Small business owners lament utility rate hikes, NDP wants them walked back

With utility rates increasing in Saskatchewan on top of inflation, on top of two years of a pandemic, some small businesses are wondering if they can still make a go of it.

Tim and Amy Weisgarber’s business, T+A Vintage and Core Coffee, sits on a corner in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood, offering coffee and baking as well as vintage fashions. Tim said the recent decisions to increase utility rates came with next to no notice, and it’s going to be a huge challenge for them to react.

The provincial government announced July 11 that it had approved SaskPower’s two rate increases, with a four per cent increase to take effect Sept. 1 and another four per cent hike coming April 1, 2023. On the same day, SaskEnergy announced it would be seeking a rate increase, which would come into effect Aug. 1 if it is approved.

“I think it’s unrealistic for anyone to adapt to it and expect our customers to adjust and be patient,” Tim said. “That’s asking a lot from people that already have under a lot of stress.”

Because the increase came with such short notice, Tim said they don’t know for sure what it’s going to mean for them. He said they’ll have to do their best to absorb the extra costs in the short term.

“Maybe we won’t be able to offer as much,” he explained. “It may affect what we deliver to the customers, but obviously that cost gets passed down to our customers and we just try and transition it as gently as possible.”

Those kinds of costs affect the couple personally, he said.

“There’s no vacations this year,” Tim said.

With both the coming SaskPower increases and the proposed SaskEnergy increase, the couple estimated they could end up paying $500 more a year in power and $700 more a year in energy bills.

The couple said they haven’t increased their prices since 2019. Amy said it’s important to them that people can access and afford what they offer.

“We want everyone to enjoy what we make and what we provide,” said Amy.

The couple said with the extra costs and extra sacrifices they’ll have to make, they’re now wondering if it’s really going to be worth it to keep their doors open at all.

Tim said it would be heartbreaking if they had to close.

“We don’t want to close,” Tim said. “It’s one more thing on the plate; it’s a load that we may or may not be able to carry.”

The couple spoke to the media alongside the Saskatchewan NDP’s Aleana Young, the opposition’s economy critic and a small business owner herself.

“The addition of these costs and fees, the eight per cent SaskPower and now the 20 per cent energy hike are simply untenable for businesses still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary costs that are impacting all of us, and lack of consumer confidence that we see in the economy right now,” said Young.

The NDP is calling for the provincial government to walk back the utility increases, especially, Young said, given the higher than normal resource revenue coming in to the provincial coffers.

Young said she believes the provincial government is taking every opportunity it can to hinder small businesses, rather than helping them. She said the government is not listening to businesses, the opposition, or the Canadian Federation for Independent Business (CFIB).

Young quoted a recent news release from the CFIB, which said more than 80 per cent of small business owners agree that rising government-imposed costs are creating difficulties for the businesses, and the nearly one in six small business owners in Saskatchewan are thinking about closing up shop.

In a statement issued in July, Don Morgan, the government minister responsible for SaskPower, said the decision to hike rates was not taken lightly.

“World events have caused a significant rise in the price of natural gas, and with 42 per cent of Saskatchewan’s electricity coming from natural gas-fuelled facilities, SaskPower requires additional revenue to maintain reliable operations,” Morgan said.

Morgan said the Crown utility company tried to find internal efficiencies before making the decision to raise rates, and further noted that SaskPower’s rates have not increased since 2018.