SaskPower is ready to build a new power plant, a natural gas generation facility to be specific; however, the location of the plant has yet to be determined.

Where the plant will go has been in the works since early 2017, when SaskPower began to have open houses with the four locations they were choosing from.

The list started with Moose Jaw's Industrial Park, Pense, Belle Plaine, and Kronau, but has since been shortened to either Moose Jaw's Industrial Park or Belle Plaine.

Not only will the plant require approximately 600 workers to build the plant, but it will also create around 25 jobs to maintain the plant after construction is complete.

SaskPower spokesperson Jordan Jackle explained how they're deciding between the two.

"There are a number of different things we look at when determining where to site something. How close is it to our infrastructure? How easy will it be to tie into our own sub stations and that sort of thing. There's environmental considerations and there's a number of other considerations. Each site is unique."

Other key things they're focusing on during their tests are the availability of water, as well as rock, soil, and slope conditions.

Jackle went on to explain why the power plant is necessary.

"This is all a response to the increasing demand we see for power every year. We set a new power demand record back in December, and if we get another heat wave this summer we may potentially get a summer peak demand record. It's all a matter of responding to that demand, and we have a plan in place moving ahead to 2030 to increase our generation capacity."

The power plant is estimated to cost around 800 million dollars and is hoped to be completed by 2023.

All information regarding the power plant can be found on their website at https://saskpower.com/proposedgas.