Secondary Sales Benefits all Yukoners

You may have heard the news that the Yukon Hospital Corporation recently re-joined our Secondary Sales Program after a hiatus of a few years. The program gives eligible Yukon businesses the option of using renewable power to heat their facilities instead of more expensive, GHG producing fossil fuels. It is priced at a discount to heating oil, saving participating companies about 30 percent on their heating bills.

Our sales have dropped in the last two years, in large part because of warmer temperatures. This program gives us the opportunity to make up some of that lost revenue, so we can keep rates affordable for other ‘firm’ electricity customers. It also lowers Yukon's greenhouse gas emissions, making it a win for the entire Yukon.

Whitehorse General Hospital used the secondary sales program from 2003 to 2010, but that tapered off with the limited availability of surplus renewable energy. Now that it has re-joined the program, the hospital estimates heating costs could be reduced by $100,000 this year alone.

To qualify for the program, businesses must have or install a second electrically fired heating system, and acknowledge that the secondary power is interruptible during times when renewable electricity is not available.

A key component is that the company be connected via computer to Yukon Energy’s system control centre, so that the business can be automatically turned on and off based on the availability of surplus renewable power.

There is currently one other automated secondary sales customer – the Canada Games Centre. In 2014, the Centre has been able to access secondary sales approximately 97 percent of the time, saving Whitehorse taxpayers close to $100,000 in heating costs.

We are interested in adding one or two more automated secondary sales customers in the coming months. If you are a business interested in learning more, please contact us.

Photo: Yukon Hospital Corporation CEO Jason Bilsky (left) with Yukon Energy President Andrew Hall in front of one of the Whitehorse hospital's electric boilers.