Solar firms cut staff with end of net metering
Saskpower has promised replacement but providers want say on new policy
Three weeks after Saskpower halted its net metering program for review, Miguel Catellier has already had to lay off four of his solar company’s employees, although reassurances of a new program coming has him hopeful these cuts will be temporary.
As the president of Trugreen Energy in Emerald Park, Catellier knows his company is not the only one that has already had to shrink its staff.
“I’m getting calls all the time from people who work for other companies who’ve already been let go,” he said.
Bradyn Parisian, founder and CEO of Regina-based Mo’ Solar Company, said he has had to lay off two of his employees.
“We ran out of guaranteed work for our staff and we unfortunately had to let them go,” he said, noting his plans to expand his business by taking on more projects across the province and hiring more staff have also come to a standstill.
But after a phone call with Saskpower on Wednesday morning, Catellier and Parisian said they were told some kind of replacement program will be starting in November.
A Saskpower spokesperson could not confirm any specific start date.
Parisian said he has had no communication with the provincial government about what this program might look like, although he and many other companies have been vocal about wanting to be involved with its design.
“We don’t want to be prescribed what the program is going to be. We want to help actually form and make educated decisions around what the program winds up looking like,” he said. “We want to be at the table with you looking at the white board trying to come up with integrative solutions.”
Although Catellier said he has had the opportunity to talk with Saskpower and the provincial government about his concerns, he is still worried any new program will not be designed in a way that helps local solar companies. In the Wednesday morning call, he said Saskpower told him it was looking at Manitoba as a potential role model.
Instead of maintaining a one-toone credit system for extra power generated by a customer, Manitoba switched to paying just under four cents per kilowatt-hour for the extra power.
Catellier believes following in Manitoba’s footsteps would be a big mistake.
“If they do what Manitoba did ... it won’t be successful for sure. Like the industry dropped off 95 per cent in Manitoba,” he said, adding that this power credit system would double the amount of time it takes a homeowner to recoup the costs of installing a solar system.
Parisian was also firm that oneto-one net metering needs to continue in the province.
“That’s very important ... If you take away that mechanism the entire industry dies,” he said.
NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon called on the provincial government to consult with solar companies about what a new program should look like, and said the net metering program should not have been halted while it was being reviewed.
“The government should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “The fact that they scrapped a successful program without any consultation and without a program to replace it is disgusting.”
In an emailed statement, the Government of Saskatchewan said, “We have met and will continue to meet with stakeholder groups. Saskpower is committed to reviewing the program as quickly as possible, and announcing a new and more sustainable program very soon.”
Minister Responsible for Saskpower Dustin Duncan also announced on Wednesday the first stage of the competition to build one or more utility-scale wind facilities, which would see up to 300 megawatts of wind power added to the provincial grid.