A new gas power plant is in the works for Saskatchewan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about to blow a gasket. 

Last week SaskPower revealed that it intends to build a major new natural gas power station near the town of Lanigan – the third of its kind, with two other stations in Swift Current and Moose Jaw. 

The move will likely pit provincial natural resource autonomy against the federal government’s anti-energy, climate alarmist agenda and possibly amplify feelings of Western alienation.

Saskatchewan has already sent an application to Ottawa for the near billion-dollar Aspen Power Station.

“Saskatchewan Power Corporation is proposing the construction, operation and decommissioning of the Aspen Power Station, a 370-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas power plant located about 17 kilometres west of Lanigan, Saskatchewan,” SaskPower’s impact assessment application states.  

“As proposed, the project would include both a gas and steam turbine generator, along with a heat recovery generator. The project is expected to have an operational lifespan of 25 years.”

For the project to be approved, it needs to pass requirements set out by the Trudeau Liberal government’s Clean Electricity Standard which aims to phase out coal-powered energy by 2030. 

However, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has recently set his sights on gas energy to be shut down by 2035.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has already indicated it’s impossible for the province to meet the standard set out by the federal Liberals due to the fact that natural gas makes up the vast majority of Saskatchewan’s power supply. 

“Soaring rhetoric cannot change the laws of thermodynamics; never has been able to, and it certainly would never will be able to. So this target is zero net-zero by 2035, it doesn’t contemplate the eventualities of not having enough baseload power, not only in Saskatchewan grid, but in many other provinces across the nation,” said Moe last week.

“I want to be very clear about this in Saskatchewan, we will not attempt the impossible when it comes to power production. We’re not going to risk plunging our homes, our schools, our hospitals, our businesses, that are operating and creating wealth in our communities into a cold and dark evening because of the ideological winds up of another level of government.”