Good morning, Chairman Neufeld and committee members. Thank you for - PDF document

Note from ENEV Clerk: Due to cancellation of meeting, this organization is not rescheduled to appear but has asked that this presentation, prepared for their appearance, be considered their written submission to the committee. Good morning, Chairman Neufeld and committee members. Thank you for the invitation to present to you on Yukon Energy’s business and the issues facing us. I will refer you to the slide presentation which I believe you have a copy of. I am now turning to slide 2. 1

I’ll address three general topics in my presentation: 1. Firstly. I’ll provide an overview of Yukon Energy, our asset profile, our recent project history, and our current status. 2. Next, I’ll discuss the options that we are focusing on for new supplies of energy 3. And finally, I’ll touch on some of the challenges that we face. After my formal remarks, I’ll be happy to take any questions that you have. Moving now to slide 3. 2

Yukon Energy is one of two regulated utilities in the Yukon. We are responsible for the majority of electricity generation in the Territory, including 3 hydro facilities and a fleet of back ‐ up diesel generators. We also own and operate the majority of the electrical grid in the Territory. We distribute electricity to residential and commercial customers in a few of the grid ‐ connected communities outside of Whitehorse, including Dawson City, Mayo and Faro. We do not serve any remote off ‐ grid communities. ATCO Electric Yukon is the other regulated utility in the Yukon – they distribute power to residential and commercial customers here in Whitehorse, and they also provide power to a number of off ‐ grid communities, including Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay, Beaver Creek, Old Crow and Watson Lake. In 2014, Yukon Energy generated a total of 402 GWh of electricity, of which the vast majority – 99.6% – was renewable energy generated form our hydro facilities, and a small wind turbine that we also operate. In this respect, we differ significantly from the utilities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, who are far more reliant on diesel for base ‐ load generation. Our primary customers are ATCO Electric Yukon, who is our distributor as I just explained and who account for approximately 80% of our sales by volume; secondly the mining industry, which accounts for 10%, and then our own residential and commercial customers in the grid ‐ connected communities, who account for a further 10%. 3

Moving on to slide 4. This chart shows how electricity rates in the Yukon compare to other jurisdictions in both Northern and Southern Canada. Monthly electricity costs for a typical residential customer consuming 1000 kWh per month are presented. You can see that the monthly costs for the Yukon, shown in the red bars, are comparable with those in Edmonton and St Johns, and actually lower than costs in major centers such as Toronto and Calgary. Our rates are also significantly lower than those in other Northern centers, such as Yellowknife and Iqaluit. This is a result of two advantages that we have compared to our northern counterparts: 1. Firstly, we benefit from lower cost hydro ‐ electricity, generated from assets that were constructed some time ago. 2. Secondly, we have a transmission grid which allows us to serve the majority of the Yukon population with cheaper grid ‐ connected electricity. 4

Moving on to slide 5. Here we see Yukon Energy’s profile of hydoelectric and transmission assets. Our 3 hydro facilities have 92 MW total installed capacity, which includes: ‐ Whitehorse hydro on the Yukon River, with 40 MW installed capacity ‐ Our Aishihik facility, with 37 MW installed capacity, ‐ And finally our facility at Mayo, which has 15 MW installed capacity ‐ Of these three, Aishihik is the most important since it is our only storage reservoir which offers multi ‐ year storage. Our transmission grid, which you see in the red lines on the map, connect these hydro facilities with the towns of Whitehorse, Dawson City, Mayo, Keno City and Faro. ATCO electric also operate a few lines, shown in darker blue. Overall, we are able to provide grid ‐ connected power to 93% of the Yukon population. Its important to note that our grid is not connected to either the BC or the Alaska grids, and as such we are an isolated grid, as is the electrical grid in the Northwest Territories. Operation of an isolated grid presents is own unique set of challenges. We need to carefully balance supply and demand at all times, and we do not have the opportunity to import or export electricity to balance loads. In addition, being isolated means that we have to very carefully plan and time the construction of new generation assets. 5

On to slide 6. Here we focus on Yukon Energy’s fleet of diesel back ‐ up generators. As I explained earlier, we typically generate over 99% of our electricity from hydro sources, relying on our diesel back ‐ up generators to meet peak demand during very cold periods. Our diesel fleet also provides back ‐ up supply if our hydro facilities are down for maintenance, or we experience grid outages. We have a total of 39 MW of diesel backup, located principally here in Whitehorse, Dawson City, Mayo and in Faro. We are also constructing a new LNG ‐ fuelled back ‐ up generation plant here in Whitehorse, to replace a number of our older diesels that have reached end of life. I’ll discuss this new project in more detail later. 6

Moving on to slide 7. Here we provide some additional insights into our electricity sales by sector, and our generation profile. The pie chart on the left shows the break ‐ down of our 2014 power sales by sector. The residential and commercial/institutional sectors together account for 90% of our sales, while the industrial sector, which is essentially a single mine – Capstone Mining’s Minto operation – accounts for 10%. The pie chart on the right shows the break ‐ down of our power generation by source – either: ‐ Renewable (hydro or a very small amount of wind), or ‐ Thermal; which is diesel generation You can see that the vast majority, 99.6% in 2014, is generated from renewables sources. We only use diesel for meeting supply gaps during very cold periods, and during maintenance shut ‐ downs or outages of our grid. 7

On to slide 8. This chart shows Yukon Energy’s total electricity generation over the past 10 years, 2004 ‐ 2014. You can see that there have been two distinct trends: 1. From 2004 through 2012 we saw a period of sustained growth in electricity demand in the territory, fueled by a number of factors, including: ‐ Population growth, driven largely by activity in the mining sector and general economic growth in the Territory ‐ Colder winters, which contribute directly to increased power sales 2. From 2012 ‐ 2014 we have seen a reversal of this growth trend, with year ‐ on ‐ year declines in electricity demand. Based on a careful analysis of available data, we believe that this decline has been driven by two key factors: ‐ Warmer than average weather ‐ A slow ‐ down in population growth, linked to a more general slow ‐ down in activity in the mining sector. It is worth noting that Yukon Energy did kick ‐ off a Demand Side Management program in 2014, aimed at encouraging energy efficient practices in the residential sector. However, given that this program is still new, we do not believe that the reduction in power demand in 2014 is linked to this effects of this program. 8

Moving to slide 9. Here we see a summary of the energy supply projects and transmission line projects that we have completed over the same time period. The energy supply projects are shown by yellow triangles; the transmission line projects by grey triangles at the top of the chart. Yukon Energy has added 17 MW of new generation capacity since 2011, including 10 MW of incremental hydro capacity at our Mayo facility, and 7 MW at Aishihik. We are also in the process of installing 8.8 MW of back ‐ up capacity here in Whitehorse. This is the Whitehorse LNG project which I’ll speak about on the next slide. You can also see that we have completed one large transmission line project over this time period, namely the construction of a line from Carmacks to Stewart Crossing – this project, which was completed in two phases in 2008 and 2011, allowed us to connect our southern and northern grids, which prior to 2008 had operated as two independent grids. The transmission line also allowed us to connect the Minto mine in 2008. You can also see on the upper right of the chart that we have kicked off design and permitting work on a new transmission line project from Stewart Crossing to Keno City. I’ll talk to this on the next slide. 9