The Yukon government is moving toward implementing fees at its electric vehicle charging stations, perhaps as soon as this year.

Its plans became known in the legislature last Wednesday, during a wide-ranging discussion on energy issues during question period.

Opposition House Leader Scott Kent told the House, “When it comes to electric vehicle charging infrastructure, we welcome the opportunity that the Yukon government is giving the private sector to install these stations and charge for their use.”

CBC Yukon reported that, in December 2023, ATCO Electric Yukon executive Jay Massie indicated that the fast chargers represent significant electrical loads on the grid.

“He said — quote: ‘There’s going to be cost to the system.’ Of course, the only way utilities can recoup those costs are from the ratepayer,” Kent said.

“When will the Yukon government stop providing free power at their charging stations so that the private sector can compete?

“Has the government done any work to understand the cost impacts of meeting the overall target of 4,800 electric vehicles on Yukon roads by 2030?”

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister John Streicker responded by listing the sources of energy in the territory, with an emphasis on renewable resources.

“Ninety per cent of our energy comes from hydro here in the Yukon … Roughly seven per cent of our electricity comes from the LNG plant, roughly one per cent comes from our diesel plant, and roughly one per cent of our energy comes from the rented diesels,” he said.

“I agree that we should seek to start charging a fee at the recharging stations. I have asked the department to bring that forward as quickly as possible,” Streicker added.

“They are working on that. I think that under Our Clean Future, the target date for that is 2025. I have asked them to try to accelerate that to this year.”

Meanwhile, the government is under fire from the Yukon Party about greenhouse gas emission targets and the effect it will have on ratepayers.

“On December 20 last year, the Liberal government issued a news release that states that, in 2021, greenhouse gas emissions, not including mining emissions, were one per cent above 2010 levels,” Kent said.

“We know that the legislated target for reductions is 45 per cent below 2010 levels by 2030. In a briefing prior to the start of this sitting, Yukon Energy told us that, for the next five years, the only additional reliable electricity generation will come from renting diesel generators,”Kent added.

“How will an expanded fleet of rented diesels for the next five years help the minister to meet his emission targets?”

Streicker instead chose to speak about renewable energy projects, such as the Haeckel Hill Thay T’äw wind project.

“It’s turning; it’s putting energy back into our system,” he said.

“This fall, we look to have our grid-scale battery project online. As we have those two projects working together, we will start to provide dependable winter energy here in the Yukon.

“So, I disagree with the member opposite and I disagree with the Yukon Party’s position that we should build diesel plants. We believe that we should invest in renewables; we will continue to invest in renewables,” Streicker said.

Opposition Leader Currie Dixon later told reporters, “From our perspective, we are in an energy crisis. We have a dependable capacity gap of 35 megawatts that’s currently being filled by almost two dozen rented diesel generators.

“So, on one hand our supply is short. We don’t have enough juice on the system to meet our needs. On the other hand, we are dramatically increasing the demand through things like the implementation of EV charging stations and the use of electric vehicles,” Dixon added.

“And something’s got to give, and so what we asked (Wednesday) is whether the government has ever looked at what this is all going to cost, because what they’re saying right now, they’ve got hard legislative targets for the implementation of electric vehicles. They have a plan to put 4,500 of these on the road by 2030.”

Yet, Dixon added, “there’s no plan on the other side for how you’re going to power these things.”

Asked about the one per cent generated by diesel power that Streicker was referring to, Dixon said, “Yes, the backup diesel generators are a relatively small percentage of that but they’re absolutely critical.

“They are the they are the things that keep the lights on when the sun isn’t shining, when the wind isn’t blowing, and it was minus 40 below outside.”

The question then becomes, Dixon added, is “how do we provide that backup power? How do we ensure that our grid is sustainable, and we can offer the power that we need when we need it?”

Dixon said there’s no other plan for any other new sources of energy either.

“The only plans that the Liberals have had have been Atlin hydro (see story, p. 5), Moon Lake, and the battery.

“The battery is coming along but it’s many years late and it’s millions of dollars over budget, and it’ll only meet the demand of a very small percentage of backup needs that we have right now.”

As for the plan to connect with the B.C. energy grid, Dixon said, “It’s a fine idea, but I’m increasingly skeptical about whether it’ll meet our needs because when you look at the plans that British Columbia has, currently, they are increasing their demand as well.”

Dixon also reiterated that his party thinks that an LNG expansion is the best solution for the territory.

NDP Leader Kate White said she thinks “energy is bigger and broader than both the Liberals and the Yukon Party talk about, and the expectation that individual Yukoners as ratepayers pay for the upgrades to the electricity grid is a problem and it has been a problem and it will continue to be a problem because we don’t have that kind of population.”

White had a dire warning for what’s to come.

“As our population grows, we get closer and closer to an edge where we just don’t have enough to go around.

“The reality is, when the Yukon Party was in government for 15 years as a majority, they didn’t invest in renewable energy. And the Liberals have been in power since 2016, including five years when they were a majority. And they did very few investments in renewable energy.”

Asked if the government is in catch-up mode, White replied, “One hundred per cent. I don’t envy the Liberals because they were put in a deficit by the Yukon Party.”

White also said renewable energy in the territory has been driven by First Nations governments.

Speaking to reporters following question period, Streicker said he believes there are currently 19 charging stations in the Yukon.

“We’ve got funding in place to put in 200 Level 2 chargers, so that would be the intermediate speed charger.”

(Level 1 EV chargers use a standard 120-volt household outlet and are the slowest chargers. Level 2 use a 240-volt AC power supply. Level 3 use a 480-volt DC plug and are the fastest chargers.)

Streicker said apartment buildings and malls, as an example, will have the option of installing the Level 2 chargers.

“There’s still some cost to them, but of course, they also will have the ability to recoup some of that cost when they start charging for people to charge.”

Asked if charging your vehicle will be comparable to filling it with gas, Streicker said, “The cost of electricity right now is close-ish to the cost of fuel. But the difference is that those electric vehicles are much more efficient at using energy.”

Streicker said in a gas or diesel vehicle, you get 10- or 20-per-cent efficiency, whereas with an electric vehicle, it’s more like 90-per-cent efficiency.

He also mentioned it’s difficult for him to predict future fuel costs.

As for determining the costs to ratepayers, Streicker said, “We’re doing that work right now.”

He pointed out that there’s a number of factors putting pressure on the grid, including population growth, a shift toward electric heat in new homes, and mining companies wanting to get on the grid.

“Those things are putting this pressure on the system, and it’s coming very significantly, and that is why we need to invest in electricity and renewables and we need to invest in modernizing the grid.”

Streicker also said Yukoners pay lower rates ($217 per 1,000 kWh/month) than Calgary ($298) or Edmonton ($278) ratepayers. 2023 figures supplied by YG back that up.

Streicker said, “The three things that we shoot for in our electrical system: reliable, affordable, and sustainable, and we’re green.

When asked what the solutions to the territory’s energy woes are, Streicker said according to Yukon Energy, “the most likely solutions to come are going to be wind battery backup.

“If you combine wind with battery and backstop it with some sort of backup then you can start to have firm power and that’s what we need.”