Utilities team up to install services

Electricity, gas, telecom work together

Starting next year, SaskPower, SaskEnergy and SaskTel will be teaming up to design and install utility services — namely, electric- ity, telecommunications and natural gas lines — in new subdivisions in the two major cities.

Rather than install their facilities as separate projects, the three Crown utilities will be working with local developers to co-ordinate the process. This “team approach” applies only to main services, as the Crowns will still be responsible for installation of individual service lines to homes.

The initiative is being tested this year at two pilot projects aimed at streamlining the installation of services in new neighbourhoods. One pilot project was completed in Saskatoon’s Rosewood subdivision, while another is about to get underway in Regina’s Creeks subdivision. The Crowns will refine this process and make it available to all developers in Regina and Saskatoon for the 2013 construction season.

Developers will be able to hire their own engineering and construction firms to control the timing of the installation of shallow services in a single trench. This is a more timely process for developers preparing new subdivisions, while allowing SaskPower, SaskTel and SaskEnergy to concentrate their resources on other service expansion projects.

Crown Investments Corp. Minister Donna Harpauer said this new process is a “winning combination” for developers, the Crowns and new home buyers. “Developers are able to complete new subdivisions according to their own timelines supported by the expertise of private sector engineering and construction firms, while the Crowns free up valuable resources to meet new customer demands in other sectors,” Harpauer said in a press release Wednesday.

Under this model, the Crowns approve the projects and inspect the results to ensure they meet the required standards. When complete, the Crowns own, operate and maintain the facilities.

“Since 2007, each of our Crown utilities have installed services for more than 30,000 new customers,” Harpauer said. “This new process is another example of how they are responding to the needs of businesses during this period of unprecedented growth in a thriving economy.”