We Can’t Afford to Wait: Yukoners Deserve Affordable Power Now
October 9, 2025
By Kate White, Leader of the Yukon NDP
Recently, I spoke with a family in Whitehorse who are rationing baths for their kids. Not because they want to save the planet, but because they can barely afford their power bill. Another Yukoner whose door I knocked on told me his bill was almost as high as his rent this month.
These stories aren’t rare. They’re becoming the norm.
Energy rates have gone up by 80% under successive Liberal and Conservative governments, and soon they’ll go up more. It’s not winter yet, and people are struggling to stay warm. Yukoners shouldn’t have to choose between heating their homes and buying groceries, but that’s what’s happening.
This didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of years of failure by the two parties that have traded power back and forth for decades: the Yukon Party and the Liberals.
Let’s be honest: the Yukon Party are Conservatives, and they’ve shown us who they are. The last time they were in charge, they tried to privatize our public power in the ATCO deal – handing over control of our energy system to a corporation in Alberta. When ATCO was making record profits, the Yukon Party and Liberals stayed silent. And under both governments, energy projects stalled, while bills for Yukoners got higher.
The Liberals haven’t done any better. They’ve approved 100% of rate hikes that have come forward. Every single one. They’ve watched as costs for families have spiraled and done nothing to stop it.
Yukoners deserve better.
You can count on our Yukon NDP team to offer Yukoners relief: We’ll stop the incoming rate hikes and start building the energy we need for the future.
We’ll invest in modern, renewable energy infrastructure – projects that will make power more affordable, reliable, and sustainable. We’ll build on the successful model we’ve seen in growing provinces like BC: a Yukon NDP government will put out a call for power to build more clean energy right here at home. We’ll seek proposals from Yukon First Nations, their Development Corporations, local businesses, and communities.
Our candidate for Kluane, John Vandermeer, has shown us what’s possible. As President of the Copper Nïïsüü Development Corporation with White River First Nation, John led one of the largest diesel offset projects in Yukon’s history – replacing costly diesel with clean, locally produced energy. It cut emissions, created jobs, and lowered costs. That’s the kind of success story we need to scale up.
By building the energy grid the Yukon needs, we’ll also create good-paying jobs that help people stay in their communities and support their families.
Now, some people will ask – how are we going to pay for it?
The federal government has a nation-building fund specifically designed to help provinces and territories invest in infrastructure. That’s where we’ll go for support. What we won’t do is make Yukoners pay more while the government sits on its hands.
We’ll direct Yukon Energy to lead the way; not private corporations chasing profit. Where the Yukon Party talks about taking on more debt, we’re talking about building real capacity and creating long-term assets that benefit Yukoners.
The Yukon Party says they’ll “wait and see” what to do if they win. Well, I’m not waiting. I’m making a clear commitment to Yukoners today:
We will stop the rate hikes.
We’ll shore up the grid to make it sustainable.
We’ll work with local partners to build more renewable energy.
And we will lower costs for Yukoners and their families.
This isn’t about politics, it’s about people. It’s about the seniors who shouldn’t have to wear jackets inside to save money, and the small business owners who shouldn’t have to choose between keeping the lights on and paying their staff.
The truth is simple: we can build the energy future we need. We just need the courage to do it.
That’s what the Yukon NDP stands for. That’s what I stand for. And that’s what you can count on, from me.