Yukon Premier Warns of Near-Blackouts, Scales Back Electric Vehicle Push

Yukon's premier warned Wednesday that the territory came dangerously close to rolling blackouts in its capital city during sustained extreme cold last winter. The crisis forced the government to scale back electrification policies and add fossil fuel generation despite environmental goals.

Speaking at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage, the premier described the December crisis as "an extremely harrowing experience" that exposed how precarious the territory's isolated 150-megawatt grid had become. One northern community recorded temperatures of minus 55.7 degrees Fahrenheit for multiple days. Nearly three weeks of minus 40 or colder weather gripped the region around the Christmas holidays.

"Within just a few weeks of my swearing-in, I had to take a close look at plans for the Yukon to enact rolling blackouts in our capital city if we saw a continuance of that extreme cold," the premier said. "We did not get there, we dodged that bullet, but it was an extremely harrowing experience for our energy utilities and for our communities that realized that we were on the verge of not having enough electricity to meet our demand."

The crisis forced the territory to abandon key electrification policies. The government eliminated the electric vehicle mandate that was in place and removed subsidies for electric vehicles. It also removed the policy imperative pushing electric heat in the territory. The premier acknowledged disliking the rollbacks but called them "absolutely necessary" to slow demand growth on the strained grid.

Yukon's grid relies on three hydroelectric dams built in the 1950s and 1960s that provide over 90 percent of the territory's power. The remaining balance comes from a mixture of diesel, LNG, and renewables including solar and wind. But energy planners project the territory will need an additional 40 megawatts of baseload capacity by 2030 to meet organic population growth and changing lifestyles.

To address the immediate crisis, the territory is moving forward with thermal generation despite the environmental and cost implications. "We are going to add 15 megawatts of either diesel or LNG immediately," the premier said. "Permitting is underway and construction will begin this summer." The additions are needed to have generation in place this coming winter. The territory then plans to build an additional 45 megawatts of thermal capacity over the next five years.

The thermal solution comes with significant drawbacks. All hydrocarbons burned in Yukon are trucked up from southern Canada, making the generation costly even though it works reliably at minus 55 degrees. The territory is also investing in relicensing and upgrading its aging hydroelectric infrastructure.

Over the longer term, the Canadian government has identified connecting Yukon's isolated grid to southern Canada as a possibility. The premier cautioned that project could take 10 to 15 years. The territory is not connected to Alaska to the west, British Columbia to the south, or Northwest Territories to the east.