'Bills would more than double': Sask. says making province's electrical grid net-zero by 2035 is impossible

The Saskatchewan government used a public consultation from Ottawa to reaffirm its disagreement with the federal government’s proposed requirement to have net-zero emissions electricity grids across the whole country by 2035.

The Saskatchewan government used a public consultation from Ottawa to reaffirm its disagreement with the federal government’s proposed requirement to have net-zero emissions electricity grids across the whole country by 2035.

The federal government first proposed the requirement in August through the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER). Prior to that the federal government was requiring net-zero electrical grids by 2030.

According to a news release from the province, SaskPower is estimating electricity bills would more than double to cover the costs associated with creating a net-zero electrical grid in the province over the next 14 years.

“The federal net-zero power system plan is expected to cost Saskatchewan about $40 billion from now until 2035,” the release said.

The province said if Ottawa’s current proposition stands, SaskPower would need to rebuild more than 100 per cent of its current capacity in the next 11 years while also significantly expanding its infrastructure.

Instead, Saskatchewan has again outlined a plan of its own to achieve net-zero electrical generation by 2050.

The plan includes utilizing natural gas power plants until they reach the end of their life date and allowing coal-fired power plants Boundary Dam 3 and Shand Power Station to operate until 2044 and 2042.