Article content continued

Saskatoon Light and Power buys electricity from SaskPower and typically follows the province’s lead on policy.

There are 133 customers using net metering within its coverage area who have been unaffected by SaskPower’s changes.

Trevor Bell, director of the utility provider, says that even SaskPower’s new rate of $0.075/kWh is “generous.”

“It’s a lot more than what it costs us to actually generate power,” said Bell. The utility provider estimates the 133 current clients, who would be grandfathered under the existing rate until 2029 if the program were to end, would still cost the city $30,800 each year. If the status quo were kept, it would cost $58,300 per year, not including new potential customers.

“There’s an imbalance there that is not sustainable if there are too many customers,” Bell said.

Peter Prebble, a board member of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society and a founding member of its Solar Co-op, urges city council to keep the status quo.

Photo by Michelle Berg / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

He says aligning rates with SaskPower’s would increase the payback period for customers who have already invested and will discourage more from signing on. Currently, the program has been rapidly growing at a rate of 50 per cent each year. He also said the decision should be weighed in the larger context of anthropogenic climate change driven by human emissions.

“There’s naturally a logic to that. But the changes SaskPower has made to the net metering program are very unfortunate, and they’re going to set the solar industry in Saskatchewan back in a major way,” Prebble said.