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:


Communications and Community Relations
Phone: (867) 393-5398
Email: communications@yec.yk.ca

Regulatory
Sep 29, 2010  Comment

Striking a Power Deal with Alexco

You might have heard on the news that we have asked the Yukon Utilities Board to approve a Power Purchase Agreement we have reached with Alexco Resources. That's the company that plans to begin mining and milling operations at the old United Keno Hill Mine at Keno next month. You can find the complete application form, including the Power Purchase Agreement, on our web site here. In summary, under the terms of the PPA and pending Utilities Board approval, Alexco will be responsible for the full costs of: Construction of a 1.65 kilometre spur line from Yukon Energy's Mayo-Keno transmission line to the mill site (approximate cost $330-thousand) negotiating and concluding the Power Purchase Agreement, including the regulatory costs (approximately $100-thousand) decommissioning Yukon Energy's spur line once the mill shuts down. In addition, Alexco will pay a fixed charge of almost $7,300 per month for as long as it buys power from Yukon Energy as an industrial customer. The money will help pay the cost of Yukon Energy's existing Mayo-Keno transmission line. Alexco will pay the Industrial power rate set by the Yukon Utilities Board.  The rate is approximately 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on Alexco’s peak demand.  
News
Sep 30, 2010  Comment

Read All About It

We've just published a newsletter with the latest information about two of our major projects: Mayo B and Stage 2 of the Carmacks-Stewart transmission line. Give it a read and let us know if you have any follow-up questions.
Regulatory
Oct 01, 2010  Comment

Why You Should Care About Next Week’s Utilities Board Hearing

We want to remind you that Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. will appear before the Yukon Utilities Board next week. This is a public process and anyone is welcome to attend. Three days have been set aside for the hearing: Tuesday October 5th to Thursday October 7th. It's being held at Yukon College in Whitehorse in Room C1440 starting at 9 a.m. each day. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the Utilities Board to review what is known as a Phase II application. To understand what that is and why it might be important to you, we encourage you to read a blog entry we posted here this past spring.
Energy Conservation
Oct 08, 2010  Comment

How’s Our Lighting?

Streetlights can suck up a lot of power. As part of a pilot project looking into ways of reducing energy consumption, Yukon Energy has installed six Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights in Dawson City. LED streetlights need at least 50 percent less energy than regular streetlights and have a longer life span. They are starting to be used in many locations around the world including Alaska and British Columbia. The experimental streetlights in Dawson City have back light shields that significantly reduce light pollution and are approved by the International Dark Sky Association. Research shows that LED lights work well in other places. We need to find out if they are a good lighting option for a community such as Dawson City, which typically has colder and darker winters than locations further south. Our staff installed the LED lights this week on Second Avenue in Dawson between Albert and York streets (just behind the City of Dawson offices). The lights will be monitored throughout the fall and winter for cold weather performance and energy use. If the lights prove to be a good choice for Dawson City, we will look at installing LED streetlights in all our major service areas including Dawson, Mayo and Faro. If you live in Dawson, we'll send you a short questionnaire in the new year after you have had a chance to see the lights in action for a while. Please take a few minutes to fill out the questionnaire and return it to us. If you don't want to do that, you can always call us (1-866-926-3749 or 393-5333), email us at communications@yukonenergy.ca or put a comment on this blog entry. In addition to this pilot project, Yukon Energy is working with Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. and the Yukon government to develop a Demand Side Management (DSM) program. The program will look at a variety of ways to improve generation and transmission efficiencies as well as to reduce energy consumption both by the utilities and by government, industrial, commercial and residential electrical customers. Below are photos of typical streetlighting (first photo) versus LED streetlighting (second photo).

Energy Conservation
Oct 21, 2010  Comment

Electronics Never Sleep

Did you know that even if your electronics are in stand-by or sleep mode, they are sucking up electricity? These so-called energy vampires typically use about five percent of total residential electricity use. Plasma TVs are among the biggest offenders but there are lots of other culprits. For example, on average a DVR consumes more power when it is turned off but still plugged in than when it is actually recording (36.68 watts versus 29.29 watts). Actions as simple as unplugging, using an on/off power bar for clusters of devices and buying Energy Star products (which have lower standby power usage) can help reduce the electrical blood-letting. Here are some examples of electricity vampires: Device and Energy Used (in watts)                                                                                  Game console (ready mode) - 23.34 Desktop Computer (sleep mode) - 21.13 Digital cable set-top box (off by remote) - 17.83 Computer Notebook (sleep mode) - 15.77 Satellite set-top box (off by remote) - 15.66 Audio mini-system (off but still plugged in) - 8.32 Rear projection TV (off by remote) - 6.97 Cell phone charger (on and charged) - 2.24  You can find a more complete and detailed list here.
Billing
Oct 21, 2010  2

How Do Our Rates Compare?

We recently came across a Hydro Quebec publication that provided a comparison of the average electricity costs for customers in major North American cities. While it did not include Yukon, we have added the territory's residential rate on this map. You can see that Yukon residential customers currently pay 11.02 cents per kilowatt hour with the Yukon government's Interim Electrical Rebate (a subsidy provided to all residential customers for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity used each month). That's the same rate that residents of St. John's pay and is less than that paid by residents in Charlottetown, Moncton, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary. It is much less than what residential customers pay in most major cities in the United States. Without the subsidy, Yukon residential customers would pay 13.68 cents per kilowatt hour of power, which is still less than homeowners or renters in Charlottetown and in most major U.S. cities pay. The complete Hydro Quebec report can be found here.
Reliability
Nov 05, 2010  Comment

Mega Bolts!

Imagine trying to remove a 5,900 kilogram (13,000 pound), 15 meter (50 foot) long bolt from a piece of equipment. Not a job for your average hand-held wrench! But that’s the challenge some of our staff faced recently. There are gates at the Whitehorse dam that move up and down to control the amount of water we spill at any given time. The equipment needed to operate these gates includes a series of gears encased in metal boxes (known as a gear-boxes), and two 15 meter (50 foot) bolts.  After more than 50 years of continuous operation, the bolts needed re-furbishing and the gear boxes had to be replaced. To do this work, we enlisted the help of a large crane. Everything went well, although the lifts taxed the crane to its maximum capacity both in terms of height and weight. In fact, for the lift of the second bolt, two bottom plates had to be removed to reduce the bolt’s length by close to half a meter (18 inches) and reduce the weight by more than 360 kilograms (800 pounds)! The bolts have been shipped down south for refurbishment and we've ordered new gearboxes. The new/refurbished pieces should be installed in a few weeks.
Energy Supply
Nov 09, 2010  Comment

Aishihik’s New Addition

Construction of a third seven megawatt turbine at our Aishihik hydro plant is well underway. We expect the unit to be in service next year. However, the Aishihik water license stipulates that the Yukon Water Board must approve an operating plan before Yukon Energy can run all three turbines at the same time. We recently received word that the Water Board has approved our plan, giving us the ability to operate all turbines as necessary. The plan outlines the most efficient use of the turbines for the water available. At lower generation levels, the third (smaller) turbine is much more efficient than the two existing larger (15 megawatt) units. In the summer when we only need to generate small amounts of electricity at Aishihik, we’ll rely on the third turbine to meet our needs. The water we save in the summer can then be used to run all three units in the winter, when demand is higher. With the same amount of annual water consumption, we can generate an additional seven megawatts of hydro and therefore displace that amount of diesel fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 3,800 tonnes each year.  
News
Nov 29, 2010  Comment

Get Informed; Get Involved

Yukon Energy is going to be out and about over the next few weeks bringing you up to date on the work we've been doing over the last several months. Yukon Energy Corporation/Yukon Development Corporation Annual General Meeting Tuesday Dec. 7th 6:30 p.m. Westmark Whitehorse You're invited to come with your questions and comments about anything from a possible wind farm in Yukon, to our work on geo-thermal, waste-to-energy, or new and enhanced hydro. You can also find out how you can get involved in helping to plan Yukon's energy future. We also have plans to update stakeholders and the public on the fieldwork we did over the summer and fall with regards to our Southern Lakes Enhancement Concepts and our Gladstone Diversion Concept. The following Open Houses are scheduled: Atlin Community Centre Thursday Dec. 9 3 - 7 p.m. Marsh Lake Community Centre Wednesday Dec. 15 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Tagish Community Club Thursday Dec. 16 7 -  8:30 p.m.
Power Outage Updates
Nov 30, 2010  Comment

Last Night’s Power Outage

A problem on Yukon Energy’s transmission line between Carmacks and Faro resulted in a power outlast night to parts of the Central and Southern Yukon. Power went out at 7:01 p.m. to the following areas: • Riverdale • Carcross • Teslin • Marsh Lake • Tagish • Johnson’s Crossing • Deep Creek • Faro • Carmacks • Ross River • Minto mine • Pelly Crossing Power was restored to Riverdale in 5 minutes, 35 sec. Carcross, Marsh Lake, Tagish and Johnson’s Crossing were restored in 3 minutes 40 sec. Teslin automatically switched to local diesel, meaning power was only out for a minute or two. Deep Creek was restored after about 15 minutes. Faro was out for about 18 minutes until we could island it from the grid and provide local diesel. It remains on diesel this morning. Ross River automatically switched to local diesel. Carmacks automatically switched to local diesel. Pelly Crossing and the Mino mine were restored after about 20 minutes. The transmission line between Carmacks and Faro remains de-energized until a Yukon Energy crew can inspect it. The crew will attempt to do an aerial patrol today if weather permits. If not, the staff will conduct a ground inspection. We apologize to all those who were affected by this power outage.
Energy Supply
Dec 08, 2010  4

Tracking Consumption

Yukon Energy has a new tool on our website. It's a chart that shows, in near real time (updated hourly), just how much energy is being consumed and whether we are having to burn any diesel to meet the demand. A second chart shows the energy consumption over the last 12 hours. These charts are for our Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid that serves most of the central and southern Yukon. However we are in the process of producing similar charts for our Mayo-Dawson grid. Take a look and let us know if you find these charts useful.
News
Dec 10, 2010  Comment

The Latest on Atlin and Gladstone

We invite you to read our latest newsletters regarding the Atlin and Gladstone concepts. As always, let us know if you have questions once you've read these publications.
Energy Supply
Dec 16, 2010  Comment

News on the Marsh Lake Winter Storage Concept

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know Yukon Energy is doing research into the possibility of enhanced winter storage on Marsh Lake. Our latest Marsh Lake newsletter gives information about what we have learned so far, what we still need to find out, and what our next steps will be. Give it a read and let us know if you have any questions.
Media Releases
Sep 29, 2010  Comment

Yukon Energy Files Alexco Power Purchase Agreement With Utilities Board

Yukon Energy has asked the Yukon Utilities Board to approve a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) reached between the energy corporation and Alexco Resources. The agreement is for the supply of electricity to the new mine and mill site at Keno. The PPA also covers any other new mine/mill operation that Alexco develops in the Keno area in the future. Under the terms of the PPA and pending Utilities Board approval, Alexco will be responsible for the full cost of: construction of a 1.65 kilometre spur line from Yukon Energy’s Mayo to Keno transmission line to the mill site (approximate cost $330-thousand). negotiating and concluding the Power Purchase Agreement, including the regulatory costs (approximately $100-thousand). decommissioning of Yukon Energy’s spur line once the mill shuts down. In addition, Alexco will pay a fixed charge of almost $7,300 per month for as long as it purchases power from Yukon Energy as an industrial customer. The money will help pay the costs of Yukon Energy’s existing Mayo-Keno transmission line. Alexco will pay the Industrial power rate set by the Yukon Utilities Board. The rate is approximately 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on Alexco’s peak demand. Alexco plans to begin mining and milling operations sometime in October. It will require approximately two megawatts of power at any given time. The full application to the Utilities Board, including the Power Purchase Agreement, can be found here. Contact: Janet Patterson Communications Supervisor Yukon Energy Corporation (867) 393-5333  janet.patterson@yec.yk.ca
Media Releases
Oct 08, 2010  Comment

Yukon Energy Launches Energy Efficient Streetlight Pilot Project

How’s our lighting? That’s what Yukon Energy will be asking residents of Dawson City this fall and winter. The energy corporation has installed six Light Emitting Diode (LED) streetlights in Dawson as part of a pilot project looking into energy efficiencies. LED streetlights require at least 50 percent less energy than regular streetlights and have a longer life span. They are starting to be used in many locations around the world including Alaska and British Columbia. The streetlights being used in Dawson City have back light shields that significantly reduce light pollution and are approved by the International Dark Sky Association. “Research shows that LED lights work well in other places. We need to find out if they are a good lighting option for a community such as Dawson City, which typically has colder and darker winters than locations further south,” Yukon Energy spokesperson Janet Patterson said. Yukon Energy staff installed the LED lights this week on Second Avenue in Dawson between Albert and York streets (just behind the City of Dawson offices). The lights will be monitored throughout the fall and winter for cold weather performance and energy use. Yukon Energy is looking for input from Dawson residents regarding the lights. “Residents will be invited to fill out a questionnaire once they’ve had a chance to experience the lights for a few months,” Patterson said. “They can also provide feedback by calling or emailing us, or by posting a comment on our blog.” If the lights prove to be a good choice for Dawson City, Yukon Energy will look at installing LED streetlights in all its major service areas including Dawson, Mayo and Faro. In addition to this pilot project, Yukon Energy is working with Yukon Electrical Company Ltd. and the Yukon government to develop a comprehensive Demand Side Management (DSM) program. The program will look at a variety of ways to improve generation and transmission efficiencies as well as reduce energy consumption both by the utilities and by government, industrial, commercial and residential electrical customers. Contact: Janet Patterson Communications, Yukon Energy Corporation (867) 393-5333 janet.patterson@yec.yk.ca

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