Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
NDP Leader Carla Beck. X/@CarlaBeckSK
On Jan. 2, SaskPower announced a planned rate hike of 3.9 per cent this February, and another hike of the same value next February.
The NDP criticized the move, with NDP Leader Carla Beck saying in an emailed statement on Jan. 2, “Now, they’re going to face increases on both their home power bills and their car insurance. We warned the Sask. Party of the impact these increases would have over and over during the Fall Sitting and they ignored us — and downright lied on multiple occasions, stating there wouldn’t be increases.
“These increases from SaskPower and SGI are just the beginning of what is a full-on fiscal trainwreck from an incompetent premier and ministers who are clearly out of ideas and have forgotten who they serve.”
Beck’s full comments on Jan. 2 were published in this story.
And on Jan. 5, the NDP called for an emergency session of the legislature to “bring in rent control and cut taxes for struggling families.”
That press release noted, “It was revealed Friday that the Scott Moe government will hike power and car insurance rates this year. “
Beck said, “It’s shameful that Scott Moe and the Sask. Party continue to tax groceries and kids’ clothing, while planning even more cost hikes on utility bills, property taxes, and everyday essentials. Scott Moe repeatedly stands in the Legislature and claims life is affordable here — who in the world is he talking to? It certainly isn’t the people of Saskatchewan.”
- 0110 SaskEnergy SEI_Network_Members_Burn_Brighter0110 SaskEnergy SEI_Network_Members_Burn_Brighter
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Minister of Crown Investments Corp Jeremy Harrison, presenting the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan on Oct. 20. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Government response
In response, Crown Investments Minister Jeremy Harrison said this in an emailed statement on Jan. 5:
Saskatchewan is the most affordable province in Canada, and our government intends to keep it that way while ensuring the financial sustainability of our Crown corporations.
To that end, SGI and SaskPower will be making applications to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel seeking modest and balanced rate increases to ensure the financial health of the Saskatchewan Auto Fund and allow us to continue to invest in the reliability of our power grid.
Saskatchewan will continue to offer its residents the second-lowest utility bundle in the country. The Auto Fund operates on a cost recovery basis, and this will be SGI’s first application for a rate increase since 2014. SaskPower has not applied for a rate increase in over 3 years.
With regard to SaskPower, we have made decisions that have ensured that Saskatchewan residents and businesses have an affordable and reliable power system while prioritizing the energy security of our province. Firstly, this meant removing the federal carbon tax from your power bill, making Saskatchewan the only carbon tax free province in Canada.
Our Government has also laid out our detailed long-term plan for our power future in the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan. The Strategy lays out our plan to transition to nuclear power generation fueled with Saskatchewan uranium, by life extending our existing coal fired thermal power plants fueled with Saskatchewan coal. This decision was taken primarily on the grounds of energy security, but it will also save SaskPower billions of dollars in capital costs. In fact, had we followed the unconstitutional path dictated by the federal government, that was supported by the Saskatchewan NDP, SaskPower would be forced to hike rates by over 100%. We will simply not do that.
We are making strategic investments into preparing for that nuclear powered future with nearly $600 million dollars allocated to the Small Modular Reactor Fund, and the process has been initiated for potential large scale nuclear power generation. In addition, we will be making investments into securing the reliability of our power grid by connecting the northern and southern power grids and investing in transmission inter-ties with neighboring jurisdictions.
All of these investments will place Saskatchewan at the center of the North American power grid and allow us to export power at a profit for the people of the province.
Our government will continue to prioritize reliability and affordability across our Crown corporations and keep doing everything we can to keep rates as low as possible.
- 0110 SaskEnergy SEI_Network_Members_Burn_Brighter0110 SaskEnergy SEI_Network_Members_Burn_Brighter
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- 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
- 0100 Turnbull Project Manager0100 Turnbull Project Manager
- 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
- 0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD0097 Eagle Sky Ventures LTD
- 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
- 0092 Turnbull projects big and small0092 Turnbull projects big and small
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
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