REGINA — SaskPower crews will inspect more than 123,000 wood power poles across Saskatchewan in 2026 as part of the Crown corporation’s annual maintenance program.
More than 1.2 million wood power poles are installed throughout Saskatchewan. Inspections are beginning this month and will include checks for damage, decay and carpenter ant infestations.
“Wood poles and transformers are the backbone of SaskPower’s distribution system, and regular maintenance is a cost-effective way to ensure Saskatchewan’s economy and communities have the safe, reliable power they need to grow and thrive,” said Jeremy Harrison, minister responsible for SaskPower.
Crews will examine poles, crossarms, anchoring cables and other hardware while carrying out maintenance designed to extend the lifespan of the infrastructure.
Any pole that cannot be repaired or reinforced will be marked for replacement.
“Regular inspection and maintenance of wood power poles can double a pole’s lifespan and provide significant cost savings — maintaining a pole costs less than $65, whereas replacing one costs about $5,000,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower president and CEO.
In addition to pole inspections, crews will perform ground grid testing on 9,000 rural overhead transformers and install wildfire protection on between 600 and 800 poles in higher-risk northern regions.
SaskPower said the wildfire protection measures are intended to help reduce fire-related outages.
The Crown corporation said no planned power outages will be required for the work.
Crews will remain within SaskPower rights-of-way whenever possible, although workers may occasionally need access to private property.
The wood pole inspection schedule includes:
- Davidson — mid-May to early July
- Weyburn — mid-May to early July
- Rosthern — mid-May to early June
- Shellbrook — early June to early July
- Unity — early July to early August
- Moosomin — early July to end of August
- Wynyard — early August to end of October
Transformer testing is also scheduled in several communities:
- Shaunavon — mid-May to early July
- Saskatoon rural west — mid-May to mid-June
- Melville — late May to early June
- Strasbourg — early June to late June
- Assiniboia — late June to early August
- Lloydminster — late June to mid-July
More information is available through SaskPower.
