SaskPower’s annual wood pole maintenance is now underway, with SaskPower set to inspect over 101,000 wood power poles across the province to ensure system reliability. 

“SaskPower’s priority is to provide safe, reliable power to its customers, and ensuring the integrity of our wood pole infrastructure is key,” said Shawn Schmidt, Vice President of Customer Services and Distribution at SaskPower. “With more power poles than people in Saskatchewan, this annual program is very important to ensure system reliability.”

SaskPower will inspect poles for damage, signs of decay and carpenter ant infestation. Wherever possible, SaskPower will repair or reinforce the damaged pole to extend its life and keep it up and running. If repairs cannot be done, the pole will be flagged for replacement. This year, SaskPower states it will invest over $6.6 million into the testing and treatment of wooden power poles. 

The work is scheduled to take place between May and October, and will be conducted in: 
• Shellbrook (516 poles)
• Rosthern (572 poles)
• Stoughton (32,898 poles)
• Rosetown (24,207 poles)
• Spiritwood (17,362 poles)
• Saskatoon Rural East (14,623 poles)
• La Ronge (342 poles)
• Buffalo Narrows (11,110 poles)

Some work happening this year will include installing wildfire protection on SaskPower infrastructure, states SaskPower. Crews will remain within the SaskPower right-of-way as much as possible but may require access to owned land in some instances. No outages are expected to occur while work takes place.