A Yukoner is claiming the Yukon Energy Corporation provided “false and incomplete” information to the territorial Environment department about the proposed expansion of the Faro diesel facility to avoid environmental assessment.
Nathaniel Yee summed up his argument in a letter, dated Jan. 19, to Environment Minister Nils Clarke. The letter, which was sent by email, was carbon copied to the News, among others.
The energy corporation denies the claim.
“Yukon Energy has not provided false and incomplete information to the department of Environment as alleged in the letter to the minister,” reads a Jan. 25 email to the News from communications manager Lisa Wiklund of the Yukon Energy Corporation, which is widely referred to as Yukon Energy.
“Similar allegations to those raised in the letter have been made in Yukon Energy’s General Rate Application (GRA) and those allegations will be fully responded to in that application.”
The full response is scheduled to be submitted Feb. 8.
Yee has been granted intervener status for the GRA proceeding that’s currently before the Yukon Utilities Board.
In the letter to the minister, Yee suggests that the energy corporation shared its actual plans with the Yukon Utilities Board as part of the GRA proceeding.
Yee points out that the energy corporation’s current GRA indicates that plans to rent seven diesel units will add 5.1 megawatts.
Yee also acknowledges that, according to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (YESAA), expanding a fossil fuel-fired electrical generating station that increases production capacity by 5 MW or more triggers an executive committee screening.
However, Yee argues that, in the same GRA, the energy corporation claims that an assessment isn’t needed for the increase from 15.5 MW to 20.6 MW.
In response to interrogatory responses filed in the GRA proceeding, the energy corporation again confirmed the proposed 20.6-MW capacity for the Faro diesel facility, Yee wrote.
Yee’s letter cites two diagrams that he uses to back his claim about the energy corporation’s inconsistencies. The site layout is provided in a Feb. 14, 2023, email from the energy corporation to the Environment department. It shows five rented diesel units, which would suggest that capacity is not being increased. But, as part of the GRA proceeding, a different site layout provided by the energy corporation shows seven rentals, which is consistent with the capacity increase described in the GRA.
Yee wrote that the energy corporation was reminded about a 15.5-MW capacity limit via an email from the Environment department on Feb. 16, 2023.
“Additionally, as you are aware, the Faro station was assessed and permitted for a capacity of 15.5 MW. Operation above a capacity of 15.5 MW will result in non-compliance and could result in further enforcement action,” Yee wrote.
Yee wrote that the energy corporation is giving an “entirely different story” in the GRA proceeding versus what it’s telling the Environment department, even after the proposed Faro generating station’s expansion has been presented to the Yukon Utilities Board.
“Given [Yukon Energy Corporation’s] ongoing consistency in not mentioning the added capacity to the department of Environment, it is difficult to believe that this is simply an error or an oversight,” Yee wrote.
Yee argues the matter should be taken seriously, per the “knowingly providing false information” part of the Environment Act.
“While I understand that executive committee screenings involve time and costs that [Yukon Energy Corporation] wishes to avoid, knowingly providing false information is not an acceptable solution,” Yee wrote, adding that assessments are important to affected communities and called for under YESAA.
In closing, Yee asks the minister what the department will do to fix the situation.
The minister’s office confirmed by email that the letter had been received.
Per an email from cabinet communications to the News on Jan. 23, Clarke’s office will be responding directly to the individual who sent the letter, as is the process for all letters.
The email from the Yukon Energy Corporation to the News emphasizes that “providing Yukoners with safe and reliable power is always our priority.”
The energy corporation rents diesel generators each winter to “protect Yukoners from prolonged outages,” per the email.
“As an isolated electricity system, we need to make sure there’s enough sources of permanent and back-up power available in the territory at the flip of a switch every day. While more than 90 [per cent] of the electricity we generate is renewable, the hydro resources we use are less available in the winter when demand for electricity is the highest. Until new sources of power generation can be built, rental diesels help provide the redundancy we need. This winter, we needed to rent 22 diesel generators,” reads the email.
“We have an air emissions permit for each of the diesel and [liquefied natural gas] sites we own. The permits outline the maximum amount of power we can generate at each site under normal operating conditions. They do not limit the number of units or electrical capacity we can have at the location. Having more units and capacity on site is important to provide redundancy in case one or more of the rental units doesn’t start or a piece of equipment fails. Under normal circumstances, the amount permitted at each site is the maximum amount of power we would generate.”
The email notes that in Faro, up to 15.5 MW of electricity is permitted.
“The site is made up of two permanent diesel engines that we own, and right now, seven of the 22 diesel units we rented this winter. One of our permanent diesel engines in Faro has reached end-of-life. We are currently working to replace that engine. When the engine is replaced, the number of rental diesels needed on site will be less. This is consistent with what has been shared with the department of Environment,” reads the email.
Twenty-two diesel generators are expected to be rented again next winter, according to the email.
“The information in the GRA shows more diesel capacity than what is permitted in Faro next winter because we know we need the capacity provided by the rentals somewhere in the Yukon; we are still confirming where those rentals will go. One of the advantages of diesel rental units is that they are mobile and can be moved from one location to another,” reads the email.
“Most of our air emissions permits need to be renewed this year. As we look at where next winter’s diesel rentals will go, we’ll also assess if the levels of our existing permits need to be updated.”
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com