Saskatoon Light & Power customers now have the option to voluntarily pay a higher power bill to fund renewable energy generation in the province.

The Renewable Subscription Service allows the public to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs, for 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The program has several subscription options, and the average charge will range between $2.00 and $9.00 per month on top of customers’ regular rates.

Jose Cheruvallath is the Metering and Sustainable Electricity Manager. He says SaskPower unveiled a similar program earlier in the year, so the City wanted to follow suit.

“Adding your own solar panels is not always an option for everybody for different reasons, financial being one of them. This program gives customers an alternative to that, where they can still contribute to their environmental goals.”

The City has its own goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Residents will mainly be purchasing RECs generated by Saskatoon’s rooftop solar panels and solar farms, unless there happens to be a huge demand for the program.

“We acknowledge that we only have a certain amount of renewable energy that is coming in through initiatives that the city currently offers, so we have a partnership with SaskPower to buy RECs from them that are received from projects that are built in Saskatchewan.”

However, he adds that the RECs don’t fully cover the cost of generating renewable energy, so the program is more of a partial contribution than a full offset.

“The program rates were set to match SaskPower’s program rates for rate clarity. It’s incentivizing and helping contribute to the development of such projects.”

The City used to have a similar offering called the Green Power Program. Cheruvallath says there were about 18 residents subscribed.

To learn more or sign up for the Renewable Subscription Service, head to saskatoon.ca/rss.