SaskPower profit declines to $60M in 2014

Although SaskPower is traditionally one of the provincial government's biggest cash cows, 2014 was a relatively lean year.

Net income in 2014 was $60 million, down 47 per cent from the $114 million the Crown-owned power utility raked in the year before.

SaskPower, which released its annual report on Tuesday, says the decrease in earnings was primarily due to rising fuel and purchased power, operating and capital-related expenses.

Capital-related expenses concern the debt SaskPower has accumulated during a major building phase. The company says it spent $1.28 billion upgrading the province's electrical grid in 2014.

Among the highlights of last year was the launch of the Boundary Dam carbon capture and storage project, SaskPower says. Carbon sequestration has been the centrepiece of the Saskatchewan government's greenhouse gas control program.

While Crown corporations typically send a portion of their profits to the government, there was no dividend from SaskPower in 2014. The government says SaskPower is a special case due to its capital building needs.

One event from last year the company would like to forget is the smart meter saga. When a small number of meters burned, SaskPower was forced to remove them from 100,000 locations.

In the wake of the smart meter problems, the president of the company lost his job.

The company confirmed Tuesday that the meters have been removed from all homes and have been replaced with analog meters.