Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
NDP Leader Carla Beck admitting on April 22 she misspoke on LNG. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
REGINA – It’s not often you’ll see a politician admit they misspoke, but NDP Leader Carla Beck did that in the Legislature on April 22.
It was part of an exchange between here and Premier Scott Moe on the cost of refurbishing Saskatchewan’s three coal-fired power plants. Moe shot back about comments made by Beck and her Energy and Resources Shadow Minister Sally Housser, talking about importing LNG to fuel Saskatchewan power plants. LNG is liquefied natural gas, and the closest LNG facility is at Kitimat, on the northern BC coast. Here’s a column explaining how impractical that would be.
Beck said, “Mr. Speaker, I’m going to stand in my place today and do something that is sometimes hard for politicians — particularly, it seems, for the Premier — and I’m going say that when I said LNG, I misspoke. I meant natural gas, Mr. Speaker.
“And I have hidden that fact, we have hidden that fact on the internet in the plan that is publicly available. And I invite people to look at it, Mr. Speaker — gridandgrowth.ca. That same plan shows that our power plan is half, at least half as expensive as that government’s plan, Mr. Speaker. But it could be more. Because that minister doesn’t seem to know what the full cost is going to be. Remember, their coal refurb has already increased by triple since he made that announcement.”
Beck’s line of questioning was with reference to the previous night’s Crown Investments Committee meeting, in which SaskPower Critic Aleana Young asked repeatedly about the costs of coal refurbishment and nuclear power.
Here’s the full exchange, from Hansard:
Power Generation Plan Costs
Carla Beck: — Well, Mr. Speaker, last night in committee we saw that Premier’s hand-picked SaskPower minister not provide a cost estimate for his power plan. That minister was asked four times for an answer. He danced and he ducked, but he refused to give an answer.
So I’m going to ask the Premier — no spin, Mr. Speaker — how much does his power plan cost?
Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the Premier.
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Hon. Scott Moe: — Mr. Speaker, $21 billion less than their plan, and counting. That’s what it costs, Mr. Speaker.
Today we have the second-most affordable utility bundle in the nation of Canada, Mr. Speaker. Today we are asking SaskPower to continue to make decisions that provide reliable, affordable power for families and for industries that are choosing to invest here; to create careers and jobs for more Saskatchewan families to stay here in the future. We’re doing that by utilizing the life cycle of the assets that we have. We’re doing that by a very structured transition to nuclear power in the future, Mr. Speaker.
And you contrast that with their fictitious plan, Mr. Speaker, the plan that is committed to using LNG [liquefied natural gas], a fuel source that is 10 times the cost of natural gas. And no sooner would they truck in that LNG from British Columbia or the United States of America, and as soon as it got here, Mr. Speaker, you can rest assured that they would charge the carbon tax on it.
Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Carla Beck: — Well, Mr. Speaker, the Premier is having a little bit of trouble here with the facts. The fact is that our plan does not include LNG, and it is half as expensive at least as their plan. And the details are hiding right there on the internet, should he care to have a look.
But, Mr. Speaker, it sounds like this Premier expects the people of this province to simply just write him a blank cheque. Mr. Speaker, remember, this is after he already promised people in this province that power rates would not increase and then sneak-attacked them with a $136 million increase.
Mr. Speaker, now when his plan first came out, that minister, the Minister for SaskPower, suggested that his coal refurbishment plan was going to cost $900 million. Last night in committee, he had to admit that that price tag has already tripled to at least $2.6 billion. That’s a lot of fingers.
Mr. Speaker, does the Premier think it’s acceptable or responsible to push forward this power plan while he’s keeping the true cost of that plan from the people of this province?
Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the Premier.
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Hon. Scott Moe: — I think it’s responsible for this minister, this government to work alongside Saskatchewan families and our public utility companies to ensure that in the case of power, we have reliable, affordable power for years into the future for families and for industries that are making investments here, Mr. Speaker.
I want to address some comments made by the Leader of the Opposition on April the 14th at the SUMA convention. And I quote the Leader of the Opposition:
“Our plan makes use of LNG, both importing LNG from other provinces but also increasing that LNG production, transmission here in the province as well. I think that’s the key difference.
“In bringing in that LNG, prior to them putting the carbon tax on it . . .”
[Interjections]
Speaker Goudy: — Order. Order, please. Premier.
Premier Scott Moe asking NDP Leader Carla Beck about using LNG for power generation. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Hon. Scott Moe: — Mr. Speaker, importing that LNG, before they put the carbon tax on that fuel source, would be over $3 billion annually just in fuel costs, never mind the capital costs to build each of those plants across the province.
So I would ask the Leader of the Opposition, who says today that their plan does not include LNG, why she told over 1,000 municipal leaders that it does.
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Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the member from Regina South Albert.
Aleana Young: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A lot of talk about gas in the legislature today, when it’s clear the gaslighting is only coming from one side of the House, Mr. Speaker.
So last night in committee I asked the . . . [Interjections]
Speaker Goudy: — I’m sorry. I don’t think we’re going to be calling the intentions of the opposite side “gaslighting.”
Aleana Young: — So last night, Mr. Speaker, I asked the SaskPower minister again and again and again how much his power plan would cost. There was no answer, Mr. Speaker; rather, 45-minute monologues about just how good he is at his job.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I think that SIECA [Saskatchewan Industrial Energy Consumers Association], APAS [Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan], SARM [Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities], the CFIB [Canadian Federation of Independent Business], chambers of commerce, people around the province, as well as their own appointed rate review panel would beg to differ, Mr. Speaker. There is no accountability.
For the record, will the minister admit that he doesn’t have a clue just how much his plan will cost?
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Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Scott Moe: — As I said in my previous answer, Mr. Speaker, this minister is working closely with families, industries across this province, working closely with our public utilities companies, in particular SaskPower, to ensure that we have reliable, affordable power into the future. That is the goal of this government. That’s the goal of our utility companies, so that we can continue to attract the investment and have the second-lowest utility bundle across the nation of Canada, Mr. Speaker.
But here we have a challenge on the floor of this Assembly, Mr. Speaker. We have a leader of the opposition that said LNG is not included in their plan. However at the SUMA convention, to municipal leaders she said LNG is part of their plan. We saw the member from Regina University in Prince Albert, in Yorkton, doubling down on the fact that, yes, LNG — a fuel source that is 10 times the cost, over $3 billion each and every year before they add the carbon tax to it — is absolutely part of their power plan, Mr. Speaker.
Which is it? Mr. Speaker, I would say the Leader of the Opposition owes an explanation to the families across this province.
Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.
Carla Beck: — Mr. Speaker, I’m going to stand in my place today and do something that is sometimes hard for politicians — particularly, it seems, for the Premier — and I’m going say that when I said LNG, I misspoke. I meant natural gas, Mr. Speaker.
And I have hidden that fact, we have hidden that fact on the internet in the plan that is publicly available. And I invite people to look at it, Mr. Speaker — gridandgrowth.ca. That same plan shows that our power plan is half, at least half as expensive as that government’s plan, Mr. Speaker. But it could be more. Because that minister doesn’t seem to know what the full cost is going to be. Remember, their coal refurb has already increased by triple since he made that announcement.
So my question again to the Premier: does he expect the people of this province — after you already told them you weren’t going to increase their power bills and you did — does he expect the people of this province to hand him and hand that minister a blank cheque?
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Speaker Goudy: — I recognize the Premier.
Hon. Scott Moe: — Mr. Speaker, yet again as we work our way through finding our way to nuclear power generation facilities in this province, to provide that clean, that reliable and affordable power into the future, we are going to utilize the assets that we have. This is the direction of the Government of Saskatchewan to protect the very reliable, affordable power, reliable, affordable utilities that we have in this province today, Mr. Speaker.
And, Mr. Speaker, I grew up in the days of a number of different sitcoms on TV, and I can remember one of my favourite actors, who always found it so hard to say that he was wr-wr-wr-wrong: Mr. Arthur Fonzarelli, Mr. Speaker. And I can appreciate the fact that the Leader of the Opposition has stood up and said that she had misspoke with respect to that.
So I would ask this, Mr. Speaker: did the printer misprint their document, Mr. Speaker? And did the member from Regina University . . .
[Interjections]
Speaker Goudy: — Order, please.
Hon. Scott Moe: — And did the member from Regina . . .
Speaker Goudy: — I was hardly sat down, and I hear more chatter from the opposition.
Premier.
Hon. Scott Moe: — Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that the Leader of the Opposition has taken her place and said that she misspoke when addressing over 1,000 municipal leaders across this province. I would ask if the printers that printed their plan, did they also misprint that particular plan? And did the member from Regina University also misspeak when she was in Saskatoon and doubled down on the LNG usage, Mr. Speaker, or in Yorkton as well?
*** Discussion then moved onto other topics ***
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