SaskEnergy Incorporated[2] is a Crown corporation of the Saskatchewan government, responsible for delivering and selling natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The company owns 70,000 kilometres of distribution pipelines, 15,000 kilometres of transmission pipelines, and serves over 405,000 customers.[3] It is governed by The SaskEnergy Act and is the designated subsidiary of Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan.[3]

SaskEnergy Incorporated
Company typeCrown corporation
IndustryNatural Gas Public Utility
Founded1952 as the Gas Division of Saskatchewan Power Corporation
HeadquartersRegina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Key people
Ken From,[1] President and CEO
ProductsDelivery of Natural Gas
RevenueC$541 million (2018-19)
C$166 million (2018-19)
OwnerGovernment of Saskatchewan
Number of employees
1,120 (2022)
ParentCrown Investments Corporation
Subsidiaries
  • Bayhurst Gas
  • Many Islands Pipelines
  • Sask 1st Call
  • TransGas
WebsiteSaskEnergy

Natural gas gathering, treatment, compression, storage, and intraprovincial transmission is done via their wholly-owned subsidiary TransGas, and interprovincial natural gas transmission is done via their subsidiary Many Islands Pipelines.

Natural gas distribution and marketing is done by SaskEnergy itself.

History

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Although natural gas has been used for cooking for thousands of years, and for lighting for hundreds of years, natural gas home heating did not become popular until the mid-20th century.[4]

In Western Canada, most natural gas networks were created by the existing electric utilities (for example: Manitoba Hydro, ENMAX, and BC Hydro). Saskatchewan did the same, and in 1952, the Saskatchewan Power Corporation (now SaskPower) began operating a natural gas transmission and distribution system in Saskatchewan.

In 1988, the Saskatchewan government split up SaskPower, and created the Saskatchewan Energy Corporation, which took over all of SaskPower’s natural gas assets.[5]

Services

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In the SaskEnergy Act, SaskEnergy is granted the exclusive right to distribute natural gas within the province of Saskatchewan. Its subsidiary, TransGas, on the other hand, is granted the exclusive right to transport natural gas within Saskatchewan. This means TransGas is responsible to moving natural gas using high-pressure pipelines, and SaskEnergy is responsible for the downstream distribution of natural gas through low-pressure gas lines to consumers.[6]

The Provincial Cabinet regulates SaskEnergy’s delivery service and commodity rates. All rate changes are subject to review by the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel, an independent body, prior to receiving Provincial Cabinet approval.[3]

In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, SaskEnergy distributed more than 6.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Ken from named new president and CEO of SaskEnergy".
  2. ^ "Terms of Use". SaskEnergy. 31 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "2021-22 SaskEnergy Annual Report". FlippingBook. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  4. ^ "A Brief History of Natural Gas - APGA". www.apga.org. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  5. ^ SaskEnergy (May 23, 2019). "SaskEnergy 2018-19 Annual Report: Keeping Saskatchewan Warm For 30 Years" (PDF). SaskEnergy.com. p. 3. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Smith, Mark; Buckingham, Janice; Gibson, Conni; Dubchak, Jason (2000). "Recent Legislative and Regulatory Developments of Interest to Oil and Gas Lawyers". Alberta Law Review. 38: 170. doi:10.29173/alr519. ISSN 1925-8356.
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