Minister Responsible for SaskPower, Jeremy Harrison, discusses how Saskatchewan is gearing up to meet increasing energy demands
When Energy, Oil & Gas magazine (EOG) featured SaskPower in July 2025, the utility was focusing on strengthening Saskatchewan’s electricity system and ensuring a stable supply of reliable, affordable power for all customers. In October 2025 Energy, Oil & Gas caught up with Minister Jeremy Harrison, to learn about recent developments at SaskPower. Currently serving as Minister of Crown Investments Corporation, he has ministerial oversight of SaskPower, SaskEnergy, SaskTel, SGI, SaskWater, Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan, and the Public Service Commission.
As Minister Responsible, Harrison ensures SaskPower’s strategic plans and operations align with the government’s broader energy policy, and economic, and environmental objectives, while overseeing the efficient delivery of electrical services across the province. “I’m accountable for the public oversight of the company, as well as managing overall policy direction,” he explains.
To solidify Saskatchewan’s energy position and lay out the future of SaskPower, the province released The Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan in October 2025. To benefit from significant opportunities offered by electrical power generation, it must pursue the right policies and make tough decisions around balancing costs, operability, and sustainability for the provincial electrical grid. The Plan provides this roadmap for Saskatchewan’s energy future.
Involving a significant change in policy and thinking for Crown energy utilities, the Plan prioritizes energy security, while preparing for the predicted expansions in power demand in the region. “This is something that has become even more important over the last couple of years,” Harrison explains. “So, based on that, we have made several decisions around power production in what we call an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to generation and resources.” The strategy encompasses multiple energy sources. “We are utilizing natural gas, hydropower, coal, and in the future, will be adding nuclear,” he continues. “There are different renewable generation sources – wind, solar and biomass – included as well.”
When considering the future power needs of the region, Harrison, in close coordination with SaskPower and its employees, partners and local communities, decided to extend the life of three thermal coal generating facilities in the province. “With significant increases in power demand, and the massive incoming investments such as the BHP Jansen potash project – one of the largest private sector investments in Canadian history – we will need substantial additional power,” he says. “Extending the life of those thermal coal assets makes sense.”
With Saskatchewan having its own coal reserves and established mining industry, the fuel is readily available. However, SaskPower recognizes that burning coal creates harmful CO2 emissions. To mitigate this, the utility is looking closely at increasing its carbon capture and storage, a technology in use at its coal-fired Boundary Dam Power Station, which recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. “That unique unit, attached to one of our coal units at Boundary Dam, is capturing significant amounts of carbon. That is an important project and would be the basis on which we will do further carbon capture in the future if we decide to go in that direction.”
Carbon capture is also largely used in the context of enhanced oil recovery in the Weyburn and Estevan areas, and this technology is further being investigated as an option for the oil sector. “The decision will be predicated on the economics, and discussions with our partners. Our objective is increasing our oil production in the province, from around 450,000 barrels a day currently, to 600,000 and then to a million barrels of oil production a day.” He notes there could be a strong case for additional carbon capture based on the approaches and technologies used to achieve this increased output.
On the natural gas side, the construction of the new combined-cycle Aspen Power Station stands out as a notable development. This C$1.4bn to C$1.7bn project will produce power equal to what’s needed for about 370,000 homes in Saskatchewan and is more than a quarter completed. “We are also working on a number of maintenance projects, and we have been working diligently on renewable projects,” he adds.
Renewable energy already makes up a portion of SaskPower’s energy mix – the organization announced around 600 megawatts of new renewable projects just in the last year. “That primarily comprises wind and solar,” Harrison notes. “While we already have a significant hydro generation capacity right now, unfortunately, that is maxed out.”
The province also utilizes bioenergy from its vast northern forests. “In the ‘all-of-the-above’ approach, renewables are comprising just over 30 percent of generation capacity in our grid, and likely will remain around that proportion as we go forward,” he explains.
With these solutions already in place, Harrison notes another option for the future. “With coal already being here, that’s a power source that makes sense for us now. But going forward, nuclear is being considered.” Saskatchewan is uniquely positioned for nuclear development. “Around 25 percent of the world’s uranium comes from Saskatchewan. There are several local companies in the space, including Cameco, a very well-known global player,” Harrison explains. With at least two more uranium mines in development, the province is positioning itself to become an even bigger player than it already is in that uranium space.
“While we already add some value to uranium here, we think it makes sense to have more elements of that uranium value chain and nuclear supply chain. This would be up to and including power production, which contributes to energy security,” he continues. “We’re keeping an open mind around the specific technology, but I see nuclear comprising a very large majority of our base load power generation here in Saskatchewan, and it is going to be a big part of how we get to a net-zero grid by 2050.”
SaskPower is working through its subsidiary, SaskNuclear, on licensing to deploy the grid-scale GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in Saskatchewan. The provincial utility is engaged with Ontario Power Generation, an experienced nuclear operator, to learn from Ontario’s deployment of the first BWRX-300 reactor at its Darlington site in 2030. “I recently visited Darlington and there is a lot of exciting work going on. We’re seeing that develop first hand and it’s making real progress,” he reveals.
While energy security means there must be enough power to meet local demands, Harrison would like to see SaskPower as a significant net energy exporter to neighboring provinces. “We are uniquely positioned in almost the center of the North American energy grid, and we see real promise in how we can use that position,” he explains. Robust transmission capacity is a crucial element of this, as it not only enables critical interprovincial and international power trading but serves as the backbone for ensuring grid reliability, integrating renewable and future energy sources. “We already have about 400 megawatts of interconnection with our neighboring province, Manitoba to the east, and about 150 megawatts with Alberta to the west. Our current 150-megawatt connection to the US in the south is being expanded to 650 megawatts,” notes Harrison. “We are focused on expanding our transmission infrastructure, both within the province and in terms of our interconnection capacity with our neighbors.”
The Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan emphasizes the importance of transmission infrastructure, detailing the need for renewal of aging assets and expansion of the current network. Harrison stresses the importance of this strategic direction. “That is going to be a big focus that we have, as well as the life extension work that we are doing on our thermal coal facilities,” he concludes. “It’s a busy time and we’re very excited about the future.” As Saskatchewan continues to experience rapid growth, the province’s comprehensive energy strategy aims to balance immediate power needs with long-term sustainability and economic goals.