REGINA -- Solar company owners were at the legislative building on Monday to raise concerns about SaskPower's new net metering program.
The companies say their customer base has dropped significantly since the Crown dropped its incentive program last month.
"Since the revamped program came, we went from 10 estimates a week to about one to two estimates a week," Brenden Owens with Prairie Sun Solar said. "We've had zero customers since."
In October, SaskPower eliminated a 20 per cent rebate on solar panel purchases. It also cut the price it pays back to solar customers for excess energy produced in half. The Crown says the move will ensure the program can last longer.
"We now have a program in place and, although it's not as lucrative as the original program, it is a sustainable program," Premier Scott Moe said in the legislature.
NDP leader Ryan Meili said in the house on Monday that the new program is "turning its back on the solar industry."
"[It's] putting companies and the folks who work for them here in Saskatchewan at risk," he said.
Seventy-five solar panel purchasers missed the deadline for SaskPower's old net metering program. Of those, 28 have signed up for the new program, 19 have walked away and 28 haven't responded to the new offer.
The new net metering program took effect last Friday and will remain in place indefinitely.
