October 28, 2011
Saskatchewan

Sask. Party attacks NDP wind power pledge

CBC News, www.cbc.ca 27 October 2011

New Democrat leader Dwain Lingenfelter’s promise to get more electricity from wind turbines is being criticized by the Saskatchewan Party.

The party says if elected on Nov. 7, an NDP government will add 400 megawatts of new wind power over four years.

But Sask. Party Leader Brad Wall says there’s a huge hole in the NDP platform because it’s not being costed out. According to SaskPower planning documents, large wind power projects have capital costs of between $2 million and $3 million per megawatt.

The government-owned power company says it already has 200 megawatts of new wind power projects planned between now and 2015.

The NDP promise suggests it would double that, with additional costs of between $400 million and $600 million.

However, Lingenfelter insists it won’t cost more to make that kind of a shift from carbon-burning power to wind.

“That won’t be a very big leap because SaskPower has the ability to do wind,” he said.

The details of how to pay for it will be figured out later, Lingenfelter said.

“That would all come as we sit down with SaskPower after the election – have a discussion,” he said.

Wall said that’s another example of the NDP making unaffordable promises.

“Are you going to make SaskPower borrow the money? Is it going to come from the general revenue fund? Or are people going to pay higher electricity rates?” Wall asked.

The wind power promise is part of the NDP’s environmental plan to ensure that by 2025, 50 per cent of the province’s electricity is clean, renewable energy.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/28/sask-party-attacks-ndp-wind-power-pledge/