Committed to clean energy in the North

National Observer

20-05-2025

These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.
As director at Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC), 32-year-old Heather Shilton is passionately committed to ensuring communities drive the clean-energy transition.
Tell us about your work.
NNC is Nunavut's first 100-per-cent, Inuit-owned renewable energy developer. We aim to sustainably power the Qikiqtani region by empowering communities to take ownership of renewable energy projects that reflect their values. Our largest project, scheduled to come online in 2033, will replace all of Iqaluit's diesel use with hydroelectricity with potential additional capacity for clean home heating. Twelve other projects under various stages of development, construction and operation range from building-specific, micro-grid solar and battery energy storage to community-scaled wind and solar.
Most renewable energy conversations are about technology, but it is the chance to empower communities to make their futures healthier, cleaner, and eventually more affordable, that propels me. We are breathing life into the concept of free, prior and informed consent in a way that sets an appropriately high benchmark for the entire country. There is a sad history of renewable projects attracting negative attention when rights-holders have their priorities ignored. None of our projects are complete until affected communities say, 'Yes,' at least four times. They must agree to explore alternatives to diesel, identify their preferred alternative, understand the economics, costs and social benefits, and approve the execution plan.
Communities also play a key role in identifying co-benefits. For example, as we prepare to build the road to the water-power project, we are exploring erecting shelters to make snowmobile transportation and recreational land access safer. Building shelters is not part of our core business, but we do intend that people affected see maximum benefits. So, we build shelters.
Popular support has helped regulators and the utility modernize their approaches and allows us to move more rapidly with each project. In 2019, we had two megawatts (MW) of renewable energy under various phases of development. By 2025, we have more than 30 MW.
As director at Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC), 32-year-old Heather Shilton is passionately committed to ensuring communities drive the clean-energy transition.
Does disinformation slow you down?
We believe in telling people everything we know. For the water-power project, we identified 16 alternatives for power to Iqaluit. One of those was remaining on diesel. Every development has costs and benefits, and people have the right to make the choice. It is our experience that if we respect people's intelligence, value relationships and add technical know-how, communities will sort through the disinformation themselves. Everything we say is presented in both Inuktitut and English, and we use a lot of visuals. We allow the process to take the time it needs.
What makes your work hard?
Sometimes, lack of accurate data gets in our way. For example, much is made of how expensive renewables are in the North, and we require federal financial support. But diesel is also subsidized. We have been attempting to calculate the taxpayer-funded support for diesel in Nunavut for five years without success, making it harder to provide our communities with good data for their decisions.
Our team is talented, passionate and feels the urgency of economic and climate change. Moving at the pace of community trust can be hard, but we know it is fundamental to a just, clean-energy transition in Nunavut. We have learned to take a longer view.
What keeps you awake at night?
If we don't get the way we communicate right, we risk losing community trust. It is hard to win that back. Funders are sometimes impatient with our process.
Climate change is a daily reality. It's worrisome when hunters get lost because they are not able to read the ice the way they used to, due to unreliable weather patterns.
What gives you hope?
When an elder feels their values are prioritized for the first time in their lives, I know we are on the right track. My team is inspiring every day. We are creating energy sovereignty and good, clean jobs close to home. That feels good.
What do you see if we get this right?
People all over the North and across the country engage in a collective re-imagining of the kind of futures that are possible.
How did the way you were raised affect you?
In a high school ecology class, we read former US vice president Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. I was terrified, but I knew that being part of the solution would guide the rest of my life. The fear galvanized me, but the desire to protect the people and places I love and help them thrive in their own ways keeps me engaged.
What would you like to say to other young people?
There is no better feeling than working with people who are making a difference and learning together. Check the sources of your information. Ask who might benefit from you believing it.
What about older readers?
It can be frustrating to hear older people say, "It's your generation that will save us.' Older people often have power and agency that are not available to younger folks. Use it to protect our future.