A Liberal government would connect the Yukon to the North American electrical grid, party leader Arthur Mitchell said today.

Mitchell, alongside Lake Laberge candidate Mike Simon at a press conference held this morning on the Millennium Trail footbridge, said it's imperative the territory have a system which both provides reliable power and allows the sale of surplus energy.

"At the end of the day, we have to have a two-way energy highway if we're going to have a stable Yukon, and a supply that can go up and down according to demand,” Mitchell said.

As soon as one or two other large mines start operating in the Yukon, he added, we're only going to be burning more diesel to supply them power.

"That's not green, it's not carbon-friendly and it's only going to be at the expense of other ratepayers and taxpayers.”

Other issues, continued Mitchell, including improving the reliability of the current system, would be given immediate attention by a Liberal government.

"Yukoners are tired of having the power go out. It's less reliable now than it was 10 or 20 years ago.”

The Liberals would give themselves10 years to finish the project should they win the Oct. 11 election.

Mitchell said he expects it to cost the territory between $600 million and $1 billion to connect to the North American grid, something he admits would not be taken from the territory's back pocket.

He hopes to convince Prime Minister Stephen Harper to hand over some money in the name of creating a greener Canada.

"We would start now, working with Canada, working with First Nations, working with the private sector and industry to find solutions on how to do this,” said Mitchell.

In former premier Dennis Fentie's last budget speech, he said affordable energy is one of the two biggest challenges — alongside the sustainability of health care— the territory is facing.

"Mr. Fentie was correct,” said Mitchell. "Unfortunately, he spent much of his mandate trying to sell Yukoners public power to the private sector as a solution.”

Simon spoke on the Liberals' promise to generate more small-scale projects, like Independent Power Producers (IPPs), geothermal energy, biomass, solar energy and wind energy.

The reason for this, he said, is to diversify the territory's energy options.

"We need a two-way energy highway, so we can both buy and sell power as needed,” Simon said.

"The Fentie/Pasloski government had nine years to plan for the mining boom that has long been predicted. Even though it knew that increased energy demand would be an issue in the future, the Yukon Party government did little to prepare for the situation the territory finds itself in now.”

A Yukon Liberal government, Simon added, "would be forward-thinking by putting a plan in place that properly addresses the present needs and projected future needs of Yukoners.”

Mitchell couldn't give any specifics on these projects, but said he's talked to numerous mining companies looking to produce their own power. The problem now, he continued, is there is no policy in place to allow them to do so.

A Liberal governmentwould complete both Independent Power Producer and Net Metering policies, which enables homeowners and businesses which produce their own energy to offset their electrical bills by feeding surplus power to the grid.

Mitchell said the Yukon needs to look at what other jurisdictions are doing to provide clean, affordable energy.

Nova Scotia has differing rates for what time of day residents use their energy.

In Atlin, B.C., the Taku River Tlingit own and operate a hydroelectric plant which serves the whole community by providing two to three megawatts of power. The First Nation, said Mitchell, now has an endless source of revenue.

"These are solutions we can use for rural Yukon, and for larger mines, we're going to have to look at larger solutions,” he said.

"I'm proud to lead a team that has put together practical and cost-effective solutions to meet Yukon's growing energy needs,” Mitchell said.

"A Liberal government will be here for Yukoners by ensuring both industrial and residential electrical customers have a reliable and affordable supply of electricity.”

Janet Patterson, Yukon Energy's director of communications, said Yukon Energy is looking forward to working with whatever party forms the government, but cannot comment on the Liberals' energy platform during the election campaign.