To increase Saskatchewan’s power capacity, we’re building an international power line that consists of 2 new parallel power lines to the United States (US).
The power lines will cross the United States border and connect to a new switching station that will also connect the Estevan Solar Project and other rerouted power lines.
We signed a 20-year agreement with the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) in 2022. The agreement will allow us to receive power from our neighbours in the US up to 650 megawatts (MW). The agreement starts in 2027. In the future we can also look at sending power back to our neighbours. In October 2023, we issued a request for supply proposals (RFSP) for up to 500 MW of power through the SPP. This competition will close in December 2023, and we expect to announce a successful proponent in 2025.
Canada and the US will need new power facilities to support this project. SPP selected Basin Electric Power Cooperative (BEPC) to complete the work on the US side of the border. We’ll co-ordinate with BEPC to create a connection point at the Canada/US border. We’ll oversee the work on the Canadian side of the border.
Our Progress So Far
We’ll need to secure land to build the new switching station and power lines. Consultation for the project is now underway. Check out our project schedule below:
- Initial consultation on international power lines — ongoing
- Follow-up consultation on international power lines — late 2023
- Regulatory requirements — ongoing
- Construction complete/power-up — by 2027
Respecting the Local Environment
What we do today impacts our future. We’re always working hard to reduce our impact and protect the environment.
As we plan projects, we use tools like databases, satellite imagery and field surveys to understand the environment we are working in.
As projects move forward, we’ll make sure environmental protection standards are in place to reduce our impact on features like:
- waterbodies
- sensitive lands
- wildlife and their habitats
- heritage resources
We also work with the Ministry of Environment and other regulatory agencies to ensure we meet all environmental requirements.
The Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) handles power projects like international power lines. That means we'll be applying to CER for review as part of the regulatory process. Our application will include information we collect from landowners, rightsholders and stakeholders during our engagement activities.
Project Outcomes
Increasing our connections to neighbours benefit everyone in the province Saskatchewan. Some of these benefits include:
- making our grid more flexible, reliable and resilient
- helping to bring more power to homes and businesses when and where it’s needed
- increasing our ability to add more renewable power to the power grid
