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Saskatchewan is going to be making its own way when it comes to emissions from power generation.
On Tuesday, the provincial government announced its plan to get to net zero while contrasting it with the federal plan that has a shorter timeline.
Earlier this month, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the federal government’s goal for net-zero emissions by 2035 wasn’t realistic.
He doubled down on that statement Tuesday while announcing Saskatchewan is planning to take until 2050 to achieve net zero emissions on the power grid.
“What we are putting forward today is a Saskatchewan plan that is realistic, it’s affordable, and ultimately is going to provide us with the reliability in the baseload electricity that we require as we grow and prosper,” said Moe.
Saskatchewan’s plan includes running SaskPower’s coal and natural gas plants until their end of life, which could, in a couple of cases, go into the 2050s.
“That’s the most efficient and affordable way to provide power. That is what they were designed to do and we made those investments. SaskPower on behalf of its customers made those investments in those facilities with the full expectation of utilizing those investments to the end of their life,” explained Moe.
It would have SaskPower continue to add wind and solar into the mix and to add in nuclear as well.
The plan appears to include nuclear as a fact, but Minister Responsible for SaskPower Don Morgan said that final decision won’t be made for a few years yet.
“It’s certainly an option that can and should be considered. It’s expensive to add to our current mix but the timelines that are outlined in the regulatory process, there’s been no willingness on the part of the federal government to bridge or change those, so the timeline to make that decision is 2029,” said Morgan.
However, at the same time, Moe said he didn’t see any other options to meet the province’s power needs without emitting greenhouse gases.
“I don’t think we’d commit today going one way or the other. Most certainly I’m not aware of another option that can provide us that 80 per cent baseload power over time that we ultimately require,” said Moe.
The federal government has said it wants to have Canada achieve net-zero carbon emissions for electricity generation by 2035, including a phasing-out of electricity generated by fossil fuels and an end to conventional coal-generated power by 2030.
Moe said one of the principles underpinning that is an interest in greening the grid.
“We agree with the greening of the grid (and) the reduction of emissions. In fact, our target is net zero by 2050 so (it’s) not that much different,” said Moe.
But the premier said the province would not sacrifice the reliability of baseload power and affordability of power rates to do it.
Rupen Pandya, CEO of SaskPower, said it’s simply not possible for Saskatchewan to get to net zero by 2035.
“We don’t have carbon capture on natural gas yet; it won’t be proven until 2027 at the earliest in Alberta. And certainly, we can’t deploy nuclear until 2034 — our first nuclear — and if we go that route, it will be 300 megawatts,” said Pandya.
If it were possible, Pandya said they believe the cost of the changes and new infrastructure would more than double power rates.
Moe and Morgan said the province has spoken with the federal government about these forthcoming regulations several times; the province sent a letter with the details of its own plan and position Tuesday morning. However, with the details of the federal regulations not having been released yet, it remains to be seen whether the federal government has listened.
“There has to be a growing realization on the part of the federal government that this is not just impossible for the province of Saskatchewan, but for other jurisdictions as well,” said Morgan.
It appears there will be a clash between the federal and provincial governments on this front but Moe said his government believes energy production is firmly on Saskatchewan’s side of the table.
“As per the Constitution, how we generate power in the province of Saskatchewan, or any province across Canada for that matter, is the purview and the jurisdiction of the province,” said Moe.
Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre has said before that these regulations could be a top candidate to go to the Saskatchewan First Act’s tribunal once it’s created. On Tuesday, she quoted the decision from the carbon tax case Saskatchewan lost, saying the provinces have the autonomy under federalism to develop their economies as they see fit and control their economic destinies.
If these regulations go to court, Eyre said that will be Saskatchewan’s position.
“We have strong arguments around interjurisdictional immunity, around (Section) 92A, around words that have been said about our own rights to defend ourselves economically and culturally. So we’re pretty confident that one of these days, there has to be a recognition that federalism means something and provinces have jurisdiction,” said Eyre.
‘More that we could be doing’
While the NDP’s SaskPower critic, Aleana Young might agree on where things stand right now, she disagrees on how the province got here.
“The 2035 timeline, given the lack of action that we’ve seen, the lack of urgency over the last 16 years, isn’t achievable for where we’re at in Saskatchewan right now,” said Young.
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to ensure that we’re reducing our emissions and ensuring that we have affordable power for people in Saskatchewan.”
She said this provincial government has caused Saskatchewan to lag behind when it comes to renewables.
Young said the federal government is taking this too far, too fast and the province is in a conundrum right now – the province doesn’t have much in the way of hydroelectricity and can’t rely exclusively on importing power from other province. And she said when looking at things like natural gas and carbon capture and storage assets, it doesn’t make economic sense to shut those halfway through their life and have them as extremely expensive stranded assets.
“But is there significantly more that we could be doing to diversify our grid and ensure that we have that reliable power and that we are investing more in renewables,” she said.
Young talked about the net metering solar program, compressed air storage and more deployment of batteries for things like wind and solar.
“There’s a tonne of work that could be done and there’s a lot of technologies that could be explored,” explained Young.
Nuclear power and small modular reactors could be a solution, according to Young, but she said it’s hard to know for sure because SaskPower and the provincial government are being very opaque about the whole process, saying she’s been asking – as the opposition critic – for technical briefings but hasn’t gotten them.
“If a decision’s already been made, why are we spending $170 million dollars of taxpayer money of outreach and engagement on this file?” asked Young.
She wants an open and frank conversation about SMRs from the provincial government, for the opposition, but also for the public.