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A leaked SaskPower document indicates SaskPower was told the provincial government’s decision to double down on coal would bring an “extreme” risk.
The NDP Opposition says the document it shared with media on Wednesday should raise more concerns about the province’s 25-year, $26 billion plan to refurbish and extend the life of its coal-fired power plants.
“There is no way to make this make sense,” said Aleana Young, the NDP’s critic for the Crown Investments Corporation.
The document was a decision item presented to SaskPower’s audit and finance committee on Nov. 5, 2025, and then its board of directors on Nov. 20. The executive summary calls it “a transitional plan that reflects Government of Saskatchewan direction to life extend coal-fired generation for up to 25 years.”
It indicates that SaskPower’s finance department had prepared an estimate of the rate impact if the plan was adopted.
“In absolute terms relative to rates in 2025, the average cost of electricity is projected to be 20% higher in 2030 and 95% higher in 2040,” it reads.
That calculation was made with the assumption that the federal industrial carbon tax would not be in place. The province may have stopped collecting carbon pricing from SaskPower customers, but it still has obligations under the federal regime.
The document indicates that coal units are high-emitting and the corresponding carbon tax payments on coal generation “are extremely large.”
Although the briefing note says the provincial and federal governments are negotiating on industrial emissions, Young said she believes the news Alberta will still have to pay industrial carbon pricing means Saskatchewan will not be spared.
“I cannot fathom where rates would go,” Young said.
Minister not made available
Since obtaining a copy of the document, CBC News has made repeated attempts to get a response from Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison.
Saskatchewan Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison, left, speaks to media alongside Gregg Milbrandt, SaskPower’s vice-president for asset strategy and planning. (Alexander Quon/CBC)
Harrison did not directly respond when asked by the NDP about the document on Wednesday in question period, and he was not made available to media after question period.
Instead, the government provided a prepared statement from SaskPower CEO Rupen Pandya, who seemed to confirm the document’s authenticity, saying that various scenarios, analyses and options are reviewed internally before decisions are made.
WATCH | New documents show ‘extreme’ risk of Sask.’s $26B coal power plan:
New documents show ‘extreme’ risk of Sask.’s $26B coal power plan
The Saskatchewan NDP released new, leaked documents from SaskPower that show the Crown corporation was advised of the “extreme” risks associated with the government’s $26 billion plan to refurbish and extend the life of its coal-fired power plants.
“Those decisions should not be confused with finalized government direction or policy,” his statement said.
“Public confidence is not served when confidential internal deliberations are taken out of context.”
Plan has ‘extreme’ risk: document
The document shows the “residual risk profile” is extreme, with a chart breaking down specific concerns.
Reliability is listed three times, with the inherent risk level described as medium or high. The latter is the result of relying on coal plants “that have had reduced investment leading up to their previously expected retirements,” it says.
The document indicates that may increase the risk for “simultaneous forced outages and frequency of forced outages.”
That concern will be mitigated through sustained capital investment to make them as reliable as possible, the chart reads.
There are also “extreme” risks around financial and regulatory areas. Mitigation for financial concerns will be reliant on the outcome of negotiations over the carbon tax.
The decision to double down on coal means the province would be in violation of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations, the document reads. Harrison has previously insisted the regulations are “illegal.”
The extreme regulatory risk is because the province would be in violation of an equivalency agreement that exempts it from coal regulations.
The equivalency agreement expires at the end of 2026 and would mean certain facilities would immediately not be permitted to operate, with restrictions on the remaining coal facilities coming into effect after 2030, according to the document.
Harrison has previously insisted the Clean Electricity Regulations are “illegal.”
Young said the risk section highlights poor decision-making by the government.
“All of these risks identified, whether it’s reliability, whether it’s reputational, whether it’s fiscal, there’s not a low-risk option among them,” she said.
The document also indicates that because of the province’s direction, SaskPower is terminating “previous corporate commitments related to renewable capacity and emissions reductions.”
Young said that means renewable energy projects will be cancelled.
‘Massive impacts’
The current legislative session is set to end this week. Young said the NDP’s efforts to highlight the province’s poor decision-making are not going to stop.
“This is going to have massive impacts in every single corner of the province,” she said.
“You cannot run a business without affordable electricity, and we are going to spend this summer making sure that every single community, every single business, every single voter in Saskatchewan knows.”
Young also called for Premier Scott Moe to “find his backbone” and fire Harrison.
