News & Events

Check this section for Yukon Energy's latest news and coming events.

If you have questions about any of the information posted here, please contact:

Lisa Wiklund
Manager, Community Relations
Yukon Energy Corporation
Phone: (867) 393-5398
Email: Lisa.Wiklund@yec.yk.ca

News, Energy Supply, Partnerships
Feb 08, 2016  Comment

Have Your Say

What could Yukon’s electricity future look like? Yukon Energy is preparing a resource plan that will cover the territory’s electricity needs between now and 2035. We are looking for your input. Please join us for one of the following public meetings. Whitehorse Feb. 29 - 7 p.m. High Country Inn. For this meeting, we will pilot a program that will allow a small number of people to join us via their home computers. If you are interested, please email us and we will provide further details. Since space is limited, this will be offered on a first come, first served basis. March 1 - 12 noon Yukon College Pit Haines Junction March 1 - 6:15 p.m. Champagne and Aishihik Da Ku Cultural Centre Teslin March 2 - 6:15 p.m. Rec Plex Dawson City March 22 – 7 p.m. Downtown Hotel Mayo March 23 – 5 p.m. Curling Lounge This meeting will take place in conjunction with a special commemoration of the new community store and will include a light meal. To help you get involved in the planning, we have prepared a series of ‘primers’ that will provide you with a baseline of knowledge about electricity in the territory.
News, Energy Supply, Environment, Partnerships
Feb 15, 2016  Comment

Updating our Biogas Work

In 2014 and 2015, Yukon Energy partnered with the Cold Climate Innovation Centre and the City of Whitehorse to carry out a research project that was the first of its kind in Yukon. We wanted to learn if it is viable to turn food and yard waste at the Whitehorse landfill into renewable energy for electricity and heat, while maintaining good quality compost. After two years of research, we have gained some valuable information. The good news is this data could be very useful to the City of Whitehorse as it works towards of goal of zero waste by 2040. There is potential for a small biogas project to speed up the compost process, freeing up space at the city’s composting facility which could be a cost savings down the road. The not-so-good news is that using biogas to generate electricity is not economic for Yukon Energy without significant capital subsidy. Without subsidies, the electricity costs would be in the neighbourhood of 63 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 14 cents for hydro, 28 cents for diesel, and 18 cents for natural gas. Simply put, there just is not enough waste to get the economies of scale we need to make this affordable for our customers. In addition to just looking at supplying electricity, we considered the possibility of heating buildings with biogas, including the option of heating a greenhouse that could be built near the landfill to supply Yukoners with locally grown food. Again, the economics simply are not there. The greenhouse would require most of its heat in the winter, which is when there would be the least amount of biogas-generated heat available. As well, in order for the greenhouse to pay for itself, we would need to supply the heat for free, which would make the biogas project uneconomic. While this is not a viable option for Yukon Energy, we are happy to provide our research to other Yukoners who might be interested in pursuing this further. Here is the final report.
News, Energy Supply, Power Outage Updates, Safety
Feb 25, 2016  Comment

Planned Power Outage - Champagne

To our Champagne customers: there will be a planned power outage that will affect you on Thursday, March 3 from 1 to 3 p.m. This outage is necessary for our workers to safely perform maintenance on the power system. Thanks for your understanding.
News, Community Involvement, Partnerships
Feb 25, 2016  Comment

Yukon Energy Superstar Contest Showcases Young Talent

We have some amazing talent in Yukon! We were reminded again of that last night at the 5th Annual Yukon Energy Superstar talent competition, which has become one of the most popular events of the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous. Congratulations to all the participants, and to: 3rd place winner Kalunga;  2nd place winner Strategy (Thomas Ulgasan); and 1st place winner Harmony Strathee. We'd also like to acknowledge the students from Burnaby South Secondary who chose to come to Whitehorse over Hawaii this week so they could participate in Superstar and other Rendezvous activities. The winner of the Audience Choice Award will be announced today at 2 p.m. on CKRW Radio.
News, Energy Supply, Power Outage Updates
Mar 01, 2016  Comment

Planned Power Outages - Champagne and Mendenhall

A reminder to our Champagne customers that there will be a planned power outage that will affect you on Thursday, March 3 from 1 to 3 p.m. To customers at Champagne and Mendenhall: there will be two very brief power outages at some point between 2 and 6 a.m. on Friday, March 4. These outages are necessary for our workers to safely perform maintenance on the power system. Thanks for your understanding.
News
Mar 02, 2016  Comment

Interested in a Position on our Board?

Yukon Energy is looking to fill three director positions on our Board.  Applicants should send resumes and cover letters by April 1, 2016 to kelly.pollard@yec.yk.ca or by mail to Yukon Energy Corporation, Box 5920, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 6S7, Attn: Kelly Pollard.  Resumes can also be dropped off at our Whitehorse offices at #2 Miles Canyon Road.  Visit our website for more information about our board.  
News, Energy Supply, Power Outage Updates, Reliability, Safety
Mar 10, 2016  Comment

Planned Outage for Johnson’s Crossing

A note to our customers in Johnson's Crossing: you will experience a power outage on Friday, March 18th from 3 - 6 a.m. so that ATCO Electric Yukon (AEY) crews can carry out work related to an improvement project in the area. A number of AEY customers living south of Whitehorse will also be affected by the outage. See ATCO's website for details.
News, Energy Supply
Jun 22, 2016  Comment

Your Input; Your Values

Many thanks to all of you who participated in a recent phone survey done by the Yukon Bureau of Statistics. The Bureau conducted the survey for Yukon Energy as part of our resource planning. The purpose of the questionnaire was to help us understand what Yukoners value in terms of the territory's electricity future. The Bureau of Statistics is now starting to compile and analyze the results. We expect to receive a report from them later this summer, which we will share on this blog, our website and at our next round of public meetings, tentatively set for mid- to late-August.
News, Energy Supply, Power Outage Updates, Reliability, Safety
May 30, 2016  Comment

Planned Outages for Parts of Faro

We have two planned power outages coming up for people in some parts of Faro. These outages will affect the Faro airport and residents of the Tintina subdivision. Each outage will last about 15 or 20 minutes. The first outage will take place on Tuesday, June 7th at some point between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. The second outage is scheduled for Thursday, June 9th at some point between 2 and 8 p.m. The outages are necessary so we can safely work on our transmission system.
Community Involvement, Energy Conservation, Environment, Partnerships
May 20, 2016  Comment

This Year’s Sustainability Award

For the past several years, Yukon Energy has sponsored an award for sustainable community initiatives. The award is given out each year at the annual general meeting of the Association of Yukon Communities. This year the award went jointly to the Village of Teslin and Teslin Tlingit Council for the work they did to complete a 10-year Community Development Plan. In this photo, our vice-president Michael Brandt is seen (on the right) with Teslin Mayor Clara Jules and Teslin Tlingit Councillor Alex Oakley.

News, Energy Conservation, Energy Supply, Partnerships
May 06, 2016  Comment

A New Partnership in Energy Efficiency

Yukon Energy has partnered with the Yukon government’s Energy Solutions Centre on its commercial lighting program. The Commercial Energy Incentive Program offers rebates of up to $10,000 to Yukoners who own or lease commercial or institutional buildings and who make the switch to LED lighting. Lamps and fixtures must be ENERGY STAR® or Design Light Consortium-qualified. The program is a two year pilot ending March 31, 2017. Yukon Energy and the Energy Solutions Centre are continuing to work together to offer a second incentive – the fridge retirement program. Yukoners wanting to upgrade their old (but still in use) refrigerator to an ENERGY STAR® model can receive $50 towards the cost of the new appliance plus ESC will arrange for the old fridge to be picked up and taken to the landfill. The program even covers the cost of the landfill tipping fee. The fridge retirement program began in 2011. Since that time, more than 800 older inefficient appliances have been retired, resulting in approximately 261,000 kWh in annual energy savings. For details about these programs, please call the Energy Solutions Centre at 393-7063 or toll free in Yukon at 1-800-661-0408 ext. 7063 or visit their website.
News, Community Involvement, Energy Supply
Apr 14, 2016  Comment

Major Survey About to Start to Gauge Yukoners’ Views on Electricity

As most people know, Yukon Energy is in the process of updating our 2016 Resource Plan, a document that outlines how to meet Yukon's electricity needs for the next 20 years (2016 to 2035). A critical part of our resource planning work is to gather your input, so we can create a plan that reflects Yukoners' values in terms of the territory's electricity future.  Keeping in mind that all energy options have impacts and require trade-offs, we want to understand how you would rank the importance of affordability (keeping your power rates low), reliability (keeping the lights on), and a number of social and environmental factors such as protecting the environment and wildlife, respecting traditional lifestyles and heritage resources, supporting economic growth and jobs, and ensuring cultural and community well-being. We have hired the Yukon Bureau of Statistics to conduct a phone survey, which will start as early as this week-end and will run over the next few weeks. The Bureau will survey up to 5,000 people in both Whitehorse and the communities, using a statistically sound method that will allow them to collect the opinions of a representative sample of Yukoners. The questionnaire should take about 10 minutes to complete. If you are one of those who receives a call, please take the time to do the survey. Your answers will be confidential and the Bureau of Stats will not share any of your personal information, not even with Yukon Energy. Once the Bureau of Stats has collected and compiled all the results, it will provide us with a report that we will make public - likely sometime in the summer. In terms of how we will use the information, it will be one of several factors we will take into account when selecting what we believe are the best energy options for Yukon over the next 20-years. The other factors include: Electricity cost Reliability Environmental impacts Socio-economic impacts All things being equal, we will give more weight to any potential projects that appear to have the general support of Yukoners based on the survey results.
Community Involvement, Energy Conservation, Environment
Apr 12, 2016  Comment

Busy Week-end for inCharge

It was a banner week-end for inCharge, the electricity conservation arm of Yukon Energy and ATCO Electric Yukon. inCharge representatives were set up at two Whitehorse-area locations, talking to Yukoners about how they can save electricity and money. Team members were on-hand at the Whitehorse Canadian Tire store, where there was a promotion on offer for $4 LED light bulbs. Combined with the rebates offered on ENERGY STAR LEDs by inCharge, it meant customers could receive up to eight light bulbs for free! The offer proved to be extremely popular, with all 3,000 bulbs selling out within a 24 period. This broke an all-time daily sales record for any single item at the Whitehorse store.  Canadian Tire has told us the Noma LED bulbs are coming back as a regularly stocked item. If you send an email to: info@inchargeyukon.ca we will notify you when they are back in the store.  Also on the week-end, inCharge representatives were at the Mt. Sima ski hill near Whitehorse, talking to Yukoners about electricity conservation and handing out free energy saving kits. In total, they gave away almost 100 kits. If you have questions about inCharge and the services we offer, visit www.inchargeyukon.ca. Photo credits: Alistair Maitland Photography.

News, Energy Supply, Reliability
Mar 30, 2016  Comment

Southern Lakes Enhanced Storage Concept: Spring 2016 Update

We are committed to providing regular updates on all our projects and potential projects. Here is the latest on the work we have been doing on the Southern Lakes Enhanced Storage Concept.
News, Energy Conservation, Energy Supply, Environment
Mar 24, 2016  Comment

Electric Vehicles in Yukon

As part of the work we are doing to update our 20-Year Resource Plan, we had a study done looking at how many electric vehicles (EVs) we may see in Yukon over the next two decades. Key findings are that: Plug-in electric vehicles has the potential to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, However there are a few challenges that at the moment make it difficult for Yukon to widely adopt EV technology. Currently, manufacturers are focussing on electric cars and not on electric trucks. In Yukon, 62 percent of the vehicles are trucks, and only 30 percent are cars. Current battery technology has some limitations in terms of performing well in cold climates. Batteries typically perform less than half as well as those used in temperate climates. Yukoners tend to drive long distances, and again, there are currently technological limitations in this regard. However, electric vehicles - particularly plug-in hybrid electric vehicles - are still a viable transportation option for the average Yukon commute to and from work. Taking all these things into account, it does not appear at this time that there will be a high percentage of Yukoners purchasing EVs over the next 20 years. That being said, technology can change rapidly, so we will be closely watching the EV market for new developments. 

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