Big year for Crowns

Due to a strong Saskatchewan economy and growing population, Crown corporations are reporting an influx in the number of services being provided across the province.
According to a news release issued Monday, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SGI and SaskTel have all experienced increases and, in some cases, record breaking numbers.
According to the release, SGI made history with a total of 52,000 more insured vehicles and trailers in 2008.
In 2007 SGI reported 923,000 registered vehicles in Saskatchewan, in 2008 it jumped to 975,000.
While specific figures were not available for Moose Jaw, Liana Turner an employee at McCauley Agencies, said over the past year she has noticed an increase in the number of out-of-province drivers switching over to Saskatchewan plates.
Turner said although at this time things seem to be slowing down she did notice an escalation in the number of new drivers coming to Moose Jaw during the spring and summer.
Besides SGI, SaskEnergy had about 5,000 new customers in 2008 bringing its customer base to the highest it has ever been - 341,000.
Dave Burdeniuk, the manager of communications for SaskEnergy said this new growth is a combination of an increase in population and the economy.
He said this is also a provincewide growth, although there were no specific numbers for Moose Jaw.
"It is not like 10 years ago where it might have been simply new developments happening in subdivisions of Regina or Saskatoon. We are seeing an increase in services in all communities," said Burdeniuk.
"This is the most natural gas customers that have ever been connected in Saskatchewan."
Burdeniuk said Moose Jaw has definitely seen growth and is part of the equation.
SaskPower reported it had processed 10,427 requests for new service this year by mid-December. That's up from 7,921 in all of 2007.
Crown Corporations Minister Ken Cheveldayoff told the Times-Herald all the increases mentioned in the report are good news for Saskatchewan.
He said it means people are migrating to the province and helping the economy grow.

Lyndsay McCready can be reached at 691-1264.