First Impressions at the Energy Charrette

Today was Day 1 of our energy charrette. Close to 100 Yukon stakeholders, Yukon Energy officials, and energy experts gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing us when it comes to the future of energy in the territory. One of the participants was grade 11 student Claire Lindsey, and she agreed to write this guest post to share some of her impressions.

Today was a real eye opener to what the Yukon consumes in matters of energy. At the Yukon Energy Charette, which our Experiential Sciences grade 11 class was invited to, much was learned! I never knew how much planning and time is put into the territory's energy plan for the upcoming years.

There are many options to provide energy, yet today I realized that with every option there are pros and cons. Whether it's cost, efficiency, sustainability, reliability, or environmentally challenging; each aspect has to be looked at and everyone has a different perspective as to what is the right solution. However after quick discussion, everyone agreed that there is no one solution. There has to be a combination of solutions that together can efficiently provide enough clean and (hopefully) cheap energy with as little environmental impact as possible.

Another issue came up is that the public needs to be more involved with the territory's future, so after the day's discussion at the charette, at 7 in the evening a meeting was held for anyone who wanted to attend and become aware and participate in the future of the Yukon's energy plan. This charette is a great opportunity and already after the first day I have learned so much!
 

The charrette continues tomorrow and Wednesday, with public evening sessions each night from 7 to 9 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. The following images were taking this afternoon during working group sessions. Photo credit: www.archbould.com