SaskEnergy rate drop could be erased by carbon tax: province

As of right now SaskEnergy customers are paying the lowest rates in 19 years, but the province warns that will be short-lived if the federal carbon tax is imposed on Saskatchewan.

As of Nov. 1, SaskEnergy’s rate for natural gas dropped from $3.65/gigajoule, to $2.95/gigajoule – the lowest rate since 1999.

The Crown has also put in an application to drop rates even further in April 2019 to $2.65/gigajoule.

However, in a news release, Bronwyn Eyre, minister responsible for SaskEnergy, said the reductions could be reversed.

“While SaskEnergy has been able to pass along savings this winter, the corporation could be forced into several years of large, uncalled-for increases due to the federal carbon tax.”

In total, the rate reductions would be expected to save the average customer $80 a year, but the province says the carbon tax could add $1/gigajoule on to bills adding up to an estimated $100 to $120 a year for the average customer.

The application to reduce rates in April would also include a 3.7 per cent increase in the delivery service rate, and the province said SaskEnergy would have to look at the carbon tax’s impact internally to figure out if it will have to amend its delivery service rate application.