SaskPower’s capital spending to hit record $1.6 billion in 2024-’25

SaskPower plans to spend $1.6 billion on the provincial electricity system during the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

That’s an increase from $433 million over 2023-2024.

Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower, said this is a record investment.

“This is going to greatly enhance the ability for SaskPower crews to be able to efficiently serve Regina and area,” said Duncan.

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According to Duncan, this year’s capital investments will help the Crown power corporation modernize and decarbonize the provincial power grid.

SaskPower will begin operating the province’s first battery energy storage system this year in the Regina area. The company also plans to add 200 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to the Bekevar Wind Energy Project near Kipling and commission the Great Plains Power Station in the Moose Jaw area.

“The clean energy transition is the most significant change SaskPower has ever experienced, and investments are required to navigate it successfully,” Rupen Pandya, SaskPower’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

“As we look to the future, our investments will continue to be focused on strengthening our electricity system and moving to lower-carbon generation options.”

Duncan spoke to the media at SaskPower’s new Regina Operations and Maintenance Complex on Tuesday. The building is part of a project that had consolidated 11 end-of-life facilities into five or six new buildings.

Phase one developed two new buildings, and the second phase of developments should open by 2026. The entire project cost $280 million.

SaskPower’s planned capital expenditures for 2024-2025 include $710 million for new generation projects, $508 million for transmission upgrades and maintenance, as well as “distribution and generation assets,” $311 million in growth projects to connect new customers to the power grid, and $67 million in strategic investments including the deployment of smart metres and the continuation of projects like the Regina complex.