In 2003, the SaskPower Board of Directors made the decision to adopt North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards and make them applicable to SaskPower and all entities that connect to its transmission system.  NERC is a regulatory authority with a mission to assure the reliability of the bulk power system in North America and is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by member representatives.

In June 2004, the SaskPower adopted an implementation plan to bring the corporation into compliance with NERC standards.  As part of the implementation plan, SaskPower became a member of a Regional Reliability Organization, the Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) based in Minnesota.  As part of its membership obligation, SaskPower formally participated in the program carried out by the MRO to assess compliance with reliability standards.

Enforcement of reliability standards in the U.S. and a number of Canadian jurisdictions is backstopped by regulations with formal oversight and provision for penalties.  In Saskatchewan, changes were made to The Power Corporation Act in 2004 to provide SaskPower with the authority to acquire membership in a Regional Reliability Organization, establish electric reliability standards and enforce compliance with such standards.

The Saskatchewan Electric Reliability Authority (SERA) was approved by the SaskPower Board of Directors to manage the process for review, modification, approval and remanding of reliability standards in the province of Saskatchewan.  SERA is a committee comprised of three SaskPower executives and has the mandate to approve Bulk Electric System (BES) standards, to monitor and enforce compliance, and to report to the SaskPower Board of Directors on reliability management.  Compliance with reliability standards is applicable to all Registered Entities connected to the transmission system in the province of Saskatchewan.

A memorandum of understanding between SaskPower, NERC and the Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) recognizes SERA’s role in reliability compliance in Saskatchewan.

SERA Committee Members

Rachelle Verret Morphy

Rachelle Verret Morphy

​Rachelle Verret Morphy is the Chair of SERA. She also acts as Executive Vice-President, Legal & Corporate Services and General Counsel for SaskPower.  Ms. Verret Morphy joined SaskPower in 2005 as Assistant General Counsel with the Law Department. She was appointed Vice-President in 2011, with responsibility for overseeing the Law, Land and Regulatory Affairs division and advising the president, executive and Board of Directors on governance issues.

Previously Ms. Verret Morphy worked for a federally regulated financial institution where she was responsible for providing advice on legal, tax and regulatory matters. Ms. Verret Morphy also worked in the private practice of law for a number of years at a major Saskatchewan law firm, with a focus on procurement, construction, information technology and taxation.

Ms. Verret Morphy is both a lawyer and a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), and holds an ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors. She has a bachelor of laws from the University of Saskatchewan, and a bachelor of commerce (honours) from the University of Ottawa. She is a member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan, the Canadian Bar Association, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Saskatchewan, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel. She also volunteers as a director of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation.

Shawn Schmidt

Shawn schmidt

Shawn Schmidt was appointed as a member of SERA in February 2023. He also acts as Vice-President, Transmission & Distribution for SaskPower.

Mr. Schmidt has spent 35 years in the utility, mining and consulting industries. He joined SaskPower in 2001 in Customer Services Key Accounts. He then became Engineering Supervisor, followed by Regional Manager in Distribution Operations. Mr. Schmidt also served as Director, Transmission Operations & Maintenance for eight years and served as Vice President, Distribution & Customer Services since 2018.

Mr. Schmidt has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan. In 2018, he co-authored a paper for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: Flashover Performance of Live-Line Tools in High Voltage Environments. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, the Chair of Electricity Canada's Distribution Council, a member of Electricity Canada's Transmission Council and also represents SaskPower on the Transmission Distribution Maintenance Management Association.

Gregg Milbrandt

gregg milbrandt

Gregg Milbrandt was appointed as a member of SERA in June 2024. He is also Vice-President, Energy Transition and Asset Management for SaskPower.

Mr. Milbrandt has over 25 years of operations, engineering, asset management, construction, and commissioning experience with SaskPower. He initially joined the company in 1999 as a Construction Engineer. He went on to serve in a number of leadership roles with the company, including as the Director, Shand Power Station for five years and more recently as the Director, Boundary Dam Power Station and Carbon Capture Facility beginning in 2020.

Mr. Milbrandt holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan.