The provincial government approved an increase to SaskEnergy’s service rate of 3.6 per cent, which took effect on Nov. 1. The average increase for residential customers will be about $1.65 per month or $20 a year.
The delivery service rate is made up of a fixed basic monthly charge, and a charge based on customer usage.
The government accepted most of the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel’s recommendations for the delivery service rate.
“The government felt a slightly higher increase was necessary for SaskEnergy to meet its targets for investing in safety and infrastructure, so the rate change will reflect the original application amount of 3.6 per cent,” said Joe Hargrave, minister responsible for SaskEnergy.
The approved rate will see a fixed 75 cents per month increase to the basic monthly charge, and the remainder will go on the usage charge, so customers who use less gas will pay less. The commodity rate of $3.65 per gigajoule will remain unchanged.
The increase is expected to generate more than $9 million annually for the Crown corporation, to support customer growth and public safety by allowing for additional investment in major capital and system integrity projects across the province.
Customer growth has added more than 54,000 new residential, business and industrial customers for SaskEnergy since 2008, with another 4,500 new customers planned in 2017-18. Planned infrastructure investments will focus on expanding and moving pipeline infrastructure away from developments.
SaskEnergy is projecting to achieve $4.4 million in efficiency savings this year.
