Yukon Energy is reminding Yukoners about the importance of energy conservation particularly at this time of year, when the major water reservoirs used for hydro generation are at very low levels.

Yukon Energy president Andrew Hall explained this morning the reservoirs – the Southern Lakes, Mayo Lake and Aishihik Lake – are normally running low of water ahead of the spring melt.

But this year, they’re particularly low because of the drought conditions in 2019 and the low snowpack last winter, as well as below-average temperatures between January and April of this year, he said.

To compensate for the low availability of water, Hall said, Yukon Energy is having to burn more natural gas and diesel for generation.

Records show as of this morning, for instance, about 46 per cent of the generation was by fossil fuels, most of it by diesel.

Hall pointed out one of the three natural gas generators broke down on the Easter weekend, and they’re not sure how long it will be to get replacement parts, given the COVID-19 crisis.

It’s likely going to be about another month before the unit is back on line, he said.

“With every simple conservation choice, we reduce the need to use LNG and diesel,” reads a fact sheet released this week by the Crown corporation. “Make simple choices – turn off the lights when you leave a room, take a five-minute shower instead of 10, or use LEDs instead of incandescent lights.

“In addition to helping the environment, these simple acts also save you money each month by lowering your power bill.”

Currently, Yukon Energy is spending about $94,000 a day on fossil fuels to run its generators: about $53,000 a day on diesel and $41,000 on natural gas, according to records.

Hall said Yukon Energy is running its diesels in Mayo, Dawson City and Faro to augment hydro generation.

But he also expects with the arrival of the spring melt, the reservoirs begin to fill, and they’ll be able to lessen their dependency on diesel, possibly beginning as early as next week, depending on the weather.

Hall said Yukon Energy has received complaints from Riverdale residents concerned about the noise the diesels are creating in their neighbourhood.

Yukon Energy will be installing a noise monitor on the diesels today and will be looking for a Riverdale resident who is agreeable to have a monitoring station placed on their front lawn, the president said.

Hall said gathering data on the noise level will help them understand how it compares with the city bylaws governing noise from industrial sites.

Yukon Energy has been running its Whitehorse generators this past winter when demand required it, he said, so nobody is quite sure why the noise from the generators is surfacing as an issue now.

Hall said it may be related to the spring melt removing all the snow from the trees, allowing noise to travel farther, but nobody is sure.

It might be there are just more people travelling about the neighbourhood who would normally be at work during the day but are at home because of COVID-19, he said.

Hall pointed out Yukon Energy staff who can work from home, including himself, have been doing so since mid-March.

While last year showed drought conditions, this winter’s snowpack has returned to normal or above average, which should result in a return to more normal water levels in the reservoirs for next winter, he said.

Hall pointed out, for example, the snowpack in the Mayo region was 70 per cent below normal in 2019 but this year it’s at 56 per cent above normal.

In the Whitehorse region, the snowpack was 50 per cent below normal in 2019 but this year is tracking at 10 per cent above, says the fact sheet put out by Yukon Energy.

In the Aishihik region, the snowpack was 80 per cent below normal in 2019 and this year it’s back up to just five per cent below normal.

Hall said the corporation is returning three of the nine portable diesel generating units it rented for the winter but will be keeping six onsite at the Whitehorse Rapids Dam.

Keeping them onsite avoids the demobilization cost and the mobilization cost of returning them next fall, he noted.