Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
NDP SaskPower Critic Aleana Young addressing SaskPower rates. NDP photo/LinkedIn
REGINA – There’s been a number of big announcements recently from Minister of Crown Investments Corp. and Minister Responsible for SaskPower Jeremy Harrison in recent weeks – on starting the path to choosing a large nuclear reactor design, and more recently, substantial upgrades to the transmission grid.
NDP Jobs and Economy Shadow Minister and SaskPower Critic Aleana Young posted the following on LinkedIn on Feb. 25:
Power bills shape the cost of living, the competitiveness of our businesses, and the strength of our economy. That’s why I’ve been raising serious concerns about the direction SaskPower is heading. I’ve been on this file for five years, and in the past, I’d agree with the government (from time to time!). Clean Electricity regs were never on for Saskatchewan. Previous commitments to renewable build out, and nat gas capacity made sense.
But now, families, farms, municipalities, and small businesses are being asked to pay more, while major decisions — from coal refurbishment to repeated rate hikes — are being made without clear, transparent cost analysis. When electricity costs rise, everything becomes more expensive.
An appalling lack of transparency — no response from the Minister or SaskPower executives in nearly a year, laughable FOI and written question answers (they’re actually quite funny), no 2026-27 business plan, open talk of privatization, and little willingness to discuss major capital and generational decisions — makes it feel like the Crown is being run as a fiefdom, not the backbone of our economy.
Saskatchewan risks locking itself into the most expensive and inflexible power path possible, while missing the opportunity to build a modern, reliable, and competitive grid. SaskPower exists to keep power affordable, reliable, and publicly accountable. We owe people and industry honest answers about costs, risks, and the long-term plan — because the decisions we make today will shape affordability and economic growth for decades.
Last fall Young spoke of the NDP’s impending “Rocks to Reactors” plan, and in this in-depth piece with Young Pipeline Online published Feb. 12, 2026, she noted it wsa still coming. Young had spent considerable time investigating nuclear power, including visiting many facilities in Ontario last fall. “We’re still doing consultation work on that, but I promise it is actually happening and ongoing,” Young said in early February.
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