SaskPower complex project in Regina moves to second phase

The second and final phase of SaskPower’s new Regina Operations and Maintenance Complex is now underway.

The facility will be staffed by SaskPower employees who are currently working at 11 facilities that are nearing the end of their lifespans. Once the complex is complete, as many as 800 SaskPower employees will be moved into five or six new buildings just outside of the city at the Global Transportation Hub.

The first phase of the project began in 2021, and was completed earlier this year. A Saskatchewan company, PCL Construction Management Inc., was awarded the $95 million contract to finish up the second phase of the $280 million project.

The company expects construction of the new complex to be finished in 2026.

Dustin Duncan, minister responsible for SaskPower, said putting all the departments together under one roof will help to streamline SaskPower.

“I think it will be much more efficient to be operating under this one complex, rather than six locations in and around the Regina area,” Duncan explained.

“So when you think of a service crew that needs to go out and do some maintenance, the way the current state is right now, they might have to go to multiple facilities spread out over not just Regina but the Regina area to get all of their supplies, then go out, whereas in this case, when a crew is dispatched, they can be basically dispatched from one centralized location.”

Rachelle Verret Morphy, executive vice president of legal and corporate services at SaskPower, said the facilities themselves have also been designed with efficiency in mind.

“We’re introducing not just operational efficiencies but energy efficiencies into this facility,” Morphy said.

“The technology that we were incorporating into the facility is much more modern than what we had at our old facilities, which, as we said, required additional investment, so our maintenance costs will be lower, our utility costs will be lower, and our power usage will be lower, and so that is one way that we will be more energy efficient and just lower our emissions footprint.”