Yukon Energy applies for 13 per cent rate hike

Yukon Energy is applying to have electrical rates raised by 13 per cent over the next two years.

The energy corporation has filed its application with the Yukon Utilities Board. The corporation said the increase is needed to help pay for costs associated with its aging infrastructure.

The Whitehorse dam is 54 years old. Other equipment around the territory, including the plant in Mayo, is just as old.

Yukon Energy president David Morrison saidthe corporation has donedone allit can do to keep spending down, but he said the costs have outpaced those efforts.

He said the money raised from the increase would go to all areas of operation.

"So it goes to wages, it goes to additional maintenance and it goes to new equipment that's required on the system. So it covers the whole operational gamut," said Morrison.

The increase would work out to about $8 a month this year, and then an additional $9 or $10 next year for an average usage of 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) a month.

The corporation said its hydro assets, including the Mayo B dam, have helped address the territory's increasing energy needs, but that they still must rely on costlydiesel generation.

The utilities board will likely hold public hearings before deciding whether to approve the increase.

This is the first time in 13 years that the corporation has applied for an increase.