In a 49-page decision issued this morning, the Yukon Utility Board has both denied and granted different requests by Yukon Energy.

The board, for instance, has told the Crown corporation it cannot apply any of the millions in budget overruns from the Mayo-Dawson powerline boondoggle to its rate base.

But it has approved the request to increase the rates for local businesses who invested thousands to take advantage of secondary power sale of surplus electricity during times of low demand.

'We got creamed,' Bob Baxter, spokesman for the secondary power users, said this morning.

The president of Yukon Brewing Company said if the new rules approved by the utility board were in place back when Yukon Brewing spent $72,000 for the equipment to plug into secondary sales, the company would never have spent the money.

And from what he understands, secondary users who invested thousands will not be able to recoup their initial investments under the new rate schedule.

Rates for residential and general commercial users will remain the same, as Yukon Energy was not asking for an increase.

Yukon Energy president David Morrison was out of the office this morning and unavailable for comment.

In a press release issued by Yukon Energy, however, Morrison states:

'While we need some time before we can comment in any detail on the Board Order, it's obvious that the Utilities Board has dealt comprehensively with all the issues brought forward.

'In the interests of transparency and accountability, it was important for us to get back before the Board for the first comprehensive review of Yukon Energy since 1996,' Morrison added. 'Yukon Energy welcomed this process and we are pleased that the Utilities Board has now rendered its decision. I want to thank board members for all their hard work regarding this application.'

NDP energy critic Gary McRobb said while the utility board's decision covered a wide berth overall, what it has done foremost is emphasize the need now for an overall general rate review for both Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical Company Ltd.

The application ruled on by the board was brought forward last December by Yukon Energy, as the public utility responsible for generating the territory's electricity. Yukon Electrical, the public utility primarily responsible for the distribution network in the Yukon, was not a co-applicant. The subsiduary of Alberta Power, rather, participated as an intervenor in the April public hearings and often put forward staunch opposition to some of the Crown corporation's proposals.

McRobb said the utility board reduced the amount of money the corporation can earn on its capital investment, or the rate of return. While Yukon Energy brought its own application forward for a reduction on the rate of return, the board went further than what has been proposed.

But what the decision has done, McRobb said, is create a bigger gap between what Yukon Energy is allowed and the higher rate of return assigned to Yukon Electrical during the 1996 rate review.

'The Yukon Utility Board has proven its worth,' McRobb said. 'Now we need both utilities in there to justify their costs.... we need more of this because there is a lot of waste.'

McRobb said he was pleased the board denied any attempt by the corporation to apply cost-overruns of the Mayo-Dawson transmission line to its list of assets that is used to calculate the rate.

Originally budgeted at $27.2 million, the board of Yukon Energy revised the project budget upwards to $29 million soon after the proposal started rolling.

The cost now stands at $36.2 million, and there are issues outstanding between Yukon Energy and Chant Construction, the company that built the line, as each have filed a list of counter claims.

The board ruled Yukon Energy can apply the revised budget total of $29 million to its rate base, and any cost recoveries received by the corporation from Chant are to be placed in a interest-bearing account, the use of which will be determined by the board.

While the decision does not grant all requests for Yukon Energy, the president of the Yukon Brewing company said it was a clean sweep for the Crown corporation in desire to change policies for the use of secondary power.

Baxter said the approved policy up until this decision had set a flat rate of 3.3 cents per kilowatt hours during times of excess energy, with no string attached.

Under the old rules, there was no assistance provided by Yukon Energy to help customers with the initial investment.

Under the new regime, he points out, the secondary rate has been increased and tied directly to the price of diesel fuel, which puts its today at something a little less than 5.8 cents per kwh.

And not only is it tied to the price of heating fuel, it's tied to the normal retail price for diesel, or the price the average Joe gets it for, with no provision for the discount Yukon Energy receives as a bulk purchaser.

And there is no recognition for the price of propane, for customers whose source of energy is propane and electricity, he pointed out, noting the price of propane has come down in Whitehorse recently with the arrival of another supplier.

Baxter said the new rules allow Yukon Energy to assist with the initial capital cost for customers to hook into secondary power. The provision, he said, has created another class of secondary power consumers those who paid the hook-up expense themselves, and those who did not.

Since Yukon Energy announced the new rules for secondary power users it would be pursuing with the utility board, there have been no new applicants for secondary power, Yukon Electrical spokesman Ed Sager confirmed today.