The Official Opposition says the Sask Party government has chosen to add costs to small businesses through utility rate increases, when they are already struggling with inflationary prices. Critic for SaskPower and Jobs and the Economy, Aleana Young, quotes a recent Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey which sites that 93 per cent of local Saskatchewan businesses are saying their top constraints are fuel and utilities, and 13 per cent are seriously considering closing.
The NDP is urging the government to scrap the SaskEnergy and SaskPower rate increases. Young explains that SaskEnergy increased rates by 16.8 per cent last August, with an increase of 2.9 per cent scheduled this June and another 3 per cent in June of 2024. As well, over the course of eight months, power bills will go up by 11 per cent, with the final increase of 4 per cent coming up in April.

She suggests the government is balancing the budget on the backs of citizens who are paying more for utilities and for other cost of living increases. Young says she has heard the government say in the past that energy increases are because of the war in Ukraine, “but the war didn’t pull tens of millions of dollars from Corporations this year and then turn around and hike rates.”