Sask. NDP says leaked SaskPower document shows rates will double due to coal extension

For months, the Saskatchewan NDP has said the government’s plan to invest billions into extending the lives of the province’s coal-fired power plants will lead to ballooning power rates.

On Wednesday, the party released a document leaked from SaskPower that appeared to confirm the contention. Photos of the document were shared by the NDP. It appears to be from SaskPower, and describes information shared with the company’s audit and finance committee in November.

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The document covers the plan to extend coal power for up to 25 years, and says an estimate prepared around the rate impact of the plan showed the cost of electricity, compared to 2025 rates, would be 20 per cent higher in 2030 and 95 per cent higher in 2040. That estimate didn’t include the carbon tax.

The Crown corporation said it regularly conducts discussions on “various scenarios, analyses, and options,” and said it is not helpful to present the figures out of context.

In January, SaskPower applied for a rate increase of 3.9 per cent this year and another 3.9 per cent next year. It said the rate hike in 2026 would mean about $5 more per month for the average residential customer and another $11 per month for the average farm customer. The application said the rate increases were needed in order to support “record capital investments.”

Aleana Young, the NDP’s SaskPower critic, used the leaked document to once again accuse the government of trying to hide the real cost of the coal extension plan.

“This is clearly a political cover-up of the worst kind,” Young said in a statement. “Scott Moe continues to state he’s proud of his power plan — that’s only because he got caught. He got caught because brave individuals who care about this province helped expose this $26 billion disaster for the people of Saskatchewan.”

Young asked a number of questions about the document during Question Period on Wednesday. She directed the questions to the premier, but Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for SaskPower, stood and gave answers.

“This premier is such a coward. He couldn’t find his feet. He sat with his back turned for the duration of Question Period,” Young said afterwards.

She pointed out the leaked document included a table which identified the financial risk of the coal plan to be extreme when it comes to the federal carbon tax.

“Although SaskPower has stopped collecting carbon tax costs from customer bills, the federal carbon pricing regulations are still in effect. Coal units are high-emitting. As a result, the carbon tax payments on coal generation are extremely large,” the document read.

It went on to say the two levels of government have been involved in discussions around these regulations, and an assumption has been made that an agreement will manage this financial risk.

The leaked document also mentions that, as a result of the coal extension plan, SaskPower would terminate previous corporate commitments related to renewable capacity and emissions reductions.

Young said, going forward, Premier Scott Moe has some choices before him – he can “find his backbone” and answer some questions, he can fire the SaskPower minister who appears to be “spending like a drunken sailor”, he can cancel the coal plan.

Harrison was not made available to answer questions from the media on Wednesday, though he answered all the questions about the document from the opposition during Question Period, often turning his answers around to attack the NDP and its own power generation plan.

The minister said the government’s plan for power generation is an all-of-the-above approach, including coal, gas, hydroelectric, and renewable sources, pointing to five renewable power generation projects announced in the past 18 months, which are expected to add 700 megawatts to the provincial power grid.

“I think everyone in this province knows that our plan is the correct one. It’s the appropriate one. It ensures energy security using Saskatchewan resources from Saskatchewan workers for the Saskatchewan public,” said Harrison during Question Period.

SaskPower didn’t answer specific questions about the document on Wednesday. In a statement, CEO Rupen Pandya said the company regularly holds discussions about possible scenarios, but that doesn’t mean a final decision has been made.

“As with any large organization, various scenarios, analyses, and options may be reviewed internally before decisions are made. Those discussions should not be confused with finalized government direction or policy,” Pandya said in the statement.

“Public confidence is not served when confidential internal deliberations are taken out of context.”