A new study showed that following Ottawa's proposed clean energy rules would cost Saskatchewan less than the province claimed. It would also cut more emissions than SaskPower's current plan.In August 2023, Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced his “Clean Electricity” program. These aim to create a net-zero power grid in Canada by 2035.Premier Scott Moe said the rules were "unachievable" and would "at least double the power rates." SaskPower, which plans to reach net zero by 2050, said the federal government's plan "isn't feasible technically, logistically, or financially."In June 2024, Saskatchewan said it would not follow the rules set to start on January 1, 2025. A Saskatchewan Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal claimed the rules would cost an extra $40 billion by 2035.However, a new study by University of Regina professor Brett Dolter for the Canada Climate Institute showed that Saskatchewan could follow a "revised version" of the rules and would be much cheaper than Moe predicted."Address those concerns and bring the parties a lot closer together to the same sort of vision," said Dolter on CBC's The Morning Edition.The "revised version" would cut 30 to 40 megatonnes of carbon by 2050. Compared to the province's current plan, that's like taking 9 to 12 million cars off the road for a year.Saskatchewan did not like several parts of the rules. For example, the future Aspen gas plant near Lanigan is still being prepared for the new technology and would not be commissioned soon enough to avoid the new rules.In February 2024, Ottawa said it might change some rules after getting feedback from the provinces. These changes include slightly loosening the rules and not requiring carbon capture for gas plants already being built.Dolter's report says these changes would cost $4 billion to $6 billion more than SaskPower's current plan by 2035. But by 2050, they would cost less, $50.3 billion compared to $56.8 billion in the current plan.As a result, power bills might go up 1.5 to 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour by 2035, which is a 6-9% increase. Dolter says if Ottawa provides more tax relief, which the province could request, bills might not go up at all.Dolter urged Saskatchewan to talk with Ottawa about the most flexible version of the rules."We've got a lot of elections happening and then the federal election on the horizon," said Dolter. "We're all just kind of hoping that these climate change policies get across the finish line before that election. If they don't, I'm not sure what will happen."Dolter thinks the new rules show that the province and Ottawa are not far apart in their approaches to "cleaning up" their power grids."That's where we could see a deal, I hope, if we could see this collaboration. That's fairly rare, it seems, between provincial and federal governments," said Dolter.SaskPower cannot talk about government policy during an election campaign. The Saskatchewan election is on October 28.
