The Yukon connecting to the North American power grid via a 765-kilometre, 200-kilovolt transmission line through British Columbia is significant in the eyes of both the Yukon and B.C. premiers.
The northern territory isn’t connected to the North American energy supply, but British Columbia is. That’s why on May 23, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai and B.C. Premier David Eby signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to guide planning on the project going forward.
Given the significance of Arctic and northern sovereignty and security, Pillai said the project will advance the Yukon’s economy and benefit northern British Columbia.
“It's an agreement between both premiers’ offices at the political level, just that this is a priority,” Pillai told the News by phone on May 23, after the duo signed the agreement in Yellowknife. They were in the Northwest Territories for the Western Premiers’ Forum.
The project comes with extensive planning to develop across multiple jurisdictions and First Nations lands, a ten-year projected timeline and an approximately $2-billion price tag — which is roughly the same dollar amount as the Yukon government’s annual main budget.
The MOU doesn’t come with any money on the line.
“The current price of this project cannot be put on the backs of Yukoners. It's just not feasible,” Pillai said.
“You can't have Yukoners pay for a $2-billion project that's going to be really important for the entire country.”
Pillai wants this initiative to be perceived as a “nation-building” project. He has been in talks with the newly sworn-in federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“How much of this can you shoulder? How much are you willing to invest in our country? Because this is such an important project,” Pillai said about the questions he has been raising.
Carney’s recently released mandate letter for the members of his ministry includes a line about how Canada must build a tremendous amount of new infrastructure at a rate not seen in decades to, in part, become an “energy superpower in both clean and conventional energies.”
The feds have previously signed off on $40 million for feasibility and design work on Yukon-B.C. grid connection. That phase will help determine the route, what is most optimal to build, and what the total cost is, per Pillai.
Ultimately, the Yukon will be tapping into the other jurisdictions’ energy supply and will be the benefactor, Pillai said. If B.C. has excess energy, then the province will sell it to the grid.
“We're looking to purchase because we, you know, our demand is outstripping production at this point,” Pillai said.
“In the resource sector, when we sit down with major investors from around the world, you know, the questions they always want to know is: do you have the power to support advanced mining projects and is that power clean?”
The Yukon Energy Corporation has been using more diesel and liquefied natural gas this spring for a few reasons. The reasons include low water levels at the Aishihik basin, the Yukon's main source of renewable power in winter, and two generators at the Aishihik hydro plant that were expected to be offline until the end of May. The second one was recently taken offline due to a bearing-related failure, according to an early May update online from the energy corp. As noted online, the reservoirs were anticipated to refill with the spring melt.
The Yukon Energy Corporation is hoping more than $350 million in system-wide spending over three years will be approved by the Yukon Utilities Board as part of its 2025-27 General Rate Application (GRA). If approved, Yukoners' power bills could surge in 2025, 2026 and 2027, according to the corp.
Chris Milner, the energy corporation president, recently told the News the projects put forward in the GRA are needed to strengthen the system in the territory.
Potentially, and more likely in the summer, the Yukon could see itself selling excess energy to the grid, Pillai explained.
However, much like the Yukon, British Columbia’s demand for energy is growing, as well, he said.
“We'll be talking to British Columbia about some of the building that they're doing and ways that we can potentially harmonize the work that's happening on either side of our Yukon-B.C. border,” Pillai said.
They will reflect on the North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL), and the potential for future extensions further north to support mines, port expansions in B.C. and resource development, and future potential grid connections with the Yukon, as noted in a joint release about the MOU. The NCTL is being planned to build a new, approximately 450-kilometre transmission line between Prince George and Terrace, B.C., according to a January 2025 press release by the B.C. government.
Pillai indicated there has been correspondence from the B.C. government over the last year and discussion with the private sector around looking at a potential study around rail from northern British Columbia up into southern Yukon.
“It's been contemplated before, but if we start to do our work on the transmission line, and we're engaging with First Nation governments at that time, one of the conversations that I want to see undertaken with First Nation partners is: what's the interest of an economic corridor between B.C. and Yukon?” Pillai said.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
