Meili proposes ‘Renew Saskatchewan’ plan to support clean energy transition
For immediate release
October 13, 2018
SASKATOON—In his keynote address to NDP convention delegates this morning in Saskatoon, NDP Leader Ryan Meili presented his Renew Saskatchewan plan for removing the barriers that are keeping Saskatchewan families, farms, and businesses from reducing energy usage and shifting to lower-cost, renewable options.
“Climate change demands the best of us, but Saskatchewan has fallen behind. This plan is designed to jump-start the clean energy transition we know we need, meeting the urgency of climate change with the opportunity of low-cost clean energy.”
Similar to past Saskatchewan government innovations like the Rural Electrification Program or the Family Farm Improvement Program, the Renew Saskatchewan plan outlined by Meili would provide assessments and financing for clean energy installations or retrofits for homes, farms, businesses, industry, municipalities and reserves. After an initial assessment to determine the lowest-cost and highest-return option for a given property or organization, some of all of the cost of the installation would be covered by the fund, and would be paid back over time from the customer’s power or energy bills based on the value of the power generated or fossil fuel energy saved by the installation.
“Investment in renewable energy or retrofits of inefficient buildings pay for themselves in the money saved on heat or power,” Meili said. “People want to make the shift to clean energy, but the up-front cost stops them, even though it would save a lot of money over the long term. This plan would remove the barriers that currently prevent people taking action on climate change.”
Glenn Wright, an agricultural producer and engineer with almost 20 years of experience in the resource industry, called the plan an important and urgently needed step forward into the clean energy future Saskatchewan deserves and needs.
“We have the best solar resource in Canada and a lot of room for improvement in energy efficiency” Wright said. “The NDP plan to focus on clean energy and energy efficiency is exactly what we need to address climate change and grow our economy.”