Yukon Energy Corp. hopes to raise $100 million through a bond offering to help pay for the Mayo B hydroelectric dam expansion project.

The public utility's $160-million plan to build a new power plant and a connecting power line still requires approval from several regulatory boards.

But company president David Morrison said it needs the money to finance the territorial government's share of the project's costs, as well as pay for some other projects.

"We either go to the bank and … they lend us money and we get a financing of X dollars, or we go to an investment part of the banking institution and they go out and sell a bond and we get money," Morrison told CBC News on Thursday.

Morrison said it was not feasible to get a loan for the $160-million expansion project, since banks do not give the 30-year term that Yukon Energy wanted.

Instead, he said bonds will be sold on Yukon Energy's behalf to raise the $100 million the utility needs. Morrison said the interest will be around five per cent.

"This is very similar to how they do it, and depending on what projects they're doing," he said, referring to major utility companies elsewhere in Canada.

"Utilizing a bond financing is a very standard process for utility financing."

Morrison said the Yukon government will cover $52.5 million of the bond's total amount, including the interest and financing costs for that portion.

Ratepayers will pay about $36.5 million over 30 years, although Morrison said earlier this week that he does not believe customers will see any rate changes as a result of the project.

The remaining amount is coming from other funding sources, such as the federal government.

Morrison said he also hopes Yukoners will be able to get a chance to buy a portion of the bonds.

"We have raised that issue with the financial institutions, and this is something we're going to pursue pretty rigorously as we go forward," he said.

"Can we find a way to make some portion of that financing available so that Yukoners, if they were interested, could buy some of that bond? Because on a 30-year basis … we think it's a pretty good interest rate."