At the beginning of the year, the provincial government decided to stop collecting the carbon charge on electric home heating for SaskPower users, and to ensure no Saskatoon resident is left behind, the City is providing a one-time rebate for customers of Saskatoon Light and Power that use electric heat.

Trevor Bell, the Director of Saskatoon Light and Power, says the rebate credit includes 60 per cent of the carbon charge that would normally be paid.

“They’ll still pay the 40% on things like their electric lighting, appliances, those other energy uses that they have. So, it’s just the 60% which is the estimate of what electric heat typically is for a residential house,” Bell states.

Bell adds that because the City heard about the province’s decision in early December, there was not enough time to organize this rebate prior to January 1st. The money will appear as a credit on customer utility bills before the end of June 2024.

Bell says although the federal government says corporations that fail to remit the carbon tax could face fines or jail time, he isn’t worried about the implications.

“We are a customer of SaskPower, so we buy electricity from SaskPower and then resell it in the city. So, SaskPower will be reducing their bill to us by whatever amount we provide credit to our customers…We are not impacted by any of those conditions,” assures Bell. “As a generator, they are the ones who are responsible for remitting any carbon charges to the province or to the federal government. They do that themselves, and then they just charge customers a fee to recover that cost.”

Bell iterates that SL&P customers must contact the City to receive their rebate, as SL&P does not keep track of who has electric heat as a primary source of heating.

“So if you do have elctric heat, then you would need to email revenue@saskatoon.ca or call 306-975-2400 and we can set you up with the credit,” adds Bell.