Yukon Energy, the territory's publicly-owned utility, reached near-peak capacity for its hydro generators Monday morning and again this morning.

"This morning, we were ate 57.94 megawatts at the peak breakfast time, around 8 a.m.," spokeswoman Janet Patterson said of the load on the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro (WAF) grid.

"We can handle about 61 megawatts, and then we have to start thinking about using the diesels."

If the Minto mine was currently hooked into the grid, the diesel generators would be running, Patterson acknowledged.

The work to build and extend the WAF grid to Pelly Crossing, with a spur line to feed the mine, is underway, with an aim of having the open-pit copper-gold mine on line by the end of next September.

Monday's load peaked at 58.63 megawatts, also at breakfast time.

Patterson said Yukon Energy is not asking ratepayers specifically to reduce consumption, but just wants them to be conscious of their energy use.

"That does not mean you have to sit at home in the dark, but just be aware of it, that's all."

Patterson pointed out that since 2001, energy consumption on the WAF grid has gone up an average of 3.1 per cent per year.

There are more residential customers online, and more retail consumers, particularly with the arrival of the new big box stores, Patterson said. She said there is more and more use of computers and electrical gadgets in general.

Yukon Energy has also raised concerns with the number of new condominium developments providing electric heat as their primary heat source.

There's also been an increase in demand on the new Mayo-Dawson grid, with consumption increasing by about 1.5 per cent per year since it was completed in 2003.

Consumption on the smaller grid peaked this morning at 4.76 megawatts.

The system is able to handle a load of 5.2 megawatts using only its hydrogenerators at the Mayo dam, before it requires back-up diesel generators located in both Mayo and Dawson City, Patterson explained.

It was exactly two years ago today, a Sunday, that thousands of Yukoners were plunged into darkness for several hours during -30 temperatures, in the territory's biggest power failure in recent memory.