Bill needs to reflect carbon tax changes

For the first time, Saskatchewan's current budget (page 48) includes electricity-sector revenue under the province's output-based pricing system (OBPS) program.

On Nov. 22, 2022, the Saskatchewan government announced that “a provincial plan has been approved to replace the federally imposed carbon tax on industrial emitters in the province, effective January 1, 2023.”

The updated OBPS program now includes the addition of electricity generation. OBPS compliance payments (also known as carbon charges) collected on customer monthly utility bills by the electricity sector are no longer remitted to the federal government.

Instead, these carbon charges are deposited in the Saskatchewan general revenue fund and segregated for a nuclear energy investment fund.

Why has the electricity sector not updated the monthly customer utility bills to reflect these significant changes? Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the carbon charge for the electricity sector is no longer federally imposed, and the charges are remitted to the provincial government.

For the past 15 months my Saskpower bill continues to falsely label the carbon charge as a “federal carbon tax.” I have filed several complaints to Saskpower, but they defend their actions, claiming the media has normalized the term carbon tax, and blaming the federal government for imposing pollution pricing.

I have also filed complaints about Saskpower to the Saskatchewan Ombudsman and they insist the matters I describe do not fall within their mandate and that there is no role for the ombudsman office. If the ombudsman won't hold Saskpower accountable to their customers, then who will?

Shannon Wright, Vanscoy