Good news for the city of Moose Jaw on Thursday.

It has been decided by SaskPower to proceed with a 350 megawatt natural gas-fired power station.

There was thought about whether or not to go ahead with the project because in order to be exempt from the carbon tax, any natural gas facilities coming online after 2021 would have to have zero emissions

Minister responsible Dustin Duncan says this was still the most cost effective way to go even though the carbon tax would be applied to the emissions.

“SaskPower went through a process over the last couple of months and crunched the numbers.” Duncan told reporters Thursday morning at the Legislature. “The recommendation was still made that this should be the right approach.”

The facility is scheduled to be completed in 2024 and will generate enough power for a city the size of Saskatoon.

Duncan adds the Moose Jaw facility may not be the last one to sprout up.

This is not the end of the demand for baseload power,” Duncan said. “Moose Jaw is the next plant, but we’re going to have to be looking in the next decade as well as anywhere from 350 megawatts to perhaps a 700-megawatt plant somewhere in the province too.

The construction of the station is expected to provide hundreds of jobs for Moose Jaw and area.