Feds put up $40M for study on Yukon connection to wider electrical grid

The Yukon government scored funding Friday for a long-sought project to connect the territory with the rest of Canada's electrical grid.

Ottawa announced it has "conditionally approved" up to $40 million to study a 765-kilometre transmission line. The money will also pay for pre-feasibility studies done by the Yukon government.

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley and John Streicker, the territorial mining minister, made the announcement in Whitehorse Friday.

Hanley said Ottawa is supporting the line in the hope it will be used to power mines that produce critical minerals, particularly those used for electric vehicles, wind turbines and power grids. 

"We have such an important role to play in Canada and the world's energy future, apart from the basic need to sustain the energy requirements of our growing population," Hanley told reporters.

A grid connection with B.C. has long been on the Yukon government's wish list. In June, Premier Ranj Pillai called on Ottawa to pony up $60 million for the project.

The territory has struggled to add enough electrical capacity to keep up with rapid population growth.

Meanwhile, the territory's own green energy strategy calls for electrifying large swaths of the economy, adding to the demand for green power. While the Yukon recently added four wind turbines in Whitehorse, it has also controversially expanded the number of rented diesel generators in Faro and Whitehorse to meet peak demand in the winter. 

Streicker said the grid connection would allow the Yukon to buy power from the North American market. But it could also allow the territory to sell its surplus energy in the summer.

"Rather than just spill that energy now, we could see if there's an opportunity to sell it," he said.

Streicker said it's too soon to say what route the line would take, what the construction cost might be, and what impact it would have on electricity bills. 

Friday's funding announcement also included $20 million for a 43-kilometre access road to the Galore Creek copper and gold project on Tahltan traditional territory in northwestern B.C. Galore Creek contains as much as 12 billion pounds of copper. 

The money for both projects comes from the federal government's Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund. 

Streicker acknowledged the Yukon government is more concerned about getting the connection built than who exactly ends up using the power it transmits. 

"We would have hunted for these planning dollars through a range of opportunities," he said. "Maybe it could have been under Arctic sovereignty, for example, but it doesn't matter. This was the opportunity that presented itself and we went for it."