Feds open to discussing including SaskPower in provincial heavy emitters program

The federal government says it is willing to discuss a plan with the province to add electricity generation and natural gas transmission into the province's Output-Based Performance Standards (OBPS) plan for heavy emitters.

The OBPS is run by the provincial government and sets baseline carbon emissions targets for separate industries, penalizing companies that go over the set thresholds.

"There are a couple of sectors that we're covered by the federal system, not by the provincial system, and that's been an ongoing conversation between the federal government and the province," said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

While the feds are willing to discuss bringing power generators into the heavy emitters program, the "provincial systems to be put into place have to be similarly stringent to the federal system," said Wilkinson, adding all revenues generated from the carbon tax stay in the province.

The plan is meant to protect industries that emit a lot of carbon from being at a disadvantage against competitors that do not have emissions plans in place. At the same time, it offers incentives to companies that are able to cut emissions.

In a recent news release Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Saskatchewan will soon be sending a new submission to the federal government to get provincial control of carbon pricing, and part of the plan will be to bring power generators, including SaskPower, into the provincial heavy emitters program

"We fully expect the federal government to accept Saskatchewan's plan and give us the same treatment that they have given to other regions of the country," said Moe in a news release.

"We want to have [SaskPower's emissions] under provincial control," added Saskatchewan's Minister of Environment Warren Kaeding.

The federal government has said it will not enter into new discussions with provinces on carbon pricing until 2023.

"In terms of the output-based pricing system, which is about ensuring that we protect industry in Canada . but [also] that we actually create an incentive to reduce emissions in the electricity sector," Wilkinson said.

Other opportunities

He said there are opportunities in biofuels, critical minerals, agricultural technology, regenerative agriculture that the two levels of government can collaborate on.

"I'm really interested in talking about and aligning the work that provinces, federal government, industry, labour and Indigenous leaders are doing to move forward on that."

Wilkinson said governments across the country have been very focused on climate change and how to reduce emissions.

"But I do think that we collectively need to spend some more time on elaborating how we're actually going to grow an economy that's going to be prosperous and create jobs and economic opportunities for people in all regions of the country."

Wilkinson cited the plan recently announced by Federated Co-op to build a $2 billionrenewable diesel, canola-crushing plant to be built in Regina as a great move forward.

"So I do think that there's lots of scope for us to work together, and I look forward to working withMinister [of Energy and Resources Bronwyn] Eyre to do that."

He said while the two governments have disagreements on pollution pricing, there are many areas where collaboration can generate jobs and economic opportunities.

"Saskatchewan has real potential and critical minerals. We should be working together to align our regulatory processes and the investments that we're making to accelerate that," he said. "The same thing is true with biofuels. There's an enormous opportunity for the agricultural sector and for the processing sector in Saskatchewan."

The federal government is also willing to look at the feasability of small modular reactors (SMRs).

"We have actually put money into two of SMR development companies that are developing SMRs," he said.

"[W]e've had conversations with the government of Ontario. They are the first that are going to be demonstrating in SMR, which is at the Darlington nuclear facility. I think that's scheduled to come on stream in 2028. So, you know, we have been and certainly we will continue to have that conversation with provinces that have an interest in that as a potential source of power generation."