If all goes according to plan, territorial residents buying power from the Yukon Energy Company could see lower rates in the next few years.

David Morrison, president and chief executive officer of Yukon Energy, said at the corporation's annual general meeting Thursday that plans for a line extension from Carmacks to Pelly Crossing, including a spur line to the Minto mine, could lead to lower energy rates.

Morrison was speaking to the audience at the meeting which included the YEC board of directors, YEC employees and two reporters.

'We're still in the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) process,' he said.

Once through YESAB, he said, the company would issue a request for proposals to see if the line extension is cost effective.

'We're going to issue those RFPs and part of that process is assessing costs. The line construction is the biggest cost, the hardest cost to estimate because of the high labour content.

'Once we get all of those proposals back the board will meet in early September or late October, and at that point we'll know if the line is economic because we'll have the numbers.'

Morrison said because the company is regulated on the amount of profit it can collect, the $4 million expected from Minto would go back into the pockets of ratepayers.

'Our thoughts are that once Minto goes online, Yukon rates should go down.'

Earlier this year, YEC board chair Willard Phelps said the company aims to start construction of the line by September or October.

A recent ruling by the utilities board recommended Yukon Energy consult with Energy, Mines and Resources minister Archie Lang if the estimated cost was above the preliminary, high-end estimate of $25.9 million.

Phelps noted the board can still kill the project if the construction bid comes in higher than expected.

Morrison also said the company experienced higher than expected profits in 2006, earning a net income of $4.9 million, with that money slated to go into operations and capital budgets.

According to the YEC's annual report, the extra income earned by the public utility was a result of increased demand and weather.

'Revenue from sales of power was just over $27 million, which is 2.6 per cent higher than budget and $4.7 million over last year.

'These favourable results are largely due to higher than expected growth and colder than expected temperatures. We expect this trend to moderate in 2007 with forecast sales growth in the once per cent range.'