Sask. won't comply with proposed clean electricity regulations; feds call reasons 'incorrect conclusions'

The Saskatchewan government says it won't comply with federal clean electricity regulations when they come into effect.

The statement, posted in a news release Tuesday, is in response to the Saskatchewan Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal's conclusion that if the draft clean electricity regulations are implemented, it would stunt job growth and cost billions of dollars.

The regulations are meant to help the shift toward a net-zero electricity grid, help provinces and territories maintain electricity affordability for Canadians and businesses and maintain grid reliability, according to a federal website.

But the provincial tribunal said when compared with Saskatchewan's Affordability Plan, the regulations will not aid with affordability.

Tribunal chair Michael Milani said on Tuesday that for the period from 2025 to 2035, Saskatchewan's economic growth, as measured by gross domestic product, will be at least $7.1 billion lower if the federal regulations were to apply.

Milani also said there would be 4,200 fewer jobs, mainly because of increased electricity costs.

In a Tuesday statement to CBC Saskatchewan, the office of federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the province's decision is not surprising but called the reasons "incorrect conclusions."

Guilbeault's office accused Saskatchewan of launching the tribunal with an "underlying ideological agenda" to build a political fight with the federal government.

"The results of this report are wildly out of sync with all the benefits we know come with building out a cleaner grid. Saskatchewan is ideally situated to be a leader in these economic opportunities," said the statement.

The five-person Saskatchewan tribunal was created in tandem with the Saskatchewan First Act in 2023, with goals to assert exclusive rights under the Constitution and combat what Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre described at the time as "constitutional overreach" by the federal government. 

"We cannot participate in federal economic harm to our province," Eyre said in a news release issued Tuesday morning. 

The release says Saskatchewan has placed the onus on the federal government to prove the constitutionality of the regulations before it imposes them on the province.

"We will not be submitting taxpayers to the cost of litigation against the federal government unless litigated against," said Eyre.

The Saskatchewan government refers to the federal initiatives it believes could cause harm to provincial projects, operations, activities, industries, businesses or residents. In this case, the tribunal was asked to review the clean electricity regulations in November 2023, Milani said.