SaskPower has asked for rate increases in each of the next three years to pay for infrastructure.
The proposal to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel asks for increases to farm customers of 3.5 percent, 4.5 percent and four percent, beginning in 2014.
For the average farm, this would result in monthly bill hikes of $7, $10 and $9 over the three-year term.
Residential customers would, on average, see their bills increase by $5, $4 and $4 per month after increases of 5.5 percent in 2014, and five percent in each of the next two years,
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SaskPower president Robert Watson said the crown corporation needs more money to renew its aging electrical system.
“The type of growth Saskatchewan has experienced in recent years isn’t a blip on the radar; it’s the new reality for our province,” he said.
He said applying for a multi-year increase allows all customers to budget expenses ahead of time.
Watson noted that SaskPower continues to set new annual records for customer connections and the total amount of power needed at any one time.
It has a 10-year, $1-billion-per-year program in place to renew and improve the system.
The corporation has also worked to reduce costs, he said, by changing its borrowing practices to reduce interest costs, a new customer connect process and office savings such as reducing the number of printers in its offices.
By Dec. 31, 2012, it had saved $137 million.
The provincial government has not taken a dividend from SaskPower since 2008 except in 2012. That came after the corporation earned more than expected from increased hydropower generation due to high water levels in 2011.
The $120 million was used for flood costs.
The review panel will make its decision in spring.
