Gold Eagle Casino Installs EV Charging Stations

Gold Eagle Casino in North Battleford will install electric vehicle charging stations, becoming one of the 20 locations across Saskatchewan to add fast chargers. The process for installing the equipment kicked off over a year ago as the gambling resort applied to the SaskPower Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program and now it has received a green light.

Located in Western Saskatchewan on Yellowhead Highway, the gaming location is a hotspot for entertainment for locals and tourists since its opening back in 1996. The property provides a First Nations hospitality experience, including a licensed gaming floor stacked with popular slot machines, and thrilling electronic table games, branded The Circuit.

Coming in Early February

Daniel Morin, Director of Operations for the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, the installation of EV chargers was an exciting opportunity. He said SIGA believes it will certainly add value for visitors, while the EV charger market is growing in the province. Mr. Morin also believes it will fit well the property’s operations and the business model.

Now, the North Battleford gambling destination will provide five chargers, two level-three 125 kW total, two level-two chargers, 7.2 kW each, and a single level-two charge with 15 kW. These are provided in collaboration with Porsche Canada. It is said that the new electric chargers will be installed in the casino in early February 2024.

However, that is not all, as SIGA also confirmed that Yorkton’s Painted Hand Casino and Prince Albert’s Northern Lights Casino will also get EV chargers in February 2024. Mr. Morin added that in phase two, which will occur in the next couple of years, in a new partnership with the government, EV stations will be also installed at SIGA’s other four properties.

In addition to that the Director of Operations said that so far, the gambling regulator has not received any negative feedback on the topic. He also noted that he has been following EV Facebook groups and saw that this is something that the community is looking for, and shared that everything he has seen up until now has been quite positive.

Recapping 2022-2023

A few months ago, SIGA issued its annual report for the 2022-2023 FY, seeing record-setting profits. It reported total revenue of CA$292.6 million which was a massive improvement on the CA$195.8 million in 2021-2022. Expenses were CA$166.6 million from CA$127.6 million in the previous FY. Net income reached CA$126 million, which was almost double the CA$68.2 million in the past year.

During the fiscal year, the gambling regulator also debuted the province’s first regulated iGaming platform, PlayNow, which is provided by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. For the first two months, November and December 2022, the online platform PlayNow gathered more than CA$31.8 million in total online wagering handle from local bettors.

Source: Lovett-Squires, Julia “EV charging stations come to North Battleford Gold Eagle Casino” Battlefords Now, December 28, 2023