Record Setting Demand for Electricity

With the frigid temperatures we've been seeing of late, it's not surprising that we are hitting record numbers in terms of the energy demand. This morning on the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro transmission system we had the highest peak since 1996. This morning's peak was 68.72 megawatts. Of that amount, 56.4 megawatts came from hydro generated at our Whitehorse and Aishihik plants, and 12.32 megawatts came from diesel. It's times like this that we encourage all Yukoners to be as energy-conscious as possible. The more we all conserve, the less deisel needs to be burned.

The highest peak on record was in January of 1996 when we reached 79.53 megawatts. At the time, the Faro mine was in full production, using approximately 27 megawatts and the temperature was -47. If you remove the Faro mine from the equation, Yukon's energy demands in the Southern and Central Yukon have grown by about one megawatt a year since 1996.

 Whitehorse sub-station seen in the icefog this morning.