Thank you very much.
My name is Michael Ross. I lead a research program at Yukon University that's directed by the electric power utilities in the territories. What that means is that I look at and investigate renewable technologies and all technologies to meet our industries' needs, but in a lot of ways what I've been focusing on is the integration of renewables into remote communities across the north, focused on indigenous communities and their renewable energy projects.
Ultimately, what I have found with regard to the integration of renewable energy technologies is that it's never siloed. You have to consider many different aspects. I like to use the STEEP framework to identify the considerations of integrating renewables into remote communities. It's the STEEP framework where we look at the social, technical, economic, environmental and policy aspects of integrating renewables.
With regard to the social aspect, that's what government is for: to look at the best interests of people. The integration of renewables can leave a lasting legacy in the sustainability of these remote communities if it is established properly.
On the technical aspect, that's my bread and butter. I'm an electrical engineer. It's utilities' prime mandate to provide safe and reliable power to their customers. When power systems are four nines reliable—99.99% reliable—everybody just always assumes that you can throw anything at them and they will always work, whereas that's not always the case. Especially when power in has to equal power out at all times, when you integrate intermittent resources like solar and wind, where you can't tell the sun to—