A typical residential customer in Saskatchewan paid $500 (2015-16: $453) for delivery service in 2016-17, which is the second lowest of the major utilities across Canada. Residents of Hamilton, Ontario paid the lowest rate at $466. When looking at combined commodity and delivery service, Saskatchewan customers paid the fifth lowest in Canada at March 31, 2017. SaskEnergy provides its distribution customers with price protection through the practice of hedging natural gas purchases. As a result, in a low and declining natural gas price environment, customers typically pay higher costs for natural gas but are not subject to the volatility of market prices. SaskEnergy does not earn a profit or incur losses on the sale of natural gas to its customers, therefore the costs associated with the supply of natural gas are recovered over time. Customers have consistently provided very positive survey responses to questions about stable natural gas prices as opposed to prices that move with the market. The TransGas metric Operation, Maintenance and Administration Costs (OM&A) per Book Value of Assets Managed is a proxy for the relative efficiency of the transmission utility operations. TransGas OM&A reflected strong resource management efforts and a commitment to efficient operations throughout the year. Safety/Vigilance The Corporation’s ongoing commitment to system integrity programming is unwavering. All efficiency efforts were implemented so as not to compromise a safe and reliable system. Integrity-related budgets are being actively managed to maintain strong results in the areas of gas leaks, pipeline failures, third-party line hits and other integrity measures. The Corporation participates in industry working groups to ensure its operations reflect industry best practice, which continues to evolve at a dynamic pace. The targets related to safety and vigilance for both SaskEnergy and TransGas were surpassed as a result of the continued focus that the Corporation has placed on its risk-based integrity programming. One of the key initiatives SaskEnergy undertook in 2016-17 was the continuation of the service upgrade program. This major integrity initiative inspects and upgrades service lines to ensure safe and reliable gas service in communities that have experienced significant ground shifting. This program, together with enhanced leak survey processes and the damage prevention initiative aimed at reducing leaks due to external interference, has resulted in the fewest leaks on the system since those statistics were first recorded in the early 1980s. The 2016-17 result reflects a 6.5 per cent decrease in total leaks relative to 2015-16 and a 35 per cent decrease in line hits since 2013. TransGas continued to reduce risks for its transmission pipelines through in-line inspections, visual inspections, damage prevention initiatives and the cathodic protection program. The result was zero leaks experienced in 2016-17.
SaskEnergy/TransGas’ investment toward safety and integrity initiatives in 2016-17, including capital and operating, was $91 million.
Customer Satisfaction Perhaps the best indicator of SaskEnergy’s success in delivering safe, reliable and affordable services is formal feedback from customers. Recognizing that customers are vital to the success of any business, both SaskEnergy and TransGas conduct annual surveys in an effort to gather feedback on customer experiences, expectations and overall satisfaction. The 2016-17 SaskEnergy survey results show strong levels of customer satisfaction within a number of key areas including reliable service, informing the public of safety-related initiatives and being environmentally responsible. In the 2016-17 survey, more than three-quarters of customers indicated they are confident in SaskEnergy’s safety efforts. However, restraint efforts are having an impact on customer calls and, by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year, data reflected higher call volumes and longer wait times for customers in the phone queue. This has resulted in an increase in the rate of ‘dropped calls’ or customers who hang up before they speak to a customer service representative. The TransGas customer survey results in 2016-17 continued to reflect strong satisfaction with TransGas business services despite the challenges that have been encountered with the TransGas customer service interface system, which was completed in mid-2016-17.
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Management’s Discussion & Analysis
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