REGINA — The opposition New Democrats say that when the legislature resumes in March they will introduce a private member’s bill to try and stop the SaskPower and SGI rate increases.
At a news conference at the legislature, Opposition critic for SaskPower Aleana Young confirmed the party will introduce a private member’s bill during the spring sitting. The NDP also released a letter signed by Young, SGI critic Darcy Warrington and NDP leader Carla Beck and sent to all MLAs, “urging them to support our forthcoming bill,” said Young.
Young cited concerns from constituents about making ends meet as the reason behind the bill.
“Now we’ve heard loud and clear from people across the province, people who are living through a cost-of-living crisis, and they believe that these rate hikes must stop.
Scott Moe’s ridiculous rate hikes, frankly, are bad for business, they’re bad for the economy, and they’re worst of all for people who are struggling to make ends meet,” said Young.
She noted that the first of the 3.9 per cent SaskPower increases took effect Feb. 1, and that the SGI rate increase of 3.75 per cent would start in June. Young also criticized the government for bringing in the increases on an interim basis before the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel made its determination.
“So as folks will know, the government said that they weren’t going to be increasing power bills, they weren’t going to be hiking rates at the Crowns, then turned around and did it with no consultation,” said Young.
“The Rate Review Panel is supposed to be independent, and what we are asking for is that the consultation can actually happen with proper independent experts to ensure that the rate review panel is in fact independent, and that analysis on the impact of people can actually be considered. Because frankly, a rate is an interim if it’s a foregone conclusion, and there’s no clarity on this. It’s called an interim rate. It went into effect at the start of this month, and if the rate review panel comes back and says, you know what, we disagree with this, what recourse do they have? Are they going to credit people’s bills? Or what if the rate review panel, God forbid, comes back and says, it should in fact be higher?”
Young called the interim process “nonsense,” and said the NDP’s bill “will look at ensuring that, frankly, nonsense things like an interim rate can’t happen.”
“Of course, with private members’ legislation, we’re not allowed to ask the government to spend money, but asking them not to take in money, I think, is reasonable during the cost-of-living crisis. And frankly, again, this is the same government that said in December they wouldn’t be hiking rates, only to do it the second day of January.”
This is one of several NDP private members’ bills coming before the assembly, with the NDP also proposing rent control legislation and a bill proposing that future legislation invoking the notwithstanding clause be referred to the provincial Court of Appeal, among others.
The Sask. Party government announced rate hikes in January, with Minister for Crown Investments Corporation Jeremy Harrison saying at the time that SGI and SaskPower “will be making applications to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel seeking modest and balanced rate increases to ensure the financial health of the Saskatchewan Auto Fund and allow us to continue to invest in the reliability of our power grid.” At the time Harrison stated that Saskatchewan is “the most affordable province in Canada, and our government intends to keep it that way while ensuring the financial sustainability of our Crown corporations.”
SaskToday has reached out to the government for comment on the NDP private member’s bill and while they did not specifically say they would defeat the NDP bill, it was clear that the government plans to maintain their current policy regarding SaskPower.
The government reiterated that Saskatchewan “remains the most affordable province in Canada,” noting that Saskatchewan residents “continue to benefit from the second-lowest utility bundle in the country, and SaskPower has not applied for a rate increase in over three years.”
They also noted the province has laid out a detailed long-term plan for the future in the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan, laying out plans to transition to nuclear power generation and extending the life of coal-fired thermal power plants. “This decision was taken primarily on the grounds of energy security, but it will also save SaskPower billions of dollars in capital costs,” they stated.
“In contrast, the NDP has demonstrated they are lost, reckless, and unserious when it comes to Saskatchewan’s energy future. They promised a ‘Grid and Growth Plan,’ but never released it. Saskatchewan people deserve leadership grounded in reality, with a clear plan to deliver reliable, affordable power — not empty promises,” they stated. “The unserious NDP can continue to hold press conferences, while the Government of Saskatchewan will continue running the power system. Saskatchewan people know exactly which one matters.”
When asked if the fate of this latest NDP bill is a foregone conclusion, with the Sask. Party majority likely to vote against it, Young said “first of all, like, goddammit, it shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion.”
“This is supposed to be a democracy, and the rate review panel is supposed to be independent. It is supposed to be allowed to evaluate the merits of rate applications, not just bow to the wishes of the government. And second of all, the reason that we’ve sent this letter to every single MLA is that we know, we know very well, a lot of these folks, especially the new MLAs, they ran for nominations. They ran to address cost of living. They ran on things like lowering taxes for people. I’ve gone back through the campaigns of a lot of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, looking at what they, those commitments that they made to the people that they serve. And this is an opportunity for every single MLA who believes that affordability matters, and who understands that cost of living is the number one issue for Saskatchewan people. They have the opportunity to vote in favour of that.”
