Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Note that there are only three wires on this transmission line near Langbank, Saskatchewan. It terminates at Tantallon, relatively close to the Manitoba border. If interties to Manitoba are expanded, the additional room for another circuit of three more lines could come in handy bringing intertie power into the Saskatchewan grid. No matter what, if interties are beefed up, we’re going to need a lot more of these. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
REGINA – It appears the idea of building upon a “national electrical grid” is coming together.
While the concept of a “national energy corridor is often thought of with reference to pipelines, this is instead with reference to power transmission.
The Government of Saskatchewan announced on March 4 it has entered into a new agreement with provinces and territories to advance the development of a “National Energy Corridor.”
“This partnership between Saskatchewan and Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Yukon, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories marks a historic step toward strengthening Canada’s energy security,” the Saskatchewan government release said. “This agreement builds on the discussions at the Connecting Canada – Building an Energy Superpower Summit in September 2025, where provinces identified strengthening electricity transmission connections between provinces as a key priority. “
For Saskatchewan, improving east-west transmission connections will unlock new economic opportunities, supports growing demand and improves grid reliability for industry and communities, according to a government press release.
“Strengthening transmission connections will ensure that Saskatchewan families, communities and industries continue to have access to reliable and affordable electricity, while giving us export opportunities as a jurisdiction with allocatable baseload power production to contribute to the energy security of our neighbours,” Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison said. “Saskatchewan has been working closely with partners, including Ontario Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce, to advance practical solutions that strengthen electricity infrastructure and improve connections between provincial grids.”
The announcement comes just weeks after Harrison announced a plan for strengthening Saskatchewan’s electrical transmission grid. A key part of that plan is expanding interties to Alberta and Manitoba.
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The announcement came around just a few hours after SaskPower was exporting its maximum amount of power currently possible with existing infrastructure. Wind output in Alberta was just 2.1 per cent of capacity, while solar was at 9.4 per cent capacity at 9:59 a.m. As a result, SaskPower was exporting 152 megawatts to Alberta, a point Harrison reference in a ministerial statement.
“The Government of Saskatchewan will continue working with provincial partners to advance projects that expand transmission connections and support reliable, affordable power for Saskatchewan residents and businesses, consistent with the province’s Saskatchewan First Energy Security and Supply Plan, which focuses on ensuring Saskatchewan has a strong, safe and secure energy system while supporting long-term economic growth,” the Saskatchewan release said.
Ontario’s government said, “The agreement marks a major nation-building milestone, breaking down longstanding barriers between provincial grids and enabling a more connected, resilient and self-reliant energy system.”
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Under this Canada-first agreement, provinces and territories will collaborate to:
- Identify and advance new interprovincial and territorial transmission infrastructure, including key intertie projects with elevated speed
- Expand electricity trade within Canada, helping regions meet growing demand and maximize the use of clean, reliable power before exporting abroad
- Advocate for federal support, including investment to accelerate transmission corridors and an electricity strategy that connects Canada east-west and north-south.
- Partner with Indigenous communities in energy development, ensuring meaningful participation and shared economic benefits
“With the backdrop of global uncertainty, Ontario is emerging as a reliable partner at home and abroad focused on protecting jobs and our economy,” said Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines. “Ontario has secured a landmark agreement to build an energy corridor that will strengthen our grid using Canadian materials, expertise and workers. This first-of-its-kind partnership lays the foundation for thousands of jobs, billions in investment, and a modernized grid that advances Canada’s long-term energy future. Together, we are advancing Made-in-Canada energy solutions to meet unprecedented energy demand and keep Canada’s economy strong.”
The Ontario release noted, “Canada’s grids were built for a different era — designed within provincial borders, rather than a modern economy. According to the North American Electricity Reliability Corporation (NERC) several jurisdictions across North America are currently labelled an elevated risk, requiring more power. Rapid population growth, major industrial expansion, critical mineral development and electrification are driving unprecedented demand for power, while limited interprovincial connections prevent regions from sharing reliable, clean electricity efficiently. Without action, these constraints will lead to higher costs, slower project development, and missed economic opportunities at a time when Canada must strengthen its energy security and global competitiveness.”
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Nuclear considerations
The issue of improving interties for Saskatchewan is growing in importance with consideration of large-scale nuclear power generation in the medium term. Adding two 1,000 megawatt-scale reactors could put Saskatchewan in a surplus position, allowing it to sell power to its neighbours. But when those reactors come off line for trips or refueling or other maintenance, it also means Saskatchewan will very much need large-scale interties to pull power from its neighbours. And you can’t replace a 1,000 megawatt reactor through an existing 150 megawatt intertie, such as currently exists between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Similarly, the collection of interties with Manitoba totals just 425 megawatts. Thus, in either direction, there is currently a vast shortage of intertie capacity to either sell excess nuclear power or import backfill power as needed.
Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison speaking about a national energy corridor. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Ministerial statement
In the Saskatchewan legislature on March 4, Harrison made a ministerial statement, calling it a “historic agreement.”
He said it had been “a lengthy negotiation.”
“I can say as well that with Minister Lecce, Saskatchewan really has been at the center of this discussion is two of the jurisdictions, Ontario in eastern Canada, Saskatchewan in Western Canada, that are really in a position to support our neighbors by having allocatable, dispatchable base load power, which really uniquely positions us in Western Canada, and obviously Ontario as a large net power exporter in Eastern Canada.
“But we have never really in this country before had a national approach, with provinces and territories working together, and the federal government as a partner in that process, in putting together a plan for what long term transmission is going to look like.
“Really, what we’ve had is a series of provincial grids that have been connected at points by interties. But even at that, really, the way that the grid is set up is north-south, not east- west.”
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He pointed out the example of providing power to Alberta on that very morning. But because Alberta and Saskatchewan are on different interconnects, it has to go through an AC/DC/AC conversion.
He said, “Alberta, we’ve had that wide open 152 megawatts. I’m selling power to Alberta at $370 a megawatt-hour, which is profit for the people of this province. And thanks to the folks at Poplar River, we’re actually running the facility and being able to export power into Alberta.
“So that is the “what.’ The ‘why’ is because we need to actually have a national plan here, and we have sat with the federal government on this as well. And I think you’re going to hear more news coming from the Government of Canada in this space, but SaskPower has really been a leader, and I want to give our team a lot of credit at the company for their degree of engagement and really their expertise that they have brought to this process at the national level, with our partners in Ontario, OPG and Bruce Power, who have been great partners here.
“What this means for Saskatchewan, though, in creating the infrastructure to be able to export our generation around the country; east, west, and to the United States as well, which we have been doing over the course of a number of cold spells this winter.”
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Harrison said this is “really is going to pave the way now being a net power exporter, but to be a nuclear power generation powerhouse, which is what our energy security strategy lays out, and this has really been baked into the energy security strategy.
“As far as transmission, the announcement that that I made last week on transmission, along with our technology down-select on large scale nuclear, and our continuing work on small modulars as well. Saskatchewan is uniquely positioned, and there are going to be some incredible benefits that are coming from that unique positioning, which I would add the opposition would completely destroy. We are going to stay focused on our energy security strategy in a very serious way, you can’t power a power grid on pixie dust and good intentions, which is what the other members think across the way.
“Physics and reality actually matters. That is our focus. And I want to thank the good folks at SaskPower. I want to thank the good folks at Poplar River, Boundary Dam, all of our generation stations across the province, those who are making sure our transmission has stayed on and reliable.”
NDP response
In response, NDP Shadow Minister for Jobs and the Economy as well as SaskPower Critic Aleana Young said, “I’m pleased to hear that resources are being put to policies, regulations and framework to ensure that energy and services can flow freely across Canada. It’s fundamentally important to Saskatchewan and to Canada that we connect provinces, harmonize standards, build and do so strategically, and that, of course, begins with our technicians and planners to get folks at SaskPower.
“The federal government funding also announced yesterday will help support Saskatchewan’s transmission system, and we also need, and will continue to demand on this side of the house, significant and sustained federal funding for those interprovincial interties.
“We heard a lot yesterday, and we heard a lot on the call from other provinces in Canada about the importance of growing hydro, nuclear, renewables, natural gas. And we continue to look forward to clear timelines and sustained updates on bilateral negotiations so that provinces can move beyond planning to plan.
“And though this announcement is welcome, it will do little in the short term regarding the generation costs the Saskatchewan government is planning to incur and the rate increases that will follow. Farms, small businesses, rural residents and industry are concerned and speaking up. And far too many families in Saskatchewan are already under water on their bills, affordability must be the priority.
“This announcement, today, is great. We see the provinces talking to each other, which is progress, indeed, but we don’t see that national strategy. We’ll be looking for it in the federal government’s forthcoming electricity strategy, as we’ll be looking significant investment into interprovincial, interties and into Saskatchewan electricity sector, because if the federal government truly wants to build strong economy in Canada, grow energy and job security for Canadians and for folks here in Saskatchewan, best bang for their buck is investing in Saskatchewan’s electricity sector. From growing our nuclear opportunity, from rock to reactor, building a flexible and responsive grid and investing in generation transmission and those critical interprovincial enterprise, this real investment can ensure energy security for Canada, with Saskatchewan at the Heart of that power broker for Western Canada.”
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