SaskPower is paying an $18 million dividend back to the province after making $184 million in net income, according to its 2023-24 annual report. Pictured L to R: SaskPower CEO Rupen Pandya, Crowns Minister Dustin Duncan, SaskPower Executive Vice-President Troy King. Jul. 9, 2024 (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

By Lisa Schick/CKOM News Staff

SaskPower returns to profit as it releases 2023-24 annual report

Jul 9, 2024 | 1:30 PM

After a previous year with a big loss for SaskPower, the Crown Corporation is back in the black for 2023-24.

On Tuesday, the company’s annual report explained a $184 million net income — a $172 million loss in 2022-23. The $356 million difference was largely due to lower fuel costs and a $312 million rise in revenue thanks to electricity sales.

The company says sales are now above $3 billion, due in part to a four per cent system-wide rate increase, a 0.5 per cent increase in the carbon levy and a nearly two per cent increase in sales volumes, mostly because of industrial and oil field customers.

Crowns Minister Dustin Duncan said there is no plan for SaskPower to ask for another rate increase any time soon. However, he says there will eventually be because of carbon tax and rate increases will be needed because of SaskPower’s capital and infrastructure needs.

SaskPower spent $1.213 billion on capital investments in 2023-24, which is near a record. That number includes $520 million for repairs and upgrades to aging generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and $621 million for growth like new facilities and expanding capacity.

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The company collected $269 million on the carbon charge, which is $59 million more than the previous year. The carbon tax is no longer paid to the federal government. The money is now collected by a Saskatchewan program and is used on energy projects in the province.

SaskPower is no longer charging the carbon tax on home heating to customers, but the company is still paying the amount. It has cost SaskPower $1.3 million for the first three months of 2024.

Duncan said it’s a small number of customers and a smaller dollar amount than SaskEnergy and, in SaskPower’s case, the money is staying within the province’s system.

“It stops the federal government coming and looking to renegotiate the agreement that we do have between the federal government and the province for those dollars remaining in the province,” said Duncan.

The report explains SaskPower’s goal is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to half of what they were in 2005 and to net zero by 2050 or earlier.

However, in 2023-24 the reduction was only at four per cent – the target was eight per cent. A big reason the company managed to improve that from the three per cent the year before was a 0.9 per cent drop from the emergency shutdown of the Poplar River Power Station for nearly three months.

“We’re confident that we can hit that goal by 2030 and then, ultimately, be net zero by 2050 or sooner than that,” said Duncan.

The rate of emission reduction is expected to increase as more of the province’s coal-fired plants are retired and renewable generation projects like wind and solar power come online.

In the company’s financials, SaskPower added $579 million of debt, to bring its total debt to $9.407 billion. The Crown’s debt ratio hit 74.4 per cent, which is below the 75 per cent targeted ceiling.

The Crown paid an $18 million dividend back to the province, about 10 per cent of its net income, a rate which was set by the Crown Investments Corporation.

Duncan admitted that is a lower percentage than other crowns but defended the level.

“We felt it was a way for power to contribute to the overall goals of the province while also maintaining a healthy financial position,” explained the minister.