SaskPower says the increase to customers bills is a result of a hike to the federal carbon tax applied to its emissions beginning in 2025.
Article content
SaskPower is increasing the amount of carbon tax it collects from customers in the new year.
Article content
Article content
Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, the amount of carbon tax applied to SaskPower’s carbon emissions will increase from $80 per tonne to $95 per tonne, according to a news release from the Crown corporation Wednesday.
“To cover this increase mandated by the Government of Canada, SaskPower must increase the carbon tax amount collected on customer bills by a system-wide average of 2.9 per cent,” states the release, which goes on to note that the amount charged per customer will vary “depending on their consumption and rate class.”
Advertisement 2
Article content
Average residential customers can expect to see a total increase of $26 in 2025, while farm customers will see an average increase of $75.
According to SaskPower’s website, customers who rely on electric power as their primary source of home heating will receive a 60-per-cent reduction on their federal carbon tax charge until Apr. 30, 2025.
The website states that while the Crown electricity provider has “already identified most of the customers who qualify for this relief,” it notes some people may have been missed.
It urges people who believe they may qualify but have not been identified to contact SaskPower online. Instructions on how to do that, and further information about SaskPower’s approach to the carbon tax, are available on the Crown corporation’s website at saskpower.com/federalcarbontax.
Saskatchewan stopped collecting the carbon tax on natural gas used for home heating on Jan. 1, 2024. The move was in response to what Premier Scott Moe declared an “unfair” exemption granted by the Liberal government on home heating oil, which primarily benefits people in Atlantic Canada.
Advertisement 3
Article content
The move put the Government of Saskatchewan in a dispute with Ottawa and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) over the remittance of federal carbon taxes on natural gas.
— with files from Larissa Kurz
The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark leaderpost.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
Article content
