REGINA — Saskatchewan is to soon gain control of the carbon pricing charge that shows up on residents power bills.

But Premier Scott Moe and his Saskatchewan Party government are still mulling over how that new revenue should be spent.

Since 2019, a carbon backstop has been placed on Saskatchewan Power Corporation bills to account for its greenhouse gas emissions.

The money has been going to the federal government, but starting in January the money will be staying in the province.

This comes after Saskatchewan successfully applied to have natural gas pipelines and power plants regulated through its own carbon-pricing system, and will take full regulatory control over all large greenhouse gas emitters in the province.

Moe says his government hasn’t made a decision whether it will return some of that money collected through power bills back to residents.

“It’s fair to say we haven’t made that decision yet,” Moe said Wednesday.

He says a priority for the government is to invest in Saskatchewan’s transition to cleaner power generation and to “make sure it’s affordable as possible” for residents.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2022.

The Canadian Press