Provincial government ushers in coal-fired electricity regulations

As part of an ongoing negotiation with the federal government, Saskatchewan has passed regulations on coal-fired electricity.

Under an agreement with the federal government, first announced in November 2016, Saskatchewan will be able to keep its fleet of coal-fired power plants if they meet or exceed federal environmental standards.

Without such an agreement, according to the province, all coalfired units in the province would have to close at the end of their economic life, or by 2030, depending on which comes first.

Under federal regulations still being finalized, SaskPower would also be required to regulate its emissions on a unit-by-unit basis. But under the agreement — known as an equivalency agreement — the Crown corporation has financial and regulatory flexibility to continue operating its coal units if they outperform federal emission requirements on a fleet-wide basis.

“SaskPower welcomes an agreement that will recognize that we have captured and stored 1.75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide since successfully launching carbon capture sequestration on Boundary Dam 3,” SaskPower CEO and President Mike Marsh said in a statement.

“We are also developing greener ways of generating electricity. Having flexibility will allow us to deliver reliable and moderately-priced electricity and meet growing demand with a diversified generation portfolio that includes wind and solar. We’ve set an aggressive target of up to 50 per cent generation capacity from renewables by 2030.”