Minister responsible for SaskPower Dustin Duncan spoke about the numbers from the 2018-2019 annual report at the Legislative Building on Friday morning. (Photo: Moises Canales/620 CKRM)

SaskPower released its 2018-2019 annual report on Friday morning, detailing numbers and figures from a year of growth and foundation for the province’s future.

One topic that was repeatedly discussed during the announcement was the number of outages that have plagued residents in Regina and area over the last little while.

The message from the government is they are looking into the outage issues surfacing in different parts of the city. Their plan going forward is to invest their time and money into these problems.

“SaskPower is undertaking significant work in and around Regina in this upcoming year to upgrade infrastructure around the city,” said Duncan.

Duncan added how aging infrastructure plays a part in the outages, but so do storms and incidents with animals. He said crews are already taking steps to try to limit the amount of encounters wildlife have with their equipment including caging and netting.

“This is a priority for SaskPower moving forward this year.”

President & Chief Executive Officer for SaskPower Mike Marsh admitted there’s an increase in outages lately when looking back at the records.

It’s a struggle for people in the city who have dealt with the inconvenience of lost power on a more frequent basis, but Marsh explained how the Crown corporation is investing quite a bit to find a solution for residents.

“From the average of $400 million in sustainment infrastructure investment each and every year, $19 million has been dedicated to the Regina area this year to try and get ahead of that game.”

A new online outage map was created last year to give customers access to information on service interruptions across the province.

Saskpower announced a net income of $197 million from 2018-2019, $51 million more than last year.

According to the report, SaskPower invested $833 million into Saskatchewan’s electricity system in 2018-2019.