SaskPower

As a customer of both Sask Energy and Sask Power I am writing to voice my concerns over the recent budget decision to cease providing grants in lieu of taxes to Saskatchewan municipalities.The cancellation in my opinion amounts to an increase in our utility rates a deficit reduction surtax if you will that should trigger a rate review by your panel.I would like to know if you the panel can initiate a review of the governments actions and as such allow deny or modify these proposals to ensure both the affordability of these utilities and ensuring the regulatory approval process regarding rate increases is upheld as it applies to existing legislation that allowed the formation of your panel.

Enough is enough. Saskpower rates are now some the highest in western Canada. Instead of raising rates when will Saskpower look to savings rather than just passing the buck on to consumers. With Enmax in Alberta I could get power for less than 7c per kwh locked in for a five year contract. That is almost half of what is charged here. The increases are way above the cost of living and real wages are not rising to accommodate the rise in power. Saskpower needs to look at efficiencies not increases. We have viciously unstable power and cannot rely on it at all. I have had to put battery backups on all pieces of important equipment at work to deal with the notorious unreliability of Saskpower's supply. I could swallow the increase maybe if we had good service, but as of now the service is crap and not worth the increase.

All comments fall on deaf ears! More more more......and less for the consumer! Privatise all crowns and get some competition happening.

My power is through the roof. I keep calling, unplugging everything. I give up. Turning my whole house to gas!

No point. Where was this when sgi has now changed the point system, etc. No voicing there!!!!

Everybody is out for every dime we make , I think rates should be frozen for 3 to 5 years . All utilities .

Yeah I think before they charge any more money on SaskPower they should cut back on wages and millions of dollars that they spend(?) on donations(?) like dragon boat festival and all kinds of charity events and I think they should charge your lowest possible amount they can without having to get out to customers(?) in order for them to make millions of dollars. Thank you.

"Hi ***** calling from Regina. I would like to vote no for this rate increase. I make minimum wage and I'm in my 50s and it is very hard to make ends meet as it is without more money over to you guys. Please take this under consideration.

Hello I honestly think that you should take it very easy on increasing any(?) power rate. It's very very difficult on people with several low income jobs(?) and also seniors on global fixed income and all the power is really very high right now. I mean is it is I go without TV and whatever to keep my power bill down. It's seems like well sure they talk about more people using power but I think it be more people paying power bills and if that's the case too and possibly maybe they should get rid of some of the vice president at Sask Power and maybe we have too many of those that we don't need workers of course you're needed but you know needs to be kept to the bare minimum is getting outta hand. How are people supposed to live. Maybe we spent too much money on that carbon capture to at boundary(?) dam(?) back. We've gone ahead and done it and now we're stuck with it. I just wish that we could get the economy turned around with oil(?) development(?) happening again. Yeah the text. Hope you do your best to keep it low.

It doesn't matter much to me as I am going off the grid soon.

Bill is always high , reduce , power and gas bill !!! We can't effort !!!

It doesn't matter what the people say.

SaskPower should NOT be allowed to implement a rate increase before the Rate Review Panel has completed its report. To do so undermines the entire rate review process. I feel that my comments will not heard, and the Panel is meaningless. If the July 1st rate increase is allowed to proceed before the Panel approves, the government may as well dismantle the Rate Review Panel and use the savings to cancel the second proposed rate increase on Jan 1 2017. I urge you to DECLINE SaskPower’s proposed rate increase for July 1 2016. Show them that the rate review process is important and that implementing a rate increase before the process is complete is unacceptable!

A 10.5% increase in a span of six months is outrageously high. Rate increases should be limited to once per year and tied to inflation.

Don't believe SaskPower's "average increase per month". My cost of electricity is $247.73 (not including the basic monthly charge or taxes). A 10.5% rate increase would be over $300 per year. I live alone and my income is $20200 per year and I cannot afford these increases. There was a 5% increase in 2013, a 5.5% increase in 2014, and a 5% increase in 2015. These increases need to stop.

There does not seem to be any accountability as far as management is concerned. Maybe there should be some wage cuts at the top of this mismanaged crown corporation. Furthermore how much of the profits have been misappropriated by governments and not reinvested to maintain this uitility?????

I feel sorry for all the large industrial users. How will they ever afford 10%+ increase in their electrical bills in these tight economic times. Maybe our wise political leaders will find someway to alleviate this untimely burden.

I'm a senior was lost just lost my wife. My income has been cut in half. Since it only comes some government old age security and CPP I don't know how we can manage this extra $12 a month on the power bill couple years ago that we had an increase in that old security of $13. Per(?) here. Not per month. If we can't keep up with the cost of living. How come we manage the increases. Thank you.

Hi my name is *****I would like to have that that power house through ___ because I own some SaskPower client they're driving the powers trucks around Saskatchewan like for the personal use. I live in Winyard and I see the guy ___ he has a power he lives in Foam Lake and he drives that power truck at Foam Lake to Winyard everyday I think that that power truck should stay in Winyard because he's ___ on his on our trucks and we're paying for the ___. So I think they need a Sask or a SaskPower place to cut down use in their vehicles like at that personal use. Sometimes I see he takes the tractor's cabin at the lake there. So I'd like to inform the problem for Sask SaskPower should cut down the use of the vehicle for personal use because we're paying for we're paying for how much stuff and maybe have them to cut down on on use of vehicle for personal use. Ok thank you. Bye

I feel that 2 large increases 6 months apart is totally unacceptable for the average household to swallow! We are lucky if we get a 1% increase in our wages plus everything else is going up food ,water etc.They should be allowed no more than the average wage in this province of 1% and only one increase a year! Thanks

Sask Power is asking for a rate increase ? The increase should be no more then the increase in wages that consumers get. How are we expected to keep our heads above water when we get 1% or less and everything else increases by 2 - 5times that. Sask power is not the only ultility we have to pay for. Then we have to find money for food and medication etc.

Current rates are set high enough already, there is NO need to increase them by a TOTAL of 10% or even 5% for that matter.

Enough is enough, the general public didn't buy the Smart Meters, nor did we sign a contract for Carbon Capture that pays the buyer millions.. Wages are dropping in the province and the cost of living is getting out of control. Perhaps SPC should start trimming the fat from it's head offices and start looking at how they are operating. Someone else has to held accountable for their over spending and not the consumers. Thanks

The rates are high enough!! With the economy the way it is and thousands without jobs including my husband, how are people going to continue to pay more??? We do everything we can to cut costs with sitting in the dark at night and not plugging in our vehicles in winter even though they should be to unplugging things. Still we pay too much. Let people breath a little.

I respectfully ask that in light of a downturn in economy and many families, individuals and businesses suffering that you consider Sask Power's application for a raise rate but cut the amount to 2.5% increase in July and a further 2.5% in January 2017. Effectively I am requesting that the rate increase would be halved. We heat with power as we have no alternative out in rural Sask here and can not afford to run a gas line. A cold winter literally eats our budget, as it does many struggling families. This is not the time to raise rates, but the time to set an example and allow people to keep more of their wages to spend in their cities and towns and keep local economies as healthy as they can be right now.

I’m deeply concerned about the recent request for a 10% increase in the price of power in Saskatchewan. Sask families are hurting in this economy and this kind of increase is going to make living in Sask less viable. I encourage you to reject this request. Best regards,

STOP! Natural gas is down and saskpower makes a large portion of power from natural gas, this is NOT the time to be raising rates AGAIN! Year after year we keep going up this has to stop stop stop!!! I am appalled at the amount of rate hikes this utility is doing and my service does not improve one bit!!

Hi Sask Rate Review, As a resident of Saskatchewan for the past 48 years, I am concerned with the idea of basically a 10% rate increase by SaskPower. I understand that inflation rates are exceedingly much less than 10% and as a senior on a fixed income, the frequent rate increases are affecting my financial bottom line. I hope when you are assessing the needs of SaskPower, you also consider the definite burden to the consumers. Thank you. Sincerely,