Orders

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473

and

Application by FortisBC Energy Inc.

for Approval to Amend Rate Schedule 16 on a Permanent Basis

BEFORE:                 A.A. Rhodes, Panel Chair/Commissioner

                                B.A. Magnan, Commissioner                                              October 26, 2012

                                D.M. Morton, Commissioner

O  R  D  E  R

WHEREAS:

A.       The British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) issued Order G-65-09 dated  June 4, 2009 establishing, as part of the Terasen Gas Inc., now FortisBC Energy Inc. (FEI), Gas Tariff, Rate Schedule 16 – Interruptible Liquefied Natural Gas Sales and Dispensing Service as an approximately five-year pilot for the period ending December 31, 2014;

B.       Rate Schedule 16, as currently approved, offers an interruptible Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) sales and dispensing service at the FEI LNG peak shaving facility at Tilbury (Tilbury Facility).  Under this Rate Schedule, the Available LNG Capacity is limited to 1040 Gigajoules per Day with the further limitation that an individual Customer’s Contract Demand may not exceed 50 percent of the Available LNG Capacity;

C.       On September 24, 2012, FEI applied to the Commission, pursuant to sections 59-61 of the Utilities Commission Act, for approval of an amended Rate Schedule 16 to provide LNG sales and dispensing service on long-term and short-term firm bases, and on a spot load basis (the Application);

D.       In the Application, FEI proposes that the service under Rate Schedule 16 be amended to utilize FEI’s Tilbury Facility and the Mt. Hayes LNG facility (Mt. Hayes Facility) operated by FortisBC Energy (Vancouver Island) Inc., through an “LNG Dispensing Service Agreement between FortisBC Energy (Vancouver Island) Inc. and FortisBC Energy Inc.”;

E.        The amended Rate Schedule 16 as proposed will include delivery and cost of gas commodity charges for the sale and dispensing service;

F.        The amended Rate Schedule 16 as proposed will also include an optional LNG Transportation Service and related charges for this optional service;

G.       In the Application, FEI requests approval of a number of rate and rate design changes to effect the proposed amendments to Rate Schedule 16 and to implement the services to be provided under the amended Rate Schedule 16;

H.       On October 5, 2012, the Commission issued Order G-143-12 requesting parties that wish to participate in the regulatory review process for this Application as Interveners or Interested Parties, to register with the Commission, in writing, by Wednesday, October 17, 2012, and to indicate the nature and extent of their anticipated involvement in the review process  and the issues they wished to explore;

I.         The Commission has determined that the regulatory process for reviewing the Application should be a written public hearing process and that establishing a preliminary Regulatory Timetable including a Procedural Conference to determine the appropriate regulatory process for the remaining review of the Application is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders as follows:   

1.       A Written Hearing Process for the review of the Application is established and is to be conducted according to the preliminary Regulatory Timetable attached as Appendix A to this Order.

2.       A Procedural Conference will be held on Monday, January 14, 2013, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in the Commission Hearing Room on the 12^th Floor, 1125 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC. 

3.       The Procedural Conference will address such matters as:

a.        Identification of principle issues arising from or related to the Application;

b.       Timetable (information requests, responses, intervener evidence, rebuttal evidence, etc.), and in particular, the draft timetable attached as Appendix B to this Order;

c.        Other matters that will assist the Commission to efficiently review all aspects of the Application.

After the Procedural Conference, the Commission will issue a further Procedural Order and Regulatory Timetable for its review of the Application.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this            26^th                  day of October 2012.

                                                                                                                                BY ORDER

Original signed by:

B.A. Magnan

Commissioner

Attachments

Application by FortisBC Energy Inc.

for Approval to Amend Rate Schedule 16 on a Permanent Basis

PRELIMINARY REGULATORY TIMETABLE

Application by FortisBC Energy Inc.

for Approval to Amend Rate Schedule 16 on a Permanent Basis

DRAFT REGULATORY TIMETABLE

for Discussion at the Procedural Conference