Yet again the provincial government has approved a Crown rate hike - effective January 1, 2013, most customers will see a rate increase between $4 - $6 per month.Although the government claims that SaskPower has not raised rates since August 2010, they did take a $120-million special dividend. Money that could have been used to invest in infrastructure upgrades that are being cited as reasoning for this rate increase.When looking at rate increases, it is also important to consider the Crown utilities bundle that is offered to customers in Saskatchewan. Prior to 2007, our province was commited ...

This week SaskPower announced that they will be seeking a 4.9 per cent rate increase that would be effective at the beginning of next year if approved. Rural residential, farm, and commercial customers will be hit the hardest with the proposed increases, while all customers across the province will see some level of increase.In yesterday’s news release SaskPower noted, “The increase is needed to fund investments in the province’s electrical system to keep up with our growing economy and maintain electrical reliability.” The people of Saskatchewan should be asking themse...

Recently, the 2011 Crown Corporation Payee Disclosure report was released, detail payments that Crowns have made to Board members, employees, suppliers, and sponsorships, among other things. The Payee Disclosure report has been a traditional tool of accountability and transparency for our Crowns. It also shows the immense reach that Crowns have within Saskatchewan, and one of the reasons that this province is a great place to live and make a living. One of the largest portions of the report is the employee compensation section for each individual Crown. Any employee that earns more than 50,000...

With the current government selling off bits and pieces of our power industry to out-of-province power companies, today we take a few minutes to look into Saskatchewan’s future power industry. Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s), in their simplest terms, are contracts with private power companies to supply power to the Saskatchewan grid. Many PPA’s are signed for ‘peak load’ power, which means that when Saskatchewan is using a high amount of power, SaskPower can purchase excess from these providers. In some cases, our government is actually signing agreements are fo...

We you aware that in December 2010, BC Hydro customers were told to expect a near 30% price increase over the next 3 years? Government critics attribute the increase to failed Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and "the government forcing BC Hydro to buy expensive power from the private sector, instead of generating more power itself through public projects."Why would the Brad Wall government want to make the same mistakes other provinces have made?Only 3 months after BC residents were told to expect price increases, the Saskatchewan Party government entered into a 20-year PPA with Ontario-based ...

It is clear that the people of Saskatchewan are being deceived.  Our current government has made many claims regarding the future of Crown Corporations in Saskatchewan. One of which was a statement from our current Premier stating “Crowns are not going to be privatized and (subsidiaries) are not going to be wound down.” Our current government`s actions have been nothing but contrary to this statement.Merriam Webster defines the word privatize as the process “to make private; especially to change (as a business or industry) from public to private control or ownership.&rdq...

Our current government continues to enter into power deals that protect private companies from increased fuel costs but pass increased costs onto Saskatchewan citizens. In February 2010, SaskPower entered into a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ontario-based Northland Power Income Fund. Construction began near North Battleford in July 2010, with the plant scheduled to begin operations in 2013. Once fully operational Northland Power will produce 347 megawatts of base load power, representing nearly 10% of the power generated in Saskatchewan. According to a Northland Power news rele...