Southwest residents are being advised to expect to see an increase in their federal carbon taxes soon.
SaskPower announced the increase of a system-wide average of 2.9 per cent just yesterday, which will take effect on January 1, 2025.
Joel Cherry, spokesperson for SaskPower, noted that the amount of the increase will vary depending on the rate class, which includes residential, farming, commercial, power, oil, and resellers.
"The federal carbon tax increases each year, this year it went from $80 to $95 per tonne," he said. "SaskPower has to recover that money so it's charged on our emissions and we have to calculate the amount that we expect we're going to have to collect."
While this year SaskPower customers are seeing a 2.9 per cent increase, last year's increase was significantly lower at around 0.5 per cent.
The amount is based on the current price per tonne of CO2 and thresholds on coal-generated production.
Residential customers will see an increase of $26 to their annual carbon tax while farming customers can expect a $75 increase. This brings residential customers to an annual average of around $107 per year and rural customers to an average of $314.
"It's something we have to do as a result of federal regulation, but we want our customers to be aware of when it's coming up so that they can plan," Cherry added.
Anyone in Saskatchewan looking for more information about the federal carbon tax can visit SaskPower's website to learn more.