IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
An Application by Bear Mountain Wind Limited Partnership and Zeballos Lake Hydro Limited Partnership
for Registration as Responsible Entities for certain functions required for compliance with
Mandatory Reliability Standards
BEFORE: D.A. Cote, Commissioner June 3, 2010
L.F. Kelsey, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. Commission Order G-123-09 approved the Registration Manual for Entities subject to adopted Mandatory Reliability Standards and required that Entities, subject to the standards, register with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) by December 31, 2009; and
B. The Registration Manual requires that the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) in its role as the Mandatory Reliability Standards Administrator review and recommend registration for all applicable Entities and allows 21 days for Entities to comment to the Commission on the WECC’s recommendations; and
C. On April 13, 2010 the WECC recommended to the Commission that the Commission approve:
▪ Bear Mountain Wind Limited Partnership (Bear Mountain) registration for the functions of Transmission Operator, Transmission Owner, Generator Operator and Generator Owner and noted that Bear Mountain disagreed with the registration for Transmission Operator.
▪ Zeballos Lake Hydro Limited Partnership (Zeballos Lake) for the functions of Transmission Operator and Transmission Owner and noted that Zeballos Lake disagreed with the registration for Transmission Operator; and
D. Zeballos Lake provided a letter of dispute to the Commission on May 3, 2010 arguing that Zeballos Lake has no material effect on the grid and that the British Columbia Transmission Corporation (BCTC) controls the interconnection; and
E. WECC provided a response to this letter on May 14, 2010, noting that Zeballos Lake owns and operates a 22 km section of 138 kV transmission line connected to the BCTC’s grid and therefore meets the criteria of
BC Regulation 32/2009 2.a.(i).; and
F. By letters to the Commission of April 9, 2010, BCTC and FortisBC stated that they believe any cost or legal risks associated with assuming responsibility for the Transmission Operator Function should not be borne by their ratepayers and that any such agreement for the assignment of this function should be mutually beneficial.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 125.2 of the Utilities Commission Act, the Commission orders as follows:
1. Functional registration for Bear Mountain Wind Limited Partnership for Transmission Operator, Transmission Owner, Generator Operator and Generator Owner is approved as recommended by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.
2. Functional registration for Zeballos Lake Hydro Limited Partnership for Transmission Operator and Transmission Owner is approved as recommended by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.
3. The Commission will revisit the registration of Zeballos Lake Hydro Limited Partnership or Bear Mountain Wind Limited Partnership as Transmission Operator, if an Assignment Agreement is concluded between the entity and the British Columbia Transmission Corporation that, in the view of the Commission, is sufficient to assign the responsibility for this function.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 4th day of June 2010.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D.A. Cote
Commissioner