Costs for refurbishing Sask. coal power plants estimated at $2.6 billion

SaskPower says extending coal plants is costly but ensures energy certainty and could save $21 billion by 2050.

Estimated costs for extending the life of Saskatchewan’s coal-fired power plants are now estimated to total $2.6 billion.

That’s according to SaskPower’s written submission to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel from mid-March.

The document says the estimated price tag of refurbishing 1,500 megawatts of existing coal facilities comes from external consultants, who arrived at a figure far greater than the province’s $900 million estimate.

Crown Investments Minister Jeremy Harrison told reporters last week that the move would bring “massive” cost savings to the province.

However, the minister also maintained that the decision was mostly made based on energy security.

“The decision to extend the life of existing coal-fired generation assets was not driven by a determination that coal life extension represents the lowest-cost generation option,” read the document.

“Rather, the decision reflects a strategic policy choice grounded in the principles of energy security, system reliability, affordability, and the need to ensure sufficient electricity supply to support economic growth in Saskatchewan.”

Back in June, the province opted to refurbish Saskatchewan’s remaining coal plants until 2050 instead of shutting them down by 2029 as mandated under federal regulations.

SaskPower added that extending coal-generation provides certainty as the province transitions to nuclear energy and toward net-zero by 2050.

“Saskatchewan’s electricity system faces unique structural and transitional challenges, including limited legacy hydro resources, increasing demand associated with economic development, and the requirement to maintain reliability while transitioning to a lower-emissions grid,” SaskPower wrote.

“In this context, coal life extension provides dependable baseload capacity that supports system adequacy, operational flexibility, and diversity of supply, while reducing exposure to fuel, technology, and supply-chain risks during a period of significant change.”

Extending the life of coal power would bring $21 billion in savings to the province by 2050, according to SaskPower.

The provincial Crown also said it would cost $1.7 billion to create a new 370-megawatt combined cycle gas generating plant.

SaskPower has enacted a 3.9 per cent rate hike for 2026 and is seeking another 3.9 per increase in 2027.

The increases have drawn the criticism of organizations like the Saskatchewan Industrial Energy Consumers Association, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, as well as the Saskatchewan NDP.

“We’re going to do what’s right for this province,” Harrison said.

“We’re not going to be adhering to the unconstitutional Clean Electricity Regulations; we’re not going to be adhering to the unconstitutional coal-fired power regulations. We’re going to be doing the right things for this province in both an energy security and financial context, which has positioned us uniquely to attract investment.”

RELATED STORIES:

• NDP echoes concerns from consumers, industry about SaskPower rate increase
• ‘Simply can’t afford’: CFIB urges SaskPower against planned rate hikes
• SARM adds voice against SaskPower rate hikes, assembly may debate reversal next week