Our Energy Conservation Tour Comes to Whitehorse | Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Yesterday our One Change energy conservation tour took us to Main Street in Whitehorse. We had lots of people stop by to pick up some free energy saving products, experience our interactive displays, and fill out a questionnaire about what they'd like to see included in an energy conservation plan. Today the team moves on to Burwash Landing, and tomorrow they'll be in Haines Junction (find the full schedule here).

They'll be back in Whitehorse on Canada Day. Look for them at Shipyards Park. Also watch for the walking, talking light bulb that will be in the Canada Day parade.

Here are a few shots from yesterday. 1, 2 and 3) One Change representatives and Yukon Energy staff talk to local residents; 4) a couple tries out a device that shows the amount of power it takes for a standard incandescent lightbulb as opposed to a compact florescent (CFL) bulb. Photos: www.archbould.com

Getting Hammered by Lightning | Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Once again yesterday there were power outages as a result of lightning. Here are the details:

There was a lightning strike on our line between Stewart Crossing and the Minto mine at 4:05 p.m. It caused an outage in Dawson, Mayo, Keno, Elsa, Stewart Crossing, and the Minto mine. There was also a brief outage at the Minto mine and Porter Creek, Crestview, and McPherson subdivisions in Whitehorse. Minto switched to their back-up diesels so they were only off a few minutes, as were the Whitehorse customers.

Power was restored to the town of Dawson within six minutes. After we got Dawson back on using the back-up diesels in the community, we decided to keep them on diesel instead of putting them back on the grid, since there was still a lot of lightning activity. It turned out to be a very good decision, because there was a second lightning strike last evening at 6:36 which would have again caused Dawson to lose power. Since they were islanded from the grid, their power was not affected. We continued to keep them on diesel overnight as a precaution. We had planned to take them off diesel this morning, but Northwestel’s phone and internet services to Dawson are down (again because of lightning strikes) and until we have communications with our staff we can’t switch Dawson City back on to the grid.

In terms of the rest of the outage area (the Hunker Creek area outside of Dawson, and the Mayo/Keno/Elsa area), power was off for a total of about 2 and a half hours. Power came back on at 6:13 p.m. but the second lightning strike caused it to go off again about 20 minutes later. Power was restored the second time at 6:56 p.m. We had the same issues with yesterday’s outage that we had on Sunday in that our Mayo diesels were not available to us and there was an issue with the express feeder to Hunker Creek. Our crews had been on their way to Dawson and Mayo to address the problems from Sunday’s outage when power went out yesterday and they had to turn around so they could help with the restoration.

Those crews plan to perform the repairs today that they had expected to do yesterday.

All communities except Dawson are back on the grid this morning.

If you have any influence at all over the weather gods, please ask them to give us a lightning free day so we can do the work we need to do on our northern system!

Again, we apologize to everyone who was affected by yesterday's outages.

Yesterday’s Power Outage | Monday, June 27, 2011

An unfortunate set of circumstances resulted in an outage yesterday in Mayo, Keno, Elsa, Stewart Crossing, and Dawson City.

Power went out on the Mayo-Dawson line at 3:43 p.m. as a result of what we believe was a lightning strike. Power was restored to the town of Dawson seven minutes later (six minutes in one section of town and seven minutes in the other) using the Dawson back-up diesels. However power didn’t come back on in the Hunker Creek industrial area until 7:45 p.m. A problem on what is known as the ‘express feeder’ that serves Hunker Creek prevented us from re-energizing that section of line. While that feeder is now working fine, we will be sending a crew there this week to investigate the problem.

In Mayo, Keno and Elsa power also took considerably longer to be restored. Normally in a Mayo outage we would use our back-up diesels in the community. For whatever reason, the diesels did not work last night. We would have fed Mayo using Dawson diesel, but the issue on the Hunker Creek portion of the line prevented us from doing that. Power was restored to Mayo at 7:42 last night and to Elsa and Keno, including the Alexco mine, at 9:20 p.m.

We have just recently energized the Carmacks-Stewart line and have been feeding Mayo and Dawson with hydro from the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid for the last several days. However we are still fine tuning the protection equipment at our Stewart Crossing substation. During this outage, the protections did not work as we expected them to and so we had to send someone to Stewart Crossing to manually close the breaker, allowing us to again feed Mayo, Elsa, Keno and Stewart Crossing with hydro power from Whitehorse.

This morning, all our customers are back on hydro power from our Whitehorse and Aishihik plants.

Today crews will be investigating the cause of the Mayo diesel problem, and then the necessary repairs will be made. The protections at the Stewart Crossing substation will be adjusted so that in another outage on the Mayo-Dawson line, hydro power should continue to be delivered from the southern portion of the Yukon grid. We are also sending another back-up diesel to Mayo this week.

According to the weather forecast we could see more lightning activity in the Mayo/Dawson area today. We are watching closely and are doing everything we can to prepare for another potential outage. We sincerely apologize to those who were affected by the power outage.
 

Talking Energy Conservation in Old Crow | Friday, June 24, 2011

It was the perfect start to our Yukon energy conservation tour. Representatives from the non-profit group One Change travelled to Old Crow yesterday with officials from Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical Company Limited to kick-off a series of visits to 11 communities in the territory. The purpose was: 1) to find out what people feel should be included in a Yukon-wide energy conservation plan; and 2) to share energy conservation products and information that can help people save money on their electricity bills.

People were generous with their time and their suggestions. For Old Crow, a fly-in community dependant almost entirely on diesel generation for its electricity needs (apart from one building that has solar panels), finding alternative energy sources is paramount. In particular, the local First Nation government is interested in seeing more energy efficient homes built, and is anxious to explore wind and solar possibilities.

It was pointed out to us that most people still use the old incandescent light bulbs, because replacing them with more energy efficient lighting is just too expensive.

All these comments will be taken into account as we work to create a Yukon energy conservation plan.

We thank the people of Old Crow for taking the time to meet with us, and we look forward to hearing what Yukoners in other communities have to say. For people in Faro, we hope to see you today from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the recreation centre.

Photos below by Justin Kennedy: 1) walking about town giving away bags of energy conservation products and information; 2) Stuart Hickox, President of One Change; 3) Yukon Energy's Shannon Mallory hands out energy conservation products and talks to two Old Crow residents about ways of saving electricity.

Retire My Fridge | Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Yukoners can now save energy and money by getting rid of their old but working refrigerators and freezers. Yukon Energy and the Yukon government's Energy Solutions Centre are partnering on a fridge and freezer retirement program. Here's how it works: contact the Energy Solutions Centre (ESC) and tell them you have one or two old fridges or freezers that you'd like to get rid of. The appliances must be in current use and they must be five or more years old. ESC will arrange for up to two appliances to be picked up and taken to the landfill. They'll pay the landfill tipping fee and you'll receive $50 towards the cost of each new fridge or freezer that you purchase!

Most homeowners aren't aware that it can cost $100 or more per year to run an older fridge. This program doesn't just give financial incentives off the top, but it also provides ongoing energy bill savings, as the new energy efficient appliances require less electricity.

Call The Energy Solutions Centre at 393-7063 or toll free in Yukon at 1-800-661-0408 ext. 7063 to register for this program. You can visit their website to get further details.

Details About Our Community Tour | Wednesday, June 22, 2011

In the previous blog posting we wrote about the community tour we are about to embark on with Yukon Electrical Company Limited and the group One Change to talk about energy conservation. There are two teams travelling around the territory, one of which will be accompanied by a walking, talking light bulb!

There are fun, family-oriented events planned for most Yukon communities. Here is the schedule of public events to date (final arrangements are still being made in some communities). Many of the meetings are taking place outdoors, weather permitting. We hope you are able to drop by. The folks from One Change will also in some cases be going door to door handing out energy saving products.

Old Crow - June 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. - community hall

Faro - June 24 - 6:30 to 8 p.m. - rec centre

Dawson City - June 25 - 1 to 3 p.m. - picnic shelter beside the farmers' market

Ross River - June 25 at 1 to 3 - between the First Nation office and the store

Pelly Crossing - June 26 at 1 to 3 p.m. - Link Building

Carmacks - June 27 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. - Recreation Centre parking lot

Teslin - June 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. - community park

Whitehorse - June 28 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. - in front of the Elijah Smith Building  on Main Street

Watson Lake - June 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. - Watson Lake Recreation Centre

Burwash Landing - June 29 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. - beside the wash house

Haines Junction - June 30 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. - Madley General Store parking lot

Whitehorse - July 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Shipyards Park

Saving Energy Your Way | Monday, June 20, 2011

Yukon Energy is going on the road. Together with Yukon Electrical Company Limited and the non-profit group One Change, we are about to begin a tour of the territory. The purpose is two-fold: to get your ideas on what a Yukon-wide energy conservation plan should look like, and to provide you with some tools and simple ideas about how you can save money on your electricity bill.

We'll be giving away energy efficient products, will have some interactive displays, and in some communities we'll be accompanied by a walking, talking light bulb! If you come to our meetings we'll put your name in a draw for an energy efficient fridge.

Watch this blog for a detailed schedule (coming soon) or go to www.onechange.org/yukon2011/.
Photo from One Change's website.

Life Without Hydro Electricity | Friday, June 17, 2011

Something to think about.

One Integrated Grid | Friday, June 17, 2011

Yukon Energy's Carmacks-Stewart transmission line is now in service. The line has allowed us to join together what were until last night two separate grids: the Mayo-Dawson grid in the northern Yukon and the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro transmission line in the southern part of the territory.

This connection gives us the ability to manage our transmission system as one integrated grid. It will provide us with a lot more flexibility and it will allow us to make the most efficient use of our hydro resources. If we need more renewable power in the South, we can now provide that power from our Mayo hydro plant. If more clean power is needed in the North, we can provide it via our Aishihik or Whitehorse plants.

The true benefits of this new line will come starting late this year, once we have Mayo B and Aishihik 3 in operation. Together, these legacy assets will provide Yukoners with renewable power for many years. Photo: (L-R) Yukon Energy Chair Piers McDonald, Yukon MP Ryan Leef, Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski, and Yukon Energy president David Morrison push a computer button symbolizing the energizing of the Carmacks-Stewart line. Photo credit: Christian Kuntz.