1929 headquarters regina saskatchewan canada area served saskatchewan key people mike marsh ceo products electricity generation transmission and distribution revenue c 1 862 million 2012 1 1.4 % from 2011 net income c 153 million 2012 2 38.3 % from 2011 total assets c 7 011 million 2012 3 total equity c 1 858 million 2012 3 owner province of saskatchewan number of employees 3 100 2014 4 parent crown investments corporation of saskatchewan 5 subsidiaries northpoint energy solutions saskpower shand greenhouse saskpower international 5 website www.saskpower.com saskpower is the principal electric utility in saskatchewan canada . established in 1929 by the provincial government it serves more than 490 000 customers and manages 7 billion in assets . saskpower is a major employer in the province with over 2 800 permanent full time staff located in approximately 70 communities . contents 1 legal status 2 customers 3 facilities 4 rural areas 5 subsidiaries 6 generating facilities 6.1 owned by saskpower 6.2 long term power purchase agreements 7 rural electrification 8 clean coal feasibility study 9 corporate governance 10 unions representing saskpower employees 11 references 12 works cited 13 further reading 14 external links legal status edit saskpower head office in regina saskpower was founded as the saskatchewan power commission in 1929 becoming the saskatchewan power corporation in 1949 . the abbreviated name saskpower was officially adopted in 1987 . owned by the government through its holding company the crown investments corporation saskpower is governed by a board of directors who are accountable to the provincial government minister responsible for saskatchewan power corporation . saskpower has the exclusive right and the exclusive obligation to supply electricity in the province except in the city of swift current and most of the city of saskatoon . the swift current department of light and power provides electrical services within the municipal boundary of swift current . 6 saskatoon light & power provides service to the customers within the 1958 boundaries of saskatoon while saskpower has responsibility for areas annexed after 1958 . 7 customers edit boundary dam power station saskpower serves more than 490 000 customers through more than 151 000 kilometres of power lines throughout the province and covers a service territory that includes saskatchewan s geographic area of approximately 651 000 km2 251 000 sq mi . this relatively low customer density means that while most north american electrical utilities supply an average of 12 customers per circuit kilometre saskpower supplies about three . in fiscal year 2012 total electricity revenue was 1 736 million canadian on sales of 19 957 gigawatt hours of electricity . facilities edit francois finlay dam and nipawin hydroelectric station further information list of power stations in saskatchewan saskpower has a generating capacity of 3 513 megawatts mw from 18 generating facilities including three coal fired base load facilities six natural gas fired facilities seven hydroelectric facilities and two wind power facilities . saskpower also buys power from prince albert pulp inc. the spy hill generating station the sunbridge wind power project the red lily wind project the meridian cogeneration station the cory cogeneration station and the nrgreen kerrobert loreburn estlin and alameda heat recovery projects . taking into consideration independent power producers saskpower s total available generation capacity is 4 104 mw . the saskpower transmission system utilizes lines carrying 230 000 volts 138 000 volts and 72 000 volts . saskpower has interconnections at the manitoba alberta and north dakota borders . rural areas edit incorporated under the power corporation act 1949 saskpower purchased the majority of the province s small independent municipal electrical utilities and integrated them into a province wide grid . it was also responsible under the rural electrification act 1949 for the electrification of the province s rural areas bringing electricity to over 66 000 farms between 1949 and 1966 . to manage the high costs of electrifying the province s sparsely populated rural areas saskpower used a large scale implementation of a single wire ground return distribution system claimed to be a pioneering effort although some utilities in the usa had been using such a system on its rural lines . it was at the time one of the largest such systems in the world . one of the last cities in the province added to saskpower s system was north portal in 1971 which had been served up to this point from montana dakota utilities distribution system in portal nd just across the border . subsidiaries edit island falls hydroelectric station northpoint energy solutions inc. located in regina saskatchewan is a wholly owned subsidiary of saskpower and is saskpower s wholesale energy marketing agent . northpoint began operation on november 1 2001 . northpoint handles the export of power on the north american market . saskpower international inc. was established in 1994 as a wholly owned subsidiary of saskpower . saskpower international has no active operations beyond its joint venture interests in the cory cogeneration station 50 % split with atco power and its investment in the mrm cogeneration station 30 % saskpower international and 70 % atco power . saskpower shand greenhouse is a wholly owned subsidiary of saskpower located near the shand power station coal fired plant . the greenhouse was built in 1991 to offset the environmental impact of burning coal . using waste heat produced by the power plant it grows nearly 600 000 trees shrubs and native plants a year that are distributed throughout the province . generating facilities edit further information list of power stations in saskatchewan all of saskpower s generating facilities are located within saskatchewan with the exception of the mrm cogeneration station which is located at the athabasca oil sands project s muskeg river mine north of fort mcmurray alberta . owned by saskpower edit name location fuel units net capacity date capacity net mw link boundary dam power station estevan coal one 62 mw unit 1959 one 61 mw unit 1960 one 139 mw unit 1969 one 139 mw unit 1970 one 139 mw unit 1973 one 288 mw unit 1977 828 mw saskpower.com centennial wind power facility saskpower international near swift current wind power 83 vestas v80 1.8 mw 2006 150 mw saskpower.com charlot river hydroelectric station near uranium city hydroelectric two 5 mw units 1980 10 mw saskpower.com coteau creek hydroelectric station near elbow hydroelectric three 62 mw units 1968 186 mw saskpower.com cory cogeneration station 50 % owner pcs cory mine near saskatoon natural gas three 76 mw units 2003 228 mw saskpowerinternational.com cypress wind power facility near gull lake wind power nine vestas v47 660 kw turbines 2002 seven vestas v47 660 kw turbines 2003 11 mw saskpower.comcanwea.ca e.b. campbell hydroelectric station near nipawin hydroelectric six 34 mw units 1963 64 two 42 mw units 1966 288 mw saskpower.com ermine power station near kerrobert natural gas two 46 mw units 2009 92 mw saskpower.com island falls hydroelectric station near sandy bay hydroelectric two units 1928 three units 1930 one unit 1937 one unit 1939 one unit 1948 one unit 1959 101 mw saskpower.com landis power station near landis natural gas one 79 mw unit 1975 79 mw saskpower.com meadow lake power station near meadow lake natural gas one 44 mw unit 1984 44 mw saskpower.com mrm cogeneration station 30 % owner near fort mcmurray ab natural gas two 86 mw units 2003 172 mw saskpowerinternational.com nipawin hydroelectric station near nipawin hydroelectric one 85 mw unit 1985 two 85 mw units 1986 255 mw saskpower.com poplar river power station near coronach coal one 291 mw unit 1981 one 291 mw unit 1983 582 mw saskpower.com shand power station near estevan coal one 276 mw unit 1992 276 mw saskpower.com success power station near swift current natural gas three 10 mw units 1967 8 30 mw saskpower.com queen elizabeth power station saskatoon natural gas two 59 mw units 1958 59 only one operationally available at a time one 95 mw unit 1972 six 28 mw units 2002 three 36 mw units 2010 410 mw saskpower.com waterloo hydroelectric station near uranium city hydroelectric one 8 mw unit 1961 8 mw saskpower.com wellington hydroelectric station near uranium city hydroelectric one 2.4 mw unit 1939 one 2.4 mw unit 1959 5 mw saskpower.com yellowhead power station north battleford natural gas three 46 mw units 2010 138 mw saskpower.com long term power purchase agreements edit saskpower has also entered into long term power purchase agreements with privately owned facilities in the province . name owner location fuel units net capacity date capacity net mw link nrgreen alameda heat recovery project nrgreen power alameda waste heat 1 generator 2008 5 mw 8 nrgreen estlin heat recovery project nrgreen power estlin waste heat 1 generator 2008 5 mw 8 nrgreen kerrobert heat recovery project nrgreen power kerrobert waste heat 1 generator 2006 5 mw 8 red lily wind project concorde pacific near moosomin wind power 16 vestas v82 1.65 mw turbines 2011 27 mw 9 nrgreen loreburn heat recovery project nrgreen power loreburn waste heat 1 generator 2008 5 mw 8 meridian cogeneration station transalta & husky oil lloydminster natural gas three 70 mw turbines 2000 210 mw north battleford energy centre northland power r.m. north battleford natural gas 170 mw gas turbine 90 mw steam turbine 261 mw spy hill generating facility northland power near esterhazy natural gas two 43 mw units 86 mw northlandpower.ca sunbridge wind power project suncor & enbridge near swift current wind power 17 vestas v47 660 kw turbines 2002 11 mw suncor.com prince albert pulp inc. paper excellence near prince albert biomass 1 generator idled 10 mw paperexcellence.com in may 2010 saskpower entered into a feasibility study agreement with brookfield renewable power james smith first nation peter chapman first nation chakastaypasin band of the cree and kiewit corporation to conduct a feasibility study on construction of the pehonan hydroelectric project ; a 250 mw run of river generating station . 10 rural electrification edit see also rural electrification saskpower was founded by an act of the provincial legislature as the saskatchewan power commission in 1929 . the purpose of the commission was to research how best to create a provincial power system which would provide the province s residents with safe reliable electric service . a provincial power system was desirable for many reasons . in the early days of electricity in the province of saskatchewan electricity was largely unavailable outside of larger centres . most electrical utilities were owned either privately or by municipalities and none of them were interconnected . because each utility operated independently rates often varied significantly between communities anywhere from 4 11 to 45 12 cents per kilowatt hour in the mid 1920s . the rapid growth in the province s population in the first decades of the century from 91 279 to 757 510 within 20 years had led to a sharp increase in the demand for electricity . finally the provincial government had determined that the lack of inexpensive power was hampering the development of industry in the province ref . while the commission began purchasing independently owned electrical utilities with the goal of interconnecting them the economic situation of the 1930s and the labour shortage caused by the second world war delayed the creation of a provincial power system for nearly two decades . by 1948 the commission operated 35 generating stations and more than 8 800 km of transmission lines . however most farm families who had electricity generated it themselves using battery systems charged by wind turbines or gasoline or diesel powered generators . across the province only 1 500 farms were connected to the electrical grid most of them because of their proximity to the lines that linked cities and larger towns . 13 in 1949 by an act of the provincial legislature the commission became the saskatchewan power corporation . the first task of the new corporation was to purchase what remained of the province s small independent electrical utilities and to begin integrating them