IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
Application by British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Amendment of Attachment C of the Open Access Transmission Tariff
BEFORE: D. Morton, Commissioner
C.A. Brown, Commissioner November 10, 2011
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. On November 21, 2008, British Columbia Transmission Corporation (BCTC) filed its application to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) to amend the Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT Amendment Application) to maintain consistency with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pro forma tariff as revised by FERC’s Orders No. 890, 890-A, 890-B, 890-C and 890-D. In the OATT Amendment Application BCTC proposed to defer any amendments to Attachment C of the OATT, which outlines the Transmission Provider’s methodology for determining Available Transfer Capability, pending approval by FERC of relevant standards and business practices in the U.S.;
B. On February 27, 2009, in response to an Information Request from the Commission under the OATT Amendment Application, BCTC committed to file an amended OATT Attachment C with the Commission within 60 days after the date on which the relevant reliability standards or business practices take effect for FERC jurisdictional Transmission Service Providers;
C. On September 10, 2009 by Order G-102-09, the Commission approved the proposed amendments under the OATT Amendment Application and BCTC’s proposal to defer any amendments to Attachment C of the OATT pending FERC’s approval of relevant business practices in the U.S.;
D. On September 16, 2010, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro), pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act (Act), submitted to the Commission an application to amend the OATT to reflect the integration of BC Hydro and BCTC pursuant to the Clean Energy Act, S.B.C. 2010, c. 16;
E. On December 9, 2010 by Order G-192-10, the Commission approved the proposed OATT amendments to reflect the integration of BC Hydro and BCTC;
F. On April 1, 2011, business practices relating to OATT Attachment C, in the form of six new reliability standards developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the Western Electricity Coordination Council (MOD-001-1a, MOD-004-1, MOD-008-1, MOD-028-1, MOD-029-1a and MOD-030-02) (Standards), became effective in the U.S. for FERC jurisdictional Transmission Service Providers;
G. On May 26, 2011, pursuant to section 125.2(3) of the Act, BC Hydro filed Mandatory Reliability Standards Assessment Report No. 4, which assessed the Standards and recommended that the Commission adopt the Standards for the bulk electric system in BC;
H. On May 30, 2011 BC Hydro, pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Act and in compliance with Order G-102-09 and the accompanying Decision, submitted an application to the Commission to amend Attachment C of the OATT;
I. BC Hydro has reviewed a number of Attachment C fillings that have been made by other utilities in response to the FERC Order 890 and has generally modeled its revised Attachment C on those of: 1) Portland General Electric Company; and 2) Xcel Energy Inc. These companies utilize a rated system path methodology similar to that of BC Hydro and both of their Attachment C filings have been accepted by FERC;
J. BC Hydro consulted with its OATT customers regarding its proposed transmission transfer capability calculation methodology, which is based on the Standards, at a workshop held on February 4, 2011. No customer comments were received by BC Hydro following the consultation;
K. BC Hydro requests that Attachment C be effective on the later of the date on which it is approved by the Commission or the date that the Standards are adopted and effective in BC since the revised OATT Attachment C is dependent upon the adoption of the Standards in BC;
L. On October 20, 2011 by Order G-175-11, the Commission adopted the Standards assessed in BC Hydro’s Mandatory Reliability Standards Assessment Report No. 4 with an effective date of November 30, 2011;
M. The Commission has reviewed the Application to amend Attachment C of the OATT and finds the amendments are warranted.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission, pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act, approves BC Hydro’s proposed amendments to Attachment C of the OATT with an effective date of November 30, 2011.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 10th day of November 2011.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D. Morton
Commissioner