Measures and Standards: Key Indicators
2023-24 Highlights
Looking Ahead
Our Approach to ESG
President’s Message
About SaskEnergy
Environment
Prosperity
Our People
Governance
During 2023-24, SaskEnergy conducted an emergency response exercise for our natural gas distribution and transmission system in the Yorkton area. The exercise — which simulated an agricultural hit to one of our stations, resulting in a transmission line leak and loss of service to customers — included site response, an incident command centre at our Yorkton office, and additional response personnel at our head office building. Throughout the exercise, our employees demonstrated a solid understanding of the methods and approaches to supporting the safety of first responders and the public. In addition, they showed cooperative planning and problem solving during the analysis and resolution of the scenario. Not only do emergency exercises reinforce areas of strength in our ability to safely and effectively respond to incidents, but they also provide an opportunity to identify areas for improvement, which can be made well before a real-life emergency occurs.
Tabletop exercises are also held each year to provide our employees with the opportunity to learn in a safe environment. These exercises generally follow a risk-based approach and focus on potential internal or industry incidents. The information shared during the exercises assists our employees in being able to better respond to actual incidents, should they arise. In 2023-24, SaskEnergy employees participated in 80 tabletop exercises in 28 locations throughout the province. Providing Saskatchewan with reliable energy With service that is more than 99.99 per cent reliable, SaskEnergy supplies Saskatchewan residents with energy that they can count on year-round, even during the most extreme cold weather. Through our nearly 88,000-kilometre gas line network that is designed for safety and reliability, our customers rarely experience a service disruption. The amount of energy that SaskEnergy delivers throughout the province is greater than the amount of energy provided through any other means. In addition, natural gas plays an important role in electricity generation in Saskatchewan, as it is used to generate more electricity than any other energy source. This is helping to reduce the carbon intensity of the electricity generation mix as well as the dependency on conventional coal. For many customers, such as hospitals, natural gas serves not only as the primary heating source but as an emergency backstop for power generation during electrical outages.
An affordable source of energy Natural gas plays a critical role in meeting Saskatchewan’s energy needs and demand continues to grow. Recognizing our role in meeting current and future demand, SaskEnergy’s ability to provide affordable energy is one of our strategic imperatives. We know our customers value low delivery charges and stable commodity rates. SaskEnergy is one of the few natural gas distribution companies in North America that uses a hedging strategy to deliver rate stability to our customers. Through this strategy, we purchase a portion of our gas in the forward market and supply it to customers in future years, allowing us to reduce our risk to daily price fluctuations and provide stable rates to customers. We also focus on financial stewardship, which includes identifying and incorporating efficiencies in our business processes. While SaskEnergy’s delivery rate increased by a system average of five per cent in 2023-24, our commodity rate decreased from $4.20 per gigajoule (GJ) to $3.20 per GJ, which resulted in an overall bill decrease of 7.8 per cent for the average residential customer. We also achieved our goal of competitive rates compared to major utilities across Canada. At the end of 2023-24, SaskEnergy’s average annual residential natural gas bill was the second lowest in the country.
Second lowest average annual residential natural gas bill in Canada
2023-24 ESG Report
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