Here's how carbon pollution pricing will affect Sask. residents in 2023

SaskPower customers to see bills go up SaskPower customers will be seeing their bills go up by three per cent due to federal carbon tax. Brianne Foley has more.

With the federal government’s carbon pricing set to increase in 2023, Saskatchewan consumers will see an increase to some costs.

According to SaskPower, customers will see a three percent increase on their power bills in 2023.

“Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the federal carbon tax is increasing in price from $50 per tonne to $65 per tonne and as a result, we do need to adjust the rate rider portion of bills accordingly,” Scott McGregor, a spokesperson for SaskPower, said.

The price on carbon pollution is set to increase $15 per tonne annually starting in 2023. In turn, those additional costs will be added to power bills.

“In terms of actual impact to residential customers for example, that’s going to be on average roughly $2.60 per month in an increase on that section of the bill,” McGregor explained.

This is an additional cost to the four percent increase customers saw in September 2022. The charge will vary per customer, based on the amount of power consumed.

The utility costs go up Jan. 1, but natural gas and fuels don’t increase until April 2023, according to the federal government.

Established in 2019, the federal carbon pollution pricing aims to reduce emissions and will increase annually until the tax is at $170 per tonne, in 2030.

For SaskPower greenhouse gas emissions, that will result in an increase from $50 per tonne to $65 in 2023. Rate riders for SaskPower are based on an estimate of carbon taxes for the coming year.

“It’s important to note that all proceeds from the price on pollution are returned to the province where they were collected. In provinces with the federal system in place, like Saskatchewan, approximately 90 percent of direct fuel charge proceeds are returned directly to residents through Climate Action Incentive payments,” a spokesperson in the federal Minister of Environment’s office said in a statement.

“The increase to the price on pollution does not come into place until early April 2023 and the rebates are distributed at the beginning of each quarter.”

The pricing increase will also impact SaskEnergy bills, according to the Crown’s website.

When the price on pollution rises in April 2023, the average residential SaskEnergy customer can expect a cost increase of nine per cent annually – an average of $79 per year.

Dan McTeague, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, said this increase will also be felt at the gas pumps in April.

“That would be another three and a half cents a litre, much faster than previous carbon tax increases which go up by the matrix of $10 a tonne. This year it will be a little closer to, well it's going to be $15 a tonne,” McTeague said.

But for now, he says Canadians can enjoy a break at the pump.

McGregor added that there are ways Saskatchewan residents can keep their bills down come 2023.

“The biggest benefit that customers might see in terms of reducing their energy bills is to make sure you're only heating and cooling your house when there’s someone home, and only heating your car about four hours before you’re going to use it, that’s when you’ll see the most benefit.”