Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Reliability Unplanned Distribution Customer Outage Events are service disruptions affecting more than one customer. These arise from activities such as third- party damage (line hits), operator error, facilities failure and security issues. During 2023-24, there were a total of 31 reported outages, which is below the target of 38 outages for the year. This can be primarily attributed to public safety efforts that continue to decrease the number of third-party line contacts with buried infrastructure. SaskEnergy has a formal outage mitigation plan that is required to address each incident. Greener Energy Provider SaskEnergy is committed to a lower carbon future and to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment. Natural gas is a valuable energy source that will be part of a lower carbon future, and SaskEnergy is actively building a clear path to deliver on its commitment. SaskEnergy’s environmental responsibility efforts are focused on reducing emissions from operations, supporting customers in reducing their end-use emissions through programs and education, and demonstrating stewardship through the protection of the local environment. The Corporation has realized emissions reductions through infrastructure enhancements, continuously improving emissions data, and leveraging innovative emissions reduction technology. The evolving regulatory landscape will influence SaskEnergy’s emissions reduction priorities and adjustments will be made to meet these requirements. SaskEnergy’s emissions reduction roadmap guides the way for the organization in reducing emissions from operations by 35 per cent by 2030, including a long-term electricity strategy that defines plans for renewable power installations across the province. The first ground-mounted solar array was constructed in 2022-23 in Regina, and three additional facilities saw installations in 2023-24. SaskEnergy is reducing vented operational emissions through gas capture and flaring technologies, with a focus on transmission system emissions.
Transmission Operating and Maintenance Costs per Book Value of Assets Managed was on target in 2023-24. Although capital investment in 2023-24 was lower than expected, it was matched by lower operating and maintenance expenses. Looking ahead to future years, the organization is transitioning from a static target measure for the Operating & Maintenance costs for both Distribution and Transmission to one that compares changes in results to the provincial rate of inflation. The update to the measure will provide relevant context to these measures as SaskEnergy continues to focus on providing affordable service to our customers. SaskEnergy continued to achieve its goal of having residential delivery rates that are competitive with the major utilities across Canada. A typical residential customer in Regina paid $592 for delivery service in 2023-24, which was the third- lowest rate in Canada. Hamilton, Ontario maintains the lowest with a rate of $468 for a typical customer. SaskEnergy continues to drive efficiency into processes to enhance affordability and maintain competitiveness. distribution customers through the practice of hedging natural gas purchases. This balances competitive commodity rates with rate stability and is designed to protect customers from natural gas market volatility, particularly in the winter months. Effective October 1, 2023, SaskEnergy implemented a combined rate adjustment which reduced its commodity rate by over 24 per cent to $3.20 per gigajoule (GJ), while increasing the delivery service rate by five per cent. This allowed SaskEnergy to provide overall lower bills for customers while also addressing inflationary pressures impacting operating expenses. SaskEnergy’s total residential natural gas utility costs (delivery and commodity combined) were the second lowest in Canada in 2023-24. SaskEnergy provides a measure of price protection for its natural gas supply and
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