The Estevan Chamber of Commerce held is latest pub panel last Friday, with an advertised topic of the Future of Energy Production in Saskatchewan.
Yes, there was a variety of appetizers served at the event at the Power Dodge Curling Centre’s lounge, but the people in attendance would have likely been there regardless of the social element. For this session, the topic was the draw.
And yes, the evening deviated at times from the billed concept. Instead of discussions on carbon capture and storage, solar power, small modular nuclear reactors and geothermal power, we had conversations on how much power electrical vehicles need at this time, and an obligatory climate change denial or two.
And yes, a lot of what was discussed has been covered at length in these pages before, including the future of CCS technology.
But overall, it was a good night.
The chamber had promoted having three representatives of SaskPower to answer questions. As it turned out, there was one: Doug Opseth, the director of generation asset management and planning.
Opseth deserved a lot of credit for how he handled himself. There were a lot of people there who aren’t too happy with SaskPower, and haven’t been happy ever since SaskPower’s decision in 2018 not to further invest into carbon capture and storage for Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station.
But he stood up there and answered every question to the best of his ability. And since there were two other people who couldn’t be there, he had a lot of questions that he couldn’t answer. You have to wonder how the night would have been different if Opseth wasn’t flying solo.
(There were three other SaskPower representatives in attendance, but they were roaming in the crowd to take question).
But one thing that did come up repeatedly at the meeting, especially towards the end, is the need for SaskPower’s new president, Rupen Pandya, to come to Estevan.
As effective as Opseth was on Friday night, it’s more important for Pandya to come here.
Pandya has been the president of SaskPower for about four months now. He’s obviously going to be very busy. His predecessor, Mike Marsh, didn’t exactly win over supporters here and a lot of supporters of CCS were pleased when Marsh retired.
And we recognize that Pandya has unquestionably been very busy in his first months with SaskPower.
But this is a community where SaskPower has such a strong presence. Outside of Regina, where SaskPower’s corporate head office is located, it’s likely the area with the largest number of SaskPower employees.
This most-valuable industry has an uncertain future here. Pandya needs to come here for a public meeting and face the crowd that Opseth faced alone on Friday. The sooner, the better.
If he needs someone to join him, perhaps in the form of other SaskPower higherups, well, we’re fine by that. Perhaps it needs to be Premier Scott Moe. The premier is long overdue for a public appearance in Estevan.
You can consider this an open invitation to Pandya.
It was noted during the meeting the large economic spinoff from coal mining and power generation in Estevan. It was mentioned that between coal mining, power production and related jobs, between 25 and 50 per cent of jobs are created by these industries. Truth be told, it’s likely much higher.
There aren’t many jobs that aren’t tied to coal mining and power production in Estevan, whether they be directly or indirectly related. If you don’t know somebody employed by power or the mines, well, you haven’t been here very long.
We’ve seen some encouraging announcements during the past couple of years regarding potential large-scale investment from other industries. If they go ahead, they would help mitigate the potential loss of mining in Estevan. And these new ventures would not subject to the whims of an unpragmatic federal government as much as coal-fired electricity.
But right now, coal-fired power represents a big chunk of our community. And if the day comes when we’re not a coal-fired power community, SaskPower needs to step forward with options to keep jobs here.
