Starting January 1st, Saskatchewan residents can expect to see a small increase on their SaskPower bills due to an increase to the Federal Carbon Tax.
The Carbon Tax on SaskPower’s carbon emissions will be increasing from $30/tonne to $40/tonne.
SaskPower spokesperson Joel Cherry says the increase will be very minimal.
“Even though we’re not pursuing a rate increase for 2021, and we do have a 10 percent power rebate in place, that part of the bill will go up,” said Cherry. “For residential customers, it will depend on your usual usage, but on average a residential customer can expect to see a total increase of about 50 cents a month on their bill.”
Cherry says the increase is placed on SaskPower because of the way the province generates its power.
“Part of Saskatchewan’s power mix, a good percentage of it still comes from burning natural gas and coal, so that’s where we’re seeing the Carbon Tax apply,” said Cherry.
The federal government scheduled continued annual increases until the carbon tax hits $170/tonne by 2030.
The Government of Saskatchewan and SaskPower’s challenge of the Federal Carbon Tax was heard in September 2020 by the Supreme Court of Canada. A timeline for a decision is unknown and SaskPower is required to collect the carbon tax during this time.
