Starting tomorrow, the cost to keep the lights on in your home will be going up slightly.
Earlier this month, SaskPower announced they would be increasing the Federal Carbon Tax Rate Rider by 2.9 per cent. The Crown power company stated they must revise the rate rider annually to reflect the impact of the scheduled increases of the federal carbon tax, as well as revisions to the emissions thresholds applied to coal-fired power generation.
The increase will see the average residential customer paying an extra $26 a year, while the average farm customer will see an increase of $75 a year.
The federal carbon tax is currently scheduled to increase from $80 to $95 a tonne on April 1st, 2025.
In January of last year, SaskPower was moved from the federally imposed carbon plan for industrial emitters to the Saskatchewan Output-Based Performance Standards (OBPS) Program. This keeps all industrial carbon taxes collected in Saskatchewan, with the regulated emitters receiving credit for every tonne of carbon emissions under their permitted amount. The OBPS collected in the 2024-25 fiscal year is expected to raise $351.3 million in revenue for the province.