The Saskatchewan NDP is saying not enough is being done regarding power outages in the province.
SaskPower released their 2018-2019 annual report Friday morning when Minister responsible Dustin Duncan and SaskPower President and CEO Mike Marsh addressed the issues regarding recent power outages in Regina.
The message from the government is they are looking into the outage problems surfacing in different parts of the city and that their plan going forward is to invest their time and money into these issues.
NDP MLA for Regina Lakeview Carla Beck said there is a concern with power infrastructure in the province and it has been there for quite some time.
“This has been brought up as a concern for a number of years. Whether we have an adequate amount of investment in infrastructure, I’d say we don’t,”
Of the approximate $400 million that will be spent on infrastructure, SaskPower announced $19 million will be towards upgrading power infrastructure later this year after the recent outages in different areas of Regina.
Giving her thoughts on that statement, Beck responded by saying more action is needed by the government and Crown corporation, adding how some of their misplaced investment priorities should worry residents.
“There are a lot of concerns with exactly where SaskPower has been putting some of those funds that should have been invested in things like new infrastructure, getting rid of deferred maintenance and investing in [renewable power].” she said. “I think Saskatchewan really has been late on that investment.”
Other concerns she pointed to while speaking with the media included SaskPower’s debt load heading into the new fiscal year and the government needing a better plan for the province’s power supply moving forward.
The federal government’s new regulations for their carbon tax system will affect natural gas plants needing to bring their operations down to zero emissions by 2030, or paying the price for those emissions.
It also means plans to build a new natural gas plant in Moose Jaw’s industrial park have been delayed while the government analyzes the new rules set out by the feds.
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