SaskPower bills could rise as much as 6.4 per cent in February, rate panel warns

The Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel is warning SaskPower customers to be prepared for their bills to go up by as much as 6.4 per cent on February 1.

The panel confirmed the 3.9 per cent rate hike which took effect on Feb. 1, but noted that ratepayers should be prepared for next year’s increase to be higher than the additional 3.9 per cent proposed by the Crown corporation.

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“The panel is deferring its recommendation on the February 1, 2027 increase until SaskPower provides updated financial information later this year, but is advising ratepayers to be prepared for the possibility that the final system-average increase could be approximately 1.5 to 2.5 percentage points higher than SaskPower’s proposed 3.9 per cent,” the rate review panel said in a statement.

“The panel found that SaskPower is facing significant financial and operating pressures, including an expanding capital program, increasing operating costs, higher fuel and purchased power costs, declining export revenue and uncertainty surrounding future carbon obligations.”

The panel said it needs to see more current financial information from SaskPower before making its final recommendation on the next increase, and said the company is required to provide updated financial statements and additional materials to the panel by Nov. 2.

Those materials include information on the anticipated revenue coming from Bell Canada’s data centre project, which is currently under construction in the RM of Sherwood, just outside of Regina.

“The timing of revenue from the Bell data-centre project is particularly important because SaskPower’s improved 2026-27 financial forecast is driven in part by anticipated additional electricity sales to the project,” the panel noted.

“The panel’s consultant concluded that the timing of those revenues remains uncertain.”

Albert Johnston, who chairs the panel, said the group recognizes the affordability challenges that Saskatchewan households and businesses are currently facing, but noted that SaskPower must have the revenue and financial capacity necessary to properly maintain the provincial power grid.

“We believe the 2026 increase should be confirmed, but the decision on the 2027 rate should be based on the most current financial information available,” Johnston noted in a statement.

In an interview, Johnston explained the panel has to take into account the corporation’s increased costs and capital needs in the future.

“If they don’t get an adequate rate increase in 2027, then ratepayers could be looking at much larger increases, say, two or three years down the road,” he said. “We don’t want to see people getting a four per cent increase now and then suddenly they’re facing, you know, 10 or 12 per cent in two or three years.

“Now, we don’t know if that’s what it’s going to be, but that’s the concern.”

Johnston said whether a rate increase is affordable isn’t part of the purview of the review panel.

“We’re charged with determining and making a recommendation as to what a fair and reasonable rate is,” he said. “That has to take into account the effect on ratepayers, but it also has to take into account the effect on SaskPower.

“And if it’s not fair and reasonable for both parties, then we’ve got to make a key list to how we’re going to make our recommendation.”

The panel received “substantial public input” during its review, the organization noted, and affordability was a top concern “along with SaskPower’s future generation choices, the cost and risks associated with major investments, the fairness of rates among customer classes, and the availability of information concerning SaskPower’s planning and decision-making.”

“The panel confirmed that SaskPower is facing significant financial pressures resulting from aging infrastructure, rising operating costs, and growing electricity demand,” Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s minister of Crown Investments Corporation, said in a statement.

“It also emphasized the importance of affordability for Saskatchewan households, farms, and businesses. We will carefully review the report and ensure any future decisions strike the appropriate balance between maintaining a reliable electricity system and protecting ratepayers from unnecessary cost increases.”

— with files from CJME’s Geoff Smith