As reported in the Regina Leader-Post, although Environment Minister Dustin Duncan said Monday it will be “weeks not months” before SaskPower customers learn the future of a program that allows them to plug solar panels into the grid, advocates remain uneasy about the uncertainty.

He assured them that the popular net metering program will continue in some form, without providing any additional details on what it will look like.

The announcement came just days after SaskPower announced it would stop taking applications through the program in anticipation of reaching a 16-megawatt cap.

The program provided rebates of up to $20,000 to help customers pay for about 20 per cent of the cost of renewable power equipment and installation. Participants could then generate up to 100 kilowatts of power and get a credit on their SaskPower bills for the amount they fed back into the grid.

Customers and solar power companies objected strongly when SaskPower announced Wednesday the hiatus with virtually no notice. Duncan, who is the minister responsible for SaskPower, confirmed that the cap was likely reached mid-week.

Duncan told reporters on Monday he initially expected more breathing space, in light of predictions that the cap would run out in November or December.

But he said an “exponential growth of interest” in rooftop solar kept advancing that date, especially as larger solar power installations took advantage of federal funds.

SaskPower CEO Mike Marsh said last week that SaskPower planned to review the program to ensure it remains financially sustainable. Initial indications suggested the review could take months, according to Duncan, but he pledged Monday to move faster.

“We’re still making determinations on how it’s going to move forward,” he said. “I would just say that it’s going to be weeks not months before the public and the industry know how net metering is going to continue going forward in the future.”

He said the aim is to provide certainty for an industry that was warning layoffs would quickly follow if the program was suspended for long.

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