STRONG FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AS SASKPOWER CONTINUES TO INVEST IN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Total SaskPower revenue in 2012 increased $25 million due to record demand from customers.

The company made the announcement as it tabled its 2012 Annual Report in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly today.  SaskPower reported an income of $147 million in 2012 on $1.8 billion in revenue.

“SaskPower is undergoing a period of record renewal and investment as the company supports our province’s continued economic strength,” Minister responsible for SaskPower Bill Boyd said.  “This work has an impact on SaskPower’s overall income but is necessary to ensure the electrical grid is stable and reliable for the next several decades.”

“SaskPower set a record in terms of new service connects and electricity supplied to customers in 2012,” SaskPower President and CEO Robert Watson said, referring to the 22,129 gigawatt (GW) hours supplied in 2012.  “We expect those numbers to continue to grow in the next several years, making it even more important that SaskPower renews and rebuilds our system for the future.”

The corporation’s expenses went up as a result of unprecedented infrastructure investments, but other factors like summer storms, ongoing maintenance and power station overhaul work contributed to the increased expenses.

“The severe summer storms in June 2012 were challenging for employees and for the province; however, I’m extremely proud of the work that employees performed during the storms under very difficult conditions,” Watson said.  “The damage from those storms is estimated to have cost SaskPower more than $12 million.”

Key SaskPower highlights from 2012 include:

• A record total $981 million on capital projects;
• A record $226 million to connect new customers to the SaskPower electric system;
• $149 million on renewing generating assets, including $70 million on the Shand Power Station (Estevan) overhaul and Queen Elizabeth Power Station (Saskatoon) repowering;
• $144 million on increasing capacity and sustaining transmission and distribution infrastructure, including $28 million on testing and replacing aging wooden poles;
• $105 million on other property, plant and equipment expenditures (e.g. vehicles and equipment, AMI implementation and corporate information technology assets);
• $357 million on the Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration project;
• Completed agreement for construction of 177-megawatt wind power project near Chaplin;
• Created a new program to provide job opportunities for northern youth, and hosted an Indigenous Leadership Forum; 
• Announced the establishment of research chairs at the province’s two universities to support clean energy development and power systems engineering;
• SaskPower received the Canadian Electricity Association’s Environmental Commitment Award; and
• SaskPower was recognized for the fourth consecutive year as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers.  SaskPower also received an award for being one of the Best Employers for New Canadians and one of the Top Employers for Young People.

To view a copy of the 2012 SaskPower Annual Report, please visit http://www.saskpower.com/about-us/current-reports/.

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For more information, contact:

Heather Johnson
SaskPower
Regina
Email: hmjohnson@saskpower.com
Cell: 306-536-2886