The province tabled its annual reports for all seven Crown corporations in Saskatoon on Tuesday, where large spending for SaskPower was under scrutiny. The Crown electric company reported a $114.1 million loss for 2025-26. “Our objective, it’s affordability and reliability. That is the lens through which we are looking across the Crown sector,” said Crown Investments Minister Jeremy Harrison. For the second year in a row, the province decided to table all of its Crown corporation reports in Saskatoon at once, rather than over multiple days in Regina. Sitting alongside leaders of all seven Crown corporations — SaskEnergy, SaskTel, SaskPower, SGI, Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan, SaskWater and the Crown Investments Corporation — Harrison answered questions from the media after significant spending from SaskPower over the previous fiscal year largely depleted the dividends going back to the provincial general revenue fund. Between all Crowns, more than $2.6 billion was spent on capital infrastructure, resulting in $68 million going back into the revenue fund. For the prior fiscal year in 2024-2025, $2.6 billion in spending resulted in $240 million in dividends being sent back to the general revenue fund. Much of the spending and reduced dividends were due to roughly $1.8 billion in capital spending from SaskPower to modernize and grow the provincial electricity system. It received a $187 million affordability grant from the Crown Investments Corporation, which was made up of dividend revenue from all other crowns. Had it not been the $187 million grant to support rate affordability, SaskPower would have reported a record $301 million deficit. “What we are seeing is really a remarkable increase in demand and low growth on the power system,” Harrison said. “And these are questions utilities across North America are having to answer directly right now.” The province says removing the federal carbon tax from provincial power bills since April 2025 is saving the average user about $15 a month on a power bill. However, the Opposition NDP doesn’t feel it’s the job of other Crowns to cover the large spending of SaskPower. “The Sask. Party is now directly subsidizing these historic losses and mismanagement using the profits from other Crown corporations,” NDP SaskPower critic Aleana Young said shortly after the report was tabled. According to SaskPower’s annual report, debt has been increasing at the utility company. SaskPower now holds $11.5 billion in total debt as of March, which has increased its debt ratio from 76.2 per cent to 78.9 per cent. The Crown forecasts similar spending in 2026-2027 but has billions of dollars of projects in planning stages over the next seven years. From 2026 to 2032, SaskPower estimates spending $5.53 billion on major capital projects such as extending the life of coal plants, completing the Aspen Power Station near Lanigan — which is now more than 60 per cent done — and interconnections to grow the grid and rely on neighbouring utilities less. Harrison said building the Aspen station for $1.7 billion would have cost SaskPower about $800 million just five years ago. However, taking on that project today would cost roughly $2.4 billion. “We are seeing enormous cost pressures increasing across the supply chain for new generation assets,” he said. SaskPower increased rates by 3.9 per cent on Feb. 1. Another 3.9 per cent increase is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2027. Young is no closer to understanding how exactly SaskPower plans to pay for these large capital projects, and she wants the province to be upfront with ratepayers. “The Sask. Party has put SaskPower and Saskatchewan ratepayers on an increasingly unaffordable path, while refusing to provide the people of Saskatchewan with any accountability or transparency in regards to how they are going to pay for it,” Young said. The Crown Investments Corporation says Saskatchewan has the second-lowest cost utility bundle in Canada next to Manitoba’s suite of utilities.
