Released on April 11, 2006
Government has approved a rate decrease of approximately 10 per cent for SaskEnergy customers. It is retroactive to April 1st. The decrease was recommended by the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel in its report to Government on April 10th."Warmer weather throughout the winter has led to more natural gas in storage, driving down prices," Crown Investments Corporation Minister Maynard Sonntag said. "SaskEnergy wants to pass the savings on to customers, so it asked for a commodity rate decrease from $7.95 per Gigajoule to $6.80 per Gigajoule. The result is a decrease of about 10 per cent on customers' bills.
"Residential customers will be paying about $5 a month less, and farm customers about $6 a month less. Businesses like strip malls and rinks will save about $19 a month, while the monthly savings for larger customers like schools, hospitals and nursing homes will be about $289."
The rate of $7.95 per Gigajoule was a subsidized rate that had been in effect since November 1st, 2005. The five-month subsidy was part of the Saskatchewan Energy Share, a plan to help Saskatchewan people reduce heating costs and share the benefits of increased provincial royalties from natural gas.
"We were able to provide this one-time assistance to cushion people from what would have been a dramatic and sudden rate increase last November," Sonntag said. "However, we cannot stress enough that people should be looking at ways to reduce their energy consumption and become more energy efficient so they will be better prepared for future price increases. The market continues to be very volatile, so we expect that SaskEnergy may be back before the Rate Review Panel this fall, asking for a new rate to take effect November 1st."
For more information about the Saskatchewan Energy Share, including energy saving tips, conservation programs and incentives, go to www.skenergyshare.com.
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For More Information, Contact:
| Karen Schmidt Crown Investments Corporation Regina Phone: (306) 787-5889 |