Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd. wants to appeal the recent decision by the Yukon Utilities Board.

The board denied key aspects of the company's application for a rate increase for 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Yukon Electrical had asked for a total increase of 11.9 per cent over the three years, but was shaved down to 7.5 per cent, Dwight Redden, Yukon Electrical's general manager, explained this morning.

Yukon Electrical, for instance, sought permission to collect $52.7 million in gross revenue for 2013, but the board reduced the amount by just under $3 million to $49.8 million. It sought total revenue of $56.3 million in 2014 but was limited to $53.5 million, a difference of $2.8 million. For next year, the company was asking for $58.9 million but the board allowed $55.2 million, a difference of $3.7 million.

In response to direction from the utilities board in its April 23 decision, Yukon Electrical filed its response with the board on Friday.

The compliance filing sets out the company's interpretation of the board's order, and describes the impact in some detail.

On the same day, Yukon Electrical filed a request asking the Yukon Court of Appeal to hear an appeal of the decision by the utilities board.

The request also notes the matter could be kept on the shelf pending the outcome of another process between Yukon Electrical and the utilities board that may resolve the company's opposition to the decision.

In the meantime, according to the paper work filed Friday with the board, Yukon Electrical is asking the board for permission to implement a new rate beginning July 1.

After receiving Yukon Electrical's application last year, the board approved a temporary rate boost of 6.5 per cent, pending a decision on the application.

Redden said the 6.5 per cent, which has been on the monthly bill since last July 1, equalled an additional $8.84 cents per month for the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of power a month.

Yukon Electrical is proposing to drop the rate increase from 6.5 to 4.8 per cent on July 1, reducing the monthly bill by $2.35 for 1,000 kwh, Redden explained.

He said the utility is proposing to adjust the rate increase back up to 7.2 per cent on Jan. 1. The 7.2 per cent would mean a total increase of $9.80 for 1,000 kwh per month until some time in the future when the company goes back before the utilities board for another rate application, which wouldn't be before 2016 at the earliest, Redden said.

The increase for Yukon Electrical comes on the heels of an 11 per cent increase approved for Yukon Energy in March 2013.

Roger Rondeau of the Utilities Consumers' Group described the decision by the utilities board as "definitely a win for the consumer for once.”

But he added he was not surprised Yukon Electrical is seeking to appeal the board's ruling.

"You know these big corporations can do it,” he said.

"There were many times we would have liked to do something like that but we did not have the money and we do not have the lawyers.”

Redden explained that one of the two key areas of concern regarding the board's decision was a decrease in what the company was allowed to collect as a return on its investment, which drives the rates for consumers.

As a result of the board's decision, the return on investment fell from 9.2 per cent in 2012 to 8.75 per cent for 2013-15, he explained.

He said the greatest impact was the ruling regarding what Yukon Electrical wanted to collect to offset future costs of replacing and removing old equipment, and what it wanted to collect to cover the cost of living allowance for its pensioners.

The board also denied the request to convert the company's six diesel generators in Watson Lake to hybrid engines burning both diesel and natural gas.

As well, for the second time, it turned down a $3-million request to install a backup diesel generator in Carcross, and a $3.9-million request to replace old meters with new automated meters capable of being read remotely.

Redden explained that once the board's ruling's is received, staff sit down and consider all aspects of the decision and how they impact on the company's rate application.

The compliance filing submitted Friday by Yukon Electrical reflects the company's interpretation of the board's decision and its impact on the company's rate application, Redden explained.

He said they now have to wait and hear back from the board to see if their interpretation was indeed what the board meant.

Redden pointed out while the board rejected the Watson Lake bi-fuel proposal, it did grant the company permission to keep it on the books until it might be able to satisfy the board's concerns regarding the proposal.

The board in its decision said it was bothered by the lack of a competitive bid process, and how Yukon Electrical's parent company, the ATCO Group of Companies, was the only party Yukon Electrical sought bids from for the project.

A couple of years ago, when the company was putting the project together, ATCO was the only game in town with the capability to support such a proposal, Redden explained.

He said today there are others, and Yukon Electrical will continue to pursue the conversion project for Watson Lake.

The company maintains converting the six diesels, just as Yukon Energy maintains with its Whitehorse LNG project, would result in significant savings in the cost of fuel and cleaner exhaust emissions.

Redden said the Watson Lake proposal and the proposal to install automated meters were two projects that would have eventually paid for themselves and provide a net benefit to ratepayers.

As a result of denying the automated meter project, the company will discontinue plans to eliminate two meter-reader positions and will have to carry on replacing old meters with the same technology, according to the compliance filing.