A $1.3-million, two-year pilot project to investigate the feasibility of using smart devices across the Yukon grid was unveiled Friday afternoon.

The intent is to sign up 400 Yukon homes whose occupants are willing to have their use of electricity monitored and controlled remotely by Yukon Energy using the devices.

Yukon Energy president Andrew Hall, MP Larry Bagnell and Ranj Pillai, the minister responsible for Yukon Energy, announced the program at a news conference.

The federal government is contributing $650,000, and the Yukon government $250,000.

ATCO is chipping in $300,000 and Yukon Energy is providing $100,000 plus in-kind services.

“If the project is successful, it can be rolled out across the territory,” Bagnell told the audience gathered in the lobby of the Yukon Government Administration Building.

The Liberal MP reminded the audience of the recent report on climate change that says the Canadian North is warming three times faster than the rest of the world.

Finding ways to reduce demand on the grid during periods of peak demand at breakfast and supper is a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from diesel and natural gas generation, Bagnell said.

To participate in the project, Hall explained, homes must be heated with electricity and must have an electric hot water tank.

The intent is to install smart devices that will allow Yukon Energy to turn off the electric heat and hot water tanks prior to peak demand, Hall said.

He explained Yukon Energy will heat up the homes to two or three degrees above normal prior to peak demand, then shut off the heat during the peak period.

In the case of the afternoon, for instance, Yukon Energy will heat up the home an hour or so before the 5 p.m. supper time peak, he said.

By turning off the heat during the peak, Hall said, it’s hoped they’ll be able to shave the demand when it is at its greatest.

That would reduce the amount of dependency on fossil fuel generation needed to augment hydro generation during the cold winter months.

Saving one or two kilowatts of energy per household does not seem like a lot, Hall said. But if you add the savings from 400 homes, they could approach a megawatt of generation, he explained.

Yukon Energy estimates the pilot project will likely reduce greenhouse gas emissions by somewhere between 3,600 to 7,200 kilograms per year.

Hall explained they’ll be reaching out for volunteer homes later this year, with plans to have the smart devices installed this fall prior to the winter months.

They’re hoping to have participation from a good cross-section of homes across the territory, he said.

Hall explained the project is expected to provide the two utilities with enough information to go before the Yukon Utilities Board with a case for expanding the use of smart devices across the Yukon, if the project proves successful.

The mechanisms are also equipped with a switch that will allow homeowners to turn it off on any given day if they choose to, for one reason or another, he said.

Pillai told the audience the Yukon not only needs to focus on generating electricity with renewable sources of energy, it also needs to focus on managing the electricity it’s producing currently.

The funding will be used to purchase and install the necessary equipment, he explained.

Yukon Energy typically requires fossil fuel generation in the winter months when the availability of water for its hydro dams is at its lowest.

This morning, for instance, 26 per cent of the total generation was being provided with fossil fuels.