Yukon Energy

Yukon Energy Corporation (YEC) is a Canadian Crown corporation in Yukon that provides electrical power to Yukon. YEC is a subsidiary of Yukon Development Corporation that was established in 1987 to take over the Yukon assets of the Northern Canada Power Commission. The company's headquarters in based in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Profile

YEC generates virtually all of Yukon's electricity supply, and distributes power to a third of the locations outside of Whitehorse. Their largest customer (a wholesale buyer) is the Yukon Electrical Company (YECL), a private business that has been operating since 1901, which itself has some smaller hydro operations, and serves primarily the Whitehorse area plus two thirds of the rural communities. YEC itself provides customer electricity directly in Dawson City, Mayo, Faro, Champagne and to some isolated individual customers.

YEC has developed a grid that connects hydro facilities in Whitehorse (Schwatka Lake Dam - 40 MW from four wheels, the fourth added in 1983), Aishihik Lake - 30 MW, and the YECL facilities at Fish Lake near Whitehorse. The communities on the "Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro" grid include Whitehorse, Champagne, Johnson's Crossing, Faro, and the following communities where it is distributed by YECL: Haines Junction, Carcross, Tagish, Marsh Lake, Teslin, Carmacks and Ross River.

YEC operates two wind turbines on Haeckel Hill near Whitehorse connected to the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid. The first turbine is a Bonus Energy 150 kW MARK III installed in 1993. The second turbine, a Vestas 660 kW V47 LT II was later installed in 2000. These units need to be specially adapted to deal with icing and the northern environment.

A second grid, brought on-line in 2004, connects Dawson City (reliant on diesel power from 1966 to 2004) via Stewart Crossing to Mayo, and beyond to the YECL-served communities of Elsa and Keno City, all drawing on the 5 MW hydro facility just north of Mayo that had mines at Elsa as primary customer until 1989.

The government of John Ostashek (1992-1996) had promised to connect Mayo, Stewart Crossing and YECL-served Pelly Crossing to the main southern grid at Carmacks. During their mandate, and the subsequent N.D.P. and Liberal party mandates, this project was not developed, and Pelly Crossing remained on its own YECL diesel generator. The project was finally proceeded with during the later part of the 2000s, partly to meet power requirements for mines in the Minto area, and on June 17, 2011, the two grids began to operate together. The YECL generator at Pelly Crossing is now on standby to the grid.

Off the grid, Yukon Electrical Company Limited operates diesel generators to serve its customers in Watson Lake-Upper Liard, Swift River, Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay, Beaver Creek and Old Crow. The possibility of a grid connection to Atlin, British Columbia has probably been eliminated by a decision to construct a hydro project near Atlin, but talk in Atlin of an expansion could still raise that possibility.

Yukon has no connections to the continental power grid, therefore, YEC cannot sell to or buy from networks in Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta or the Northwest Territories. In addition to the extreme expense of such transmission lines, they would also be subject to disruption from solar flares.

Electrical Service by Community

Name Service Provider Energy source Notes
Beaver Creek YECL diesel plant not on grid
Burwash Landing YECL diesel plant not on grid
Canyon Creek (Mile 996 Alaska Hwy) YECL YEC grid
Carcross YECL YEC grid
Carmacks YECL YEC grid
Champagne YEC YEC grid
Dawson City YEC YEC grid diesel backup (main power 1966-2004)
Deep Creek YECL YEC grid
Destruction Bay YECL diesel plant not on grid
Elsa not sure - possibly YECL YEC grid
Faro YEC YEC grid
Haines Junction YECL YEC grid
Jake's Corner YEC YEC grid
Johnson's Crossing YEC YEC grid
Keno City YECL YEC grid
Lower Post, British Columbia YECL diesel plant: Watson Lake not on Yukon (Teslin) or B.C. grid (Fort Nelson)
Marsh Lake YECL YEC grid
Mayo YEC YEC grid
Old Crow YECL diesel plant not on grid
Pelly Crossing YECL YEC grid diesel backup (main until 2011)
Ross River YECL YEC grid
Stewart Crossing YECL YEC grid diesel backup (main until 2004)
Swift River YECL diesel plant not on grid
Tagish YECL YEC grid
Teslin YECL YEC grid diesel backup (main until the 1980s)
Upper Liard YECL diesel plant: Watson Lake not on grid
Watson Lake YECL diesel plant: Watson Lake not on grid
Whitehorse YECL hydro facilities: YEC and YECL diesel backup and auxiliary

Generating Facilities

Name Location Fuel Units net capacity (Date) Capacity
(net MW)		 Link
Aishihik Aishihik Lake Hydroelectric
  • two units (1975)
  • one unit (2011)
 37.5 MW
Dawson Dawson City Diesel generator
  • five fixed back-up units
  • one movable back-up unit
Faro Faro Diesel generator
  • three fixed back-up units
Haeckel Hill Whitehorse Wind Power
  • one Bonus 0.15 MW turbins (1993)
  • one Vestas V47-660 0.66 MW turbine(2000)
 0.81MW
Mayo Mayo Diesel generator
  • two fixed back-up units
Mayo Hydro Mayo Hydroelectric
  • two 2.5MW units (1951)
 5 MW
Whitehorse Rapids

(Schwatka Lake)

 Whitehorse Hydroelectric
  • two units (1958)
  • one unit (1969)
  • one unit (1985)
 40 MW
Whitehorse Rapids Whitehorse Diesel generator
  • seven fixed back-up units
  • one movable back-up unit

See also

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