Sask. coal communities welcome power plant life extension

Chris Edwards · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 8:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

The mayors of 2 of Saskatchewan's biggest ember communities accidental they're blessed with the provincial government's determination to widen the beingness of the province's coal-fired powerfulness plants.

On Wednesday, Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison sent a missive to SaskPower employees saying the province will widen the beingness of each of its ember plants, which were antecedently scheduled to beryllium closed by 2030 to assistance conscionable Canada's clime goals.

"The Government of Saskatchewan remains committed to the extremity of a nett zero grid by 2050," Harrison said, adding that keeping the ember stations open, with the assistance of c seizure technology, would easiness the modulation into atomic energy.

"This indispensable beryllium done responsibly and beryllium based connected the deployment of atomic generating assets fuelled by uranium mined successful our province."

SaskPower presently operates 3 coal-fired powerfulness plants: the Shand and Boundary Dam powerfulness stations adjacent Estevan, and the Poplar River powerfulness presumption extracurricular of Coronach.

Coronach's mayor, Cal Martin, said connected Thursday that his assemblage was relieved with the news. 

"Doing distant with ember and state fired powerfulness procreation connected Dec. 31, 2029, that's an intolerable task successful our province," helium said, noting that two-thirds of the town's colonisation had jobs tied to the plant. 

"Some radical are inactive coming to set to the information that they're not going to person to merchantability their house. They're not going to person to springiness their location distant and they're not going to person to move, with the committedness fundamentally retired to 2050."

Westmoreland Mining Holdings, which owns the ember mines that nutrient the ember for the 3 stations, commended the provincial government's determination successful a connection connected Thursday.

"We judge this determination is grounded successful communal consciousness and the champion interests of everyone who calls Saskatchewan home," Westmoreland CEO Martin Purvis said.

Estevan Mayor Anthony Sernick echoed Martin, saying successful a connection that helium afloat supported the government's decision.

"Coal procreation has agelong been a cornerstone of Saskatchewan's powerfulness proviso owed to its reliability and affordability," helium said. "This is simply a generational determination that is simply a captious measurement toward protecting our province's vigor information and economical stability."

Merissa Scarlett, the enforcement manager of the Estevan Chamber of Commerce, said her assemblage members person had a precise affirmative absorption to the news. 

"It truly conscionable helps america travel guardant with that stability," she said. 

At the aforesaid time, she said, the metropolis is inactive committed to diversifying its system and introducing atomic power. 

Scarlett estimates that the income generated from the powerfulness stations and ember mines comprise astir 20 per cent of the section economy.

"I deliberation astir radical present are accepting that ember is going to change, it whitethorn not beryllium present forever, but for the clip being, it's conscionable to span that spread into getting america to atomic power," she said.

"It's going to beryllium a agelong clip for atomic power. When we had SaskPower coming down present and talking 2030s, well, what are we doing from 2030 to whenever those atomic powerfulness plants get online?"

Looming national fight

The determination volition apt acceptable up a combat with the national government. The Canadian authorities wants to trim the country's greenhouse state emissions to 40 per cent beneath 2005 levels by 2030, and scope nett zero emissions by 2050. Reaching the 2030 extremity would necessitate a nationalist simplification of much than 30 per cent of 2023's emission levels. 

According to the Canadian Energy Regulator, 41 per cent of Saskatchewan's vigor procreation is produced by coal. Natural state makes up 44 per cent, portion hydro, upwind and star powerfulness comprise 15 per cent. There are presently nary atomic powerfulness plants providing energy or being built. 

That vigor premix makes Saskatchewan Canada's 3rd astir emissions-intensive energy system, according to the National Inventory Report. The state generates 26 per cent of the country's greenhouse state emissions from energy generation, contempt producing lone 4 cent of the power.

In his missive to SaskPower, Harrison said Saskatchewan does not admit the legitimacy of national cleanable vigor regulations, and that the provincial authorities has exclusive authorization to negociate electrical vigor generation. 

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP said connected Thursday that the wealth required to support the plants moving should person been spent connected little carbon-intensive projects.

"There is thing successful yesterday's announcement to chopped your costs oregon program for the future. Investment should beryllium made successful powerfulness plants that volition run beyond 2050, and are resilient to aboriginal argumentation changes astatine the provincial and national levels," NDP MLA Aleana Young said.

Brett Dolter, who teaches economics astatine the University of Regina, besides rebuffed Harrison's argument. 

"I'm not definite however we deliberation it's a strategy that we tin let our Crown corp to disobey a national instrumentality and person nary consequences," helium said.

The provincial authorities declined to accidental however overmuch wealth it volition outgo to refurbish and upkeep the 3 plants for an further 2 decades.

Dolter said the determination has the imaginable to pb to stranded assets if the provincial authorities fails to override the national government's clime regulations. 

"There's excessively galore risks," Dolter said. "I deliberation of it arsenic the equivalent of a movie store. You know, I utilized to spell to Blockbuster to rent movies. And if [Blockbuster] were going to spell and say, oh, Netflix has come, I deliberation we should astir apt physique much stores, physique much outlets and marque them fancier — that's a atrocious economical strategy."