Looking back at 2022-23, I am incredibly proud of SaskEnergy’s performance and accomplishments across the three pillars of our sustainability framework.
Thanks to our most valuable resource — our team of employees — we continued to meet Saskatchewan’s growing energy needs while contributing to the province’s economy, supporting the communities where we live and work, and demonstrating our dedication to environmental responsibility.
Since making our commitment to reduce our emissions from operations by 35 per cent by 2030 back in 2020-21, I’m pleased to share that we are well on our way to reaching this target. So far, we’ve reduced emissions by 11.5 per cent since our 2019 baseline year.
Numerous projects and initiatives have contributed to this success, including the installation of additional emissions reduction devices on our compressors, the use of higher-efficiency operational equipment on our system, and an energy monitoring pilot project at our Regina Service Centre that helped us reduce our year-over-year electricity consumption by 5.8 per cent.
It was also exciting to construct our first large-scale solar project at one of our town border stations in Regina, which will generate enough solar electricity to offset annual power consumption at this site, with plans in place to convert additional facilities throughout the next seven years.
Equally as important as reducing our emissions from operations is assisting our customers in meeting their environmental goals and reducing their end-use emissions.
In 2022-23, we increased our investment in our energy efficiency rebate programs, providing more than $4 million in rebates to customers to purchase and install high-efficiency heating equipment. This allowed our customers to reduce emissions by 19,225 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which is equal to the annual emissions of roughly 4,280 gasoline-powered automobiles.
Our ability to provide safe and reliable energy to our customers is of the utmost importance, especially during some of Saskatchewan’s most extreme weather. We will continue to invest in our infrastructure to maintain the level of reliability that our customers count on and will do so while supporting the province’s economy through local and Indigenous procurement.
In 2022-23, we purchased $246.8 million in goods and services from Saskatchewan vendors, which made up 63 per cent of our purchase orders, and more than $16 million in contracts was awarded to businesses with Indigenous ownership or Indigenous content. We are also committed to strengthening the communities we serve and are proud to have supported 641 programs and events in 267 communities across the province throughout 2022-23. In alignment with our sustainability goals, focus areas for these sponsorships included environmental stewardship, natural gas education and safety, and Indigenous engagement initiatives.
We also know affordability is an ongoing concern, and we are committed to providing our customers with competitive rates. To do so, we will balance our emissions reduction efforts with our ability to provide affordable energy to customers, which includes our continued focus on financial stewardship and our efforts to identify further operational efficiencies.
As we progress on our sustainability path and work toward a lower carbon future, our success will come from the efforts of our dedicated team of employees across Saskatchewan. With that said, I am pleased to present our 2022-23 Sustainability Report, which illustrates how our team demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and our continued progress on environmental, social and governance principles.
Mark Guillet, K.C.
SaskEnergy President and CEO