their homes for winter and reduce their energy and heating demands without disrupting the comfort of the space.
“We will collaborate and have conversations about how … future buildings could be more energy efficient, more culturally appropriate, more climate-appropriate,” he said.
Green said he is looking forward to the spring course.
“If people were given the tools, the material and taught anything that could help them reduce the cost of their energy bills any month. I’m all for that. I’m excited for that to happen.”
