From 200 to 10: Yukon narrows list of potential hydro sites

It's called 'the tyranny of choice': The anxious feeling you get when presented with too many options.  

Peter Helland knows that feeling. The electrical engineer works with Midgard Consulting. He's been reviewing potential sites for a future hydroelectric dam in Yukon. 

Helland says the firm started with more than 100 choices; an overwhelming deluge of possibilities in a land veined with rivers. Now that list has been narrowed to 10, and the firm will keep whittling.

"If a site was going to flood a national park, we removed it," he said. "If it was on the main stem of the Yukon River, we removed it." 

The same goes for sites located too far from Yukon's electric grid.

"It's not to say those sites are all viable," said Helland of the remaining 10. "But these are the remaining sites for future consideration." 

Joanne Fairlie, chair of the Yukon Development Corporation board, says a new hydro project could take 25 years to complete. 

"We're only at the beginning of the process," she said.

"I know there's been lots of speculation. We have not selected a site. All we've done is remove the sites that are not viable." 

Fairlie says the government will continue meeting with the public and First Nations as it further narrows the list.

'We recognize that no site we can develop will be lacking in controversy," Fairlie said.

"All energy-producing projects are controversial from one perspective or another. The only thing we can do is try to listen to what everyone has to say and try and mitigate the environmental impacts." 

The Yukon Development Corporation is working to create an interactive map of the 10 sites. It's expected to be posted online in February.