Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
SaskPower is bringing its people together.
The Crown corporation announced Thursday that it plans to move some of its Regina-area employees in an effort to reduce its locations in the Queen City. When the plan is completed, SaskPower’s employees will occupy six offices, down from the current 13.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve been developing a strategy to figure out how we’re going to deal with the aging facilities that our employees work in here in the city of Regina,” Mike Marsh, president and CEO of SaskPower, said during a media conference.
“We have over 20 facilities and 13 different sites in the city that we’ve occupied for many, many years. Some of the buildings even go back to the Second World War.”
Marsh said many of those facilities need renovations if people are to continue working in them safely.
SaskPower has purchased an office building on Scarth Street for $4.5 million and expects to take ownership of the building in July. Following up to $18 million in renovations, 400 employees from other sites are to move into the building by 2021.
That move will cut five leased properties from SaskPower’s holdings and save about $1 million annually in operating costs.
A new logistics warehouse complex located on the land SaskPower owns at the Global Transportation Hub is to be built. Construction on that facility is to be completed in a number of phases and is expected to be done in 2026.
The cost of construction and the first phase of the building on GTH land is expected to be $67 million. The 400 people who end up at that facility will work in SaskPower’s warehousing, fleet service and Regina service centre operations.
As well, SaskPower is refurbishing its aging head office on Victoria Avenue, with a price tag of $120 million. Renovations, including asbestos removal, are being done on different floors to make the building safer and to expand workspace for the 870 staff members who work there.
“We want to bring this up to current standards so that we have another great building that we can use for another 40 years,” Marsh explained.
The company also is addressing issues at its office and research facility on Powerhouse Drive. That $7.5-million project is to begin later this year.
Marsh said the company is doing the consolidation project in a staged approach.
“We do that so we can make changes as they come up, and also we can incorporate it into our long-term capital plan and that minimizes any impact to customers as well,” he said.
The cost for the improvements are to be paid for through SaskPower’s capital budget.
NDP questions move to GTH
NDP Leader Ryan Meili had lots of questions about the decision to put SaskPower in the GTH, but one in particular stood out.
“Does it make sense for SaskPower or does it just make sense for the Sask. Party?” Meili said after question period on Thursday.
The opposition wants to understand the rationale of putting a Crown corporation in the GTH, a move that Meili said doesn’t seem to fit with the original intention of a transport hub.
Of bigger concern to the NDP is if the government is moving a SaskPower office to the GTH to make the project seem more successful. As Meili put it, the NDP is concerned that the move is a way for the Sask. Party to “provide cover for a failed project.”
“It’s not to say that there’s no possible use case for SaskPower at the GTH but we’ll be asking lots of questions about the details and that’s what matters,” he said. “Is this the most sensible use of SaskPower resources? Is it the most sensible place to be locating staff, moving them out of the city? What is really going on here?”
— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick
