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SaskPower has 153,557 kilometres of power lines (12,149 km transmission and 141,408 distribution). This network serves a large geographic area and widely-dispersed population. About 3 customers are supplied per circuit kilometre, while most North American utilities average about 12 customers over the same distance.

Electricity leaves a generating plant and is raised to a high voltage to travel efficiently over long-distance transmission lines to a substation. From there, voltage is lowered through a series of smaller substations and transformers to reach customers in a safe, low-voltage form along distribution lines.

Also known as bulk electric system, it includes interconnected power transmission lines and associated equipment used to transfer electric energy between major points of supply (generating facilities) and major points of delivery (switching stations). It also includes facilities related to the transfer of electric energy between provinces and the USA.

Consists of the power lines that take electrical energy from switching stations and deliver it directly to larger customers or to smaller load centres (sub-stations).

Delivers electrical energy from sub-stations to the majority of SaskPower’s customers.

Lines connecting SaskPower with utilities in North Dakota, Manitoba, and Alberta allow us to buy and sell power outside of the province. These interconnections are an important part of the supply mix in that they provide additional security should SaskPower have problems with its own generating fleet, as well as allowing profitable trading to take place. There is, however, a limitation as to how much electrical load these lines can carry.

Because Saskatchewan is part of the interconnected North American electrical network, continental reliability standards must also be met. SaskPower has adopted North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) standards to ensure ongoing high service quality. Access to these facilities is now on a competitive basis via the Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) mechanism, which is an open offer of transmission service. This type of tariff has become the North American standard for doing business in the electrical industry. For a fee, eligible users are able to access SaskPower's transmission system to transport electricity to our two wholesale customers - the municipal utilities in Saskatoon and Swift Current - or wheel it across the province to other jurisdictions. Independent power producers within Saskatchewan also have the ability to transport electricity to our two wholesale customers and to transport electricity out of the province.

is the amount of power required at a point in time (measured in kilowatts (kW).

is the total amount of power used over a period of time (measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Daily peak in demand usually occurs around supper time. Most people are home from work and they’re using the stove or microwave, lights, and televisions. At the same time, many stores are still open and business/industries are still hard at work. Annual peak usually occurs in the winter, for several reasons including colder temperatures, early darkness, and the plugging in of vehicle block heaters.

Electric systems are designed to meet the power needed at the moment of highest demand. SaskPower designs its generation, and transmission and distribution system to meet peak demand on those days. We use a probability method to determine the reserve criteria, which is calculated to be 13% above expected peak demand, to allow for scheduled plant repairs, unexpected generation outages, or unusually severe weather.

Load (the amount of energy being produced) must equal customer demand at all times to ensure system stability. Load following is the ability of a generating plant to adjust its production as demand changes during the day.

 Power Accounts (38%),
 Oilfields (13%),
 Commercial (18%),
 Residential (15%),
 Farm (8%),
 Reseller (7%),
 SaskPower corporate use (1%).

Forecasts are developed annually to determine the energy and peak energy requirement. This forecast forms the basis for capacity additions, maintenance schedules, power plant operations, fuel requirements, operation budgets, and corporate revenue. It is prepared using information from the latest SaskPower economic forecast, historical energy sales, and individual customer requirements forecasts. The forecast combines several types of customers including large accounts, oilfield, commercial, residential, farm, and reseller.

The minimum amount of electric power delivered or required over a given period of time at a steady rate. The generating equipment associated with this normally operates to serve loads on an around-the-clock basis. These plants operate year round, except when shut down for planned maintenance. These units can change their output to follow hourly demand, but are not turned on and off to follow instantaneous load changes. These units have higher construction (fixed) costs, lower operational (variable) costs and produce large amounts of power. SaskPower’s base load units are fuelled by coal.

These plants meet demand during peak business hours of the week and colder months of the year. These units have moderate fixed costs and higher variable costs than base load units. SaskPower’s intermediate load units are fueled by hydro and imported power.

These units only operate at times of peak system demand, such as meal time on cold, dark days. These units can start up and shut down quickly. Peaking units have lower fixed costs than the others, but sometimes have high variable costs. SaskPower’s peaking fuels are natural gas and hydro.

SaskPower assesses daily whether it can purchase power from neighbouring utilities more economically than it can generate it. As well, power is purchased to meet peak demands and in the case of emergencies.

Coal (45.2%),
Gas (14.7%),
Hydro (23.3%),
Wind (4.4%),
Purchased Power (12.3%).

The ability of a facility to generate electricity. Generating capacity is measured in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (MW). SaskPower’s total generating capacity (in 2006) was 3660 MW, including 3211 MW from SaskPower’s facilities, and 449 MW through power-purchase agreements.

SaskPower has a certain amount of energy supplied by various generation types, which is referred to as installed capacity. However, how much is used of each type in a given year is dependant on the availability and cost of the fuel source. The fuel source that is available at the least cost is the source that is used.

Long-term system planning of 20 years.

There are many ways to produce electricity, and each has its own set of environmental, technical, social, and economic advantages and disadvantages. The mix of power sources chosen will depend on the assessment of their short- and long-term economic, social, and environmental impacts.