Saskpower sees income jump by $90M in 2017-18
REGINA It was a busy year for SaskPower, according to the Crown corporation’s annual report, released Monday.
This year saw decisions on controversial items, such as not retrofitting any more coal-fired plants with carbon-capture and sequestration technology in the near future, as well as bringing back smart meters, but not yet to homes (when first brought in, some caught on fire, prompting Saskpower to uninstall 108,000 of them).
There continues to be peaks in power usage, huge investments in expanding the power grid and a slow march toward increasing the use of renewable power.
Income went up by $90 million
Saskpower’s net income in 201718 was $146 million, which is up from $56 million the year prior. Low natural-gas prices, increased power use, a growing population and a rate increase were all reasons provided for the bump.
Demand increased 5.4-per cent
According to president and CEO Mike Marsh, the increase in energy use was equal to adding roughly 150,000 homes to the power grid.
In what is becoming a near annual occurrence, Saskpower also broke its single-day power usage record. It’s expected Saskpower will continue to invest around $1 billion each year to update and grow the electrical infrastructure grid around the province. Nearly $1 billion invested
Saskpower invested $996 million into the provincial power grid over the past year. That included dollars spent on the Chinook Power Station near Swift Current, which is a 350-megawatt natural-gas plant. A 200-kilometre transmission line from Swift Current to Moose Jaw is also still under construction, costing $231 million.
Another $153 million was used to connect new customers to the grid, while $1.7 million was used for educational programming and community investment. All that spending is taking a toll on the Crown corporation’s debt levels: Its debt ratio now sits at 74.9 per cent.
Wind, solar and hydro on the way
A competitive request for proposals was completed for Saskatchewan’s first 10 megawatts (MW) utility-scale solar project, while 200 MW of power from wind generation is on the horizon. A request for proposal process for that is completed, and the province is expected to announce the proponent this fall. The province and Saskpower will need the renewables to meet the goal of lowering greenhouse-gas emissions from 2005 levels by 40 per cent by 2030.
Saskpower is also expecting to continue purchasing more hydroelectricity from Manitoba as well as promote ways to encourage people and businesses to take part in their own power generation.