Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 10/05) - A $17.6 million upgrade to Yellowknife's power grid promises energy savings, but won't cut consumer bills.

"This project is designed to keep rates flat; they won't go down," said Northland Utilities operations manager Allen Mueller.

Yellowknife power use: seven gigawatt hours a year Amount of power saved in 25 years by new electrical distribution: 70 gigawatt hours Schedule of power outages Discovery Inn alley June 8 to June 11 Block surrounding Panda II Mall June 13 to June 13 Boston Pizza alley June 15 to June 18 Right Spot alley June 27 to June 28 Polar Bowl alley June 28 to June 30 Gold Range alley July 4 to July 6 South of 52nd Street July 11 to July 15

"In the first eight years, it will save the amount of energy that half the city would use in a year. We'll start to realize those savings this year."

The upgrade of the city power grid will boost it from an obsolete five kilovolts system to 25 kilovolts.

"The harder you have to push electricity through a line, the more you lose through heat," explained Mueller. You don't have to "push" as hard with 25kv lines.

Over the next 25 years, 70 gigawatt hours will be saved with the new system. Yellowknife consumers used seven gigawatt hours last year.

The upgrade has produced occasional blackouts that will continue into the fall. Mueller has been consulting with business and residents on the most convenient times to lose power.

The city's 10 power substations will be replaced with three larger, more efficient stations, he said.

Many of the new lines will be placed underground, helping to cut back on outages caused by birds.

Year one will see upgrades mostly in downtown Yellowknife, in the alleys behind buildings.

Year two starts in front of City Hall, the Bison apartments and Mildred Hall school. Year three will see the first new sub-station coming on-line next to the Stanton Territorial Hospital.

There are 24 workers making the changes. Northland Utilities employees are being joined by Valand Line Const. and Beaver Power Line Const. Both are Alberta-based companies.