LETTER No. L·22·97 ~\<t>'t\ COl. UA _ , ~ ''7~ ~ I.. ••• : ..... ;..Q) ~. ., 1 ..' :~:,,- Ir..1 -y c \ ~...~ ~t""- ..~. 0Z SIXTH FLOOR, 900 HOWE STREET, BOX 250 ~~ ~, VANCOUVER, B.C. CANADA V6Z 2N3 ROBERT J. PELLAT T <'/-, lo : . •••• . • . •• . • . • . •• . • ••• '0 TELEPHONE: (604) 660-4700 ~ BC TOLL FREE: 1-800-663-1385 COMMISSION SECRETARY /S"S CO~~" FACSIMILE: (604) 660-1102 VIA FACSIMILE May 16, 1997 Mr. Richard Tamoff Natural Resource Industries Box 19 Hedley, B.C. VOX 1KO Dear Mr. Tamoff: Re: British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority Wholesale Transmission Services Aoolication Thank you for your letter dated May 9, 1997 regarding B.C. Hydro's Wholesale Transmission Services Application and the request by the Natural Resource Industries to have the application addressed though a public hearing. In your letter you indicate that a public hearing is required since there are a number of environmental issues regarding water licenses, provincial environmental laws and policies, and B.C. Hydro operational policies which are of concern to the public. You also indicate that it would be preferable to address the application after the report of the recently created Task Force on Market Reform. Your letter was considered by the Commission at the same time that it considered the staff report concerning the May 2, 1997 pre-hearing conference and the appropriate process for the disposition of this Application. After general debate, the Commission has determined that it is in the public interest to proceed to dispose of this Application through a negotiated settlement process with a full public hearing to follow only if a settlement is not achieved. Further, the Commission does not find that the public interest would be served if the disposition of the application were held in abeyance until after the report of the Task Force. In coming to this determination, the Commission noted that the current Application is, to a large extent, a compliance filing arising from determinations made in the June 25, 1996 Decision. Accordingly, there are only a limited number of policy issues to be discussed. In addition, the Commission found that many of the environmental issues to which you allude in your letter are outside of the Commission's jurisdiction to affect. As indicated in its Reconsideration Decision with respect to System Extension dated, August 13, 1996, the Commission's authority to consider externalities is limited to externality conditions that have the potential, in the Commission's judgement, to emerge as unavoidable regulatory costs and to externality considerations that have been expressly directed by government under the appropriate sections of the Act. Finally, the Commission recognized that there was general support expressed for a negotiated settlement process at the pre-hearing conference. DWFlrnmc BCH/97WTSrrarnoff Concerns Response
. ___ ............... 't-I .... I'1U" NATURAL RESOURCE INDUSTRIES Box 19, Hedley, B.C., VOX lKO Fax / Phone (250)292-8692 BC I;bllill~ H~30ns and Oulfiuers ~n" COIII1,iI onoHrist As.1;o.:i~tion8 oree \ B.C. UTILITIES COMMISSION Gtli~I~OUllitlj'lgA'<So.:illtiullofIlC i W'('IElvcD & ACKNOWL !:'DGED ! De I rappUlS A.al;oclBlion L \..I L NJIIIlU.) f;llm~rJ Ulllon CCI1iticd Orsani" Associations ofDC MAY '\ 2 1997 DC Wildcrdfiel'3 ~o.:ialtol\ I.! ""/FOH :, i Ar'F hi.VI':::W: ~(",,,,r'()NSE ! May 9. 1997 :::::: ~R RESOURCE ROOM /~. ..I L'INFO. TO BE FILED .......u .-.k.:.. I Mr. Robert J. Pellatt BC Utilities Commission 900 Howe Street Vancouver, Be. v6Z 2N3 Dear Nr. Pellatt. Re: Be Hydro \vholesale Transmission Services Application Natural Resource Industries conference on ~ay 2, 1997. the issues raised at the conference and consulted with our constituents. As a result, we feel it \vould not be in the publIc interest to deal with this application by way of a negotiated settlement process for the following reasons. The preliminary list of issues, Commission decisIon on which they are based did not address a number of environmental issues that are of concern to the public. For example. in the Report and Recommendations of the BC Electricity Market Review, September, 1995. the Commission acknowledges that BC Hydro account when determining system dispatch if the cost impacts are minor. BC Hydro has indicated that under increased competi tive pressures they will have include these cos ts. The ENR existing water licenses arc insufficient it is an issue that is independent of market structure. \ve believe the ans\-.'er is more provincial environmental laws and policies. and BC operational policies have evolved together over the years. the Commission approves changes to the market that affect Be Hydro's operational deCisions. the Commission must recognize that current regulations may now be inadequate to maintain the link between the system operation and environment. .,.;,:.;:.JU -'::<""'::00':1"';";: t-'. U 1 I Wllit':W8h:r NlyokinS Ass.ocilltion DC Wildlife I'Cl.kr~lion Rccreational CaJlo.:l~;L, A. .. ()(;i~tion L \ DC F.:u.;(~liol1 of l'Iy fi~hcra I StceUlcud Society f Outdor Recreatioll Council of DC Comlllercia) Fi:;hing lllJlI6try Council I bee::: BCH WTS.96/97 Letter Onl Y • WhsleTransServices PANEL STAFF " L.R. Barr " W.Grant " COlIUIUSSIoner " P. Gronert ./ " B. McKinlay c.£"'/~ " D. Ernes· L Staff " R. Pellatt " l.w. Fraser " C. LusztIg _ Intervenor File " R. Rene " Central Files " G. Fulton Comm. Counsel attended the pre-hearing We have subsequently considered and the June 25. 1996 takes non-power impacts into less flexibili ty to report concl udes that if complex. Water licenses. Hydro If protection of the
~HY-l~-97 MON 11:32 AM RICHARD TARNOFF 250 2928692 P.02 NRI saw the Retail Access Hearing as an opportunity to provide evidence to the Commission on some of these issues. By delaying the BC Hydro Wholesale Transmission application, the \v'KP Wholesale and Retail application. and the Industrial Customers complaint until after that hearing the Commission seemed to be recognizing the need for public inpu t into fundamental changes to the electricity industry. The Task Force OIl Market Reform that has been created by the Minister of Investment has. by their mandate, acknowledged the importance of these considerations. Provjncial environmental policies may need to reflect any changes in energy policy which may be enacted as a result of the Task Force's recommendations. For this reason, we recommended in the pre-hearing conference that this application be delayed until the results of the Task Force are known. If the Commission is not willing to wait for that process to unfold, but feels compelled to proceed with this application. then h'e believe the public must have the opportunity to part icipatc in a formal hearing process. An NSP process dealing with a narrow list of issues and debated in private by a small group of interested parties will not provide the opportunity to identify and scrutinize many of the issues of concern to the public. truly. Richard ra:=/ cc: Intervenors
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