HEATING COSTS
Natural gas bills could drop
Heating homes in Saskatchewan by natural gas is set to become cheaper, according to the government.
“Should natural gas commodity markets remain low, we expect that customers will get a break on their heating costs this winter,” Bronwyn Eyre, minister responsible for SaskEnergy, said Tuesday.
It’s expected the commodity side of energy bills — which currently makes up half of your SaskEnergy bill — is expected to go down around 10 per cent.
Such a move would be subject to approval from the province’s rate review panel and is hinged on the volatile natural gas market keeping prices low, though most analysts predict that will happen.
The average residential SaskEnergy customer in Saskatchewan pays between $875 and $925 annually for natural gas costs.
A commodity reduction of about 10 per cent would save the average residential customer around $40 a year on their SaskEnergy bill (the delivery side of the bill would not necessarily be affected).
Work on the review is now underway, and if approved would take effect Nov. 1.
Low natural gas prices being made available to Saskatchewan are partially due to a glut of industrial activity and gas production happening in Alberta and British Columbia (the majority of natural gas used in Saskatchewan is imported from Alberta), according to SaskEnergy president and CEO Ken From.
The low prices are prompting SaskEnergy to work on locking in long-term contracts for natural gas, in hopes of offering customers stability for prices over the next five years. The news came during the release of SaskEnergy’s 201718 annual report, which outlined how the Crown corporation posted a $110-million profit — a $70-million increase from the year prior — largely because of colder temperatures and continued increase in industrial demand.
SaskWater’s annual report was also released Tuesday. That Crown corporation reported earnings of $8.2 million in its 2017-18 fiscal year, which was highlighted by the installation of 30 kilometres of pipeline near Melville.