Interim SaskPower CEO looks to patch customers’ views

A man who played a large role in the failed SaskPower smart meter program is now charged with fixing it. 

Mike Marsh is the interim CEO of the crown corporation, promoted from his position as a vice president and chief operations officer.

“This allows us to make things better than they were in the past,” said Marsh during a phone interview Tuesday.

Former CEO Robert Watson stepped down after an investigation into the smart meter program. The final review from the Crown Investments Corporation was released Monday.

Marsh says his company plans to implement all of the investigators’ recommendations, adding that a committee has been struck to oversee the changes.

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“We have to learn from (the recommendations), make the necessary corrections and move forward,” said Marsh.

One recommendation was that all of the smart meters be removed before spring next year. Marsh says workers are on track to do that. About 33,000 meters have been removed.

Investigators ruled the smart meter failures were a result of rainwater and contaminants leaking inside, but they assure people that the meters should hold up over the winter.

“We don’t think snow is going to be as difficult for things as just heavy, heavy rainfall,” said electrical engineer Jack Ritenburg at a news conference Monday. “You’d need a lot of snow to be equivalent to four inches of rain.”

Other recommendations called for a slower roll-out of the next generation of smart meters, clearly defining roles of those involved in the project – particularly identifying the person in the role of making risk assessment decisions, and taking pictures of installations to make it easier to identify problems if issues arise.

Marsh says these changes will all be implemented, but does acknowledge there is also work to be done to patch SaskPower’s relationship with its customers.

“SaskPower, you know, like every other company is not infallible. There are mistakes that get made. We have to learn from them,” said Marsh.

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