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Buying its own building in Regina and a frigid winter both helped SaskEnergy increase its net income last year.
In its annual report, issued Wednesday, the Crown corporation said it generated a net income of $82 million over the 2021-22 fiscal year, up $23 million from the previous year.
“The increase is largely due to a one-time accounting adjustment related to the conclusion of litigation that awarded SaskEnergy title to its head office building in Regina,” the company said in a media release.
“Higher demand for natural gas from industrial customers, as well as higher demand overall due to colder-than-normal winter weather and the addition of more than 2,800 new distribution customers, also contributed to higher net income from operations.”
SaskEnergy reported revenue of $553 million, up from $526 million in 2020-21. Expenses rose from $467 million in ’20-21 to $471 million last year.
The corporation bumped up its natural gas rate in the fall, but said it still offers the lowest residential gas bills in Canada.
That rate bump may not be the end of increases in the foreseeable future. Don Morgan, the minister responsible for SaskEnergy, said the global price of natural gas is going up so it’s realistic to assume SaskEnergy rates will go up as well.
“When you have a significant increase in commodity costs, those costs ultimately will be reflected in the rates,” explained Morgan.
However, Morgan said the effect won’t be exact on the SaskEnergy rate because the Crown buys natural gas on long-term contracts, locking in prices, which serves as a buffer from a volatile market.
SaskEnergy provided $2.65 million in rebates to homeowners so they could buy infrastructure like high-efficiency furnaces and water heaters, and $390,000 in rebates to businesses for the installation of energy-efficient furnaces, boilers and water heaters.
The company also provided a dividend of $22 million to the Crown Investments Corporation, an increase of $1 million over the previous year.
According to its report, SaskEnergy reduced greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 22,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and increased the capacity of its natural gas system via a new 30-kilometre cross-border transmission line near Pierceland and a new 86km gas line from Rosetown to Vanscoy.