NDP bringing plan for power grid to public discussions

This past May, it came out that the Sask Party has plans to spend a total of $26 billion over the course of the next 25 years to extend the life of the province’s coal plants.

The NDP however believes sinking that money on coal plants near Estevan and Coronach is the wrong move, and that Saskatchewan should instead follow what the rest of the world is doing.

“We’re a cold province and the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, which is why you need natural gas. This is what literally every other jurisdiction in the country and the world is doing except for Saskatchewan. We do have legacy coal assets and these should be run until end of life or as is practical. Spending $26 billion on rebuilding these assets with no clarity on how long they can be run at a cost which we know is double what we could spend on building out the entire rest of our grid.”

The conversation around nuclear power is growing around the world, and the NDP believes what the Sask Party Government’s commitment towards coal is going to force the province into a choice: stick with coal, or shift towards nuclear.

“This will not leave a province of a million people with the fiscal capacity for investing in something like nuclear if and when that’s the right option for Saskatchewan. We’re a province of a million and a quarter people. We do not get to spend that kind of money twice, and with the Sask Party’s plan, again, with no accountability, no business case, no oversight, no willingness to be transparent with SaskPower customers and taxpayers about the amount of money that they’re spending. They will set this province up for a choice between investing $26 billion in maintaining coal or building the generation capacity and the grid of the future.”

Young was adamant that the NDP’s full plan does not mean closing down the coal-fired plants in the province, or at least not right away. Their plan is to keep these facilities running until the end of their life cycle, and finding ways to transition that technology, infrastructure, and workforce already in place towards other power generating avenues.

“When it comes to communities like Estevan and Coronach, no one is talking about shutting down coal tomorrow, next year, or even two years from now. These are communities that have a history and a future in energy and electricity production in Saskatchewan, and when we’re looking at investing public dollars into natural gas generation, whether simple or combined cycle, we’re talking about building out transmission. When we’re talking about the opportunities for nuclear future technologies, these are the communities that have the workforce and the existing infrastructure.”

The NDP has projected that their plan will generate up to $33 billion in economic activity.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

NDP bringing plan for power grid to public discussions

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