REGINA – The NDP continues to ramp up their opposition to Sask Power rate hikes with word of the launch of a new website.
At a news conference at the Legislature Thursday morning, the NDP announced their launch of StoptheRateHike.ca, which includes a petition that Saskatchewan residents can sign to oppose the rate hikes.
Opposition SaskPower critic Aleana Young continued to portray the rate hike as a "tax" in her remarks, taking aim at Premier Scott Moe and "his scared Minister" for SaskPower Jeremy Harrison.
"Well, folks, there are just 10 days left before Scott Moe and Jeremy Harrison impose their massive $136 million tax hike on Saskatchewan people. $136 million on people's power bills," Young said. "And we're fighting back. We're pulling out all the stops."
The launch of the petition is just days prior to the 3.9 per cent power increase takes effect on an interim basis on Feb. 1. Young acknowledged a final decision on the actual rate increase will not be made until August by the Rate Review Panel, saying 'we know that the Sask Party government isn't listening, but we're hoping the Rate Review Panel will."
In addition to the petition, Young said she has written to the Rate Review Panel on Thursday, seeking a date to appear in opposition to the rate increase.
Young also pointed to other submissions already before the Rate Review Panel from other groups, including the Canadian Federation of Independent Business who has expressed concerns about the impact of rate hikes on small business, and also members of the public.
"And I checked this morning, there are legitimately heartbreaking submissions from members of the public," Young said. "The last one that I was from a senior talking about how their rent is projected to go up 79 per cent in July, and that they cannot afford their rent, their power bill increases, and to eat. And they are warning us that there will be homeless senior citizens as a result of this."
Young said she was "hopeful and I'm optimistic that the independence and the integrity of the Rate Review Panel will remain. I am obviously going to point to the fact that the Premier and the Minister lied to the press, they lied in the Assembly, and they lied to Saskatchewan people about whether these rate increases were coming. And I will also point to a number of obvious items that are missing from the SaskPower submission to the rate review panel. There's no detailed economic assumptions, there's no (20)26-27 business plan, there's no asset management plan, there is no financial details or other plans regarding the SMR planning work. There's no impact analysis for municipalities, for large customers, there's no sensitivity analysis of any kind. These are standard parts of rate applications that go before the panel, none of that is there."
In a previous statement on the NDP criticisms of SaskPower rate hikes, Minister Harrison pointed to his government having laid out a responsible and detailed "all of the above" plan to power production and generation in their Energy Security Strategy — "a Strategy that will maximize our natural strengths while investing into future generation and transmission while enabling growth and new investments into our province."
He also said of the NDP that "nothing they say on power can be taken seriously. If ever given the chance they would destroy the reliability of our grid while doubling electricity prices.
