IN THE MATTER OF
The Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
an Application by British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Amendment #1 to the
Transmission Service Rate Customer Baseline Load F2011 and F2012 Application
BEFORE: L.F. Kelsey, Commissioner
N.E. MacMurchy, Commissioner April 19, 2012
R.D. Revel, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. On November 10, 2011, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed, pursuant to sections 58 to 61, 89 and 90 of the Utilities Commission Act (the Act) and section 15 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, an application (F11/F12 CBL Application) with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) for approval of Adjusted F2011 customer baseline loads (CBLs), on a final and permanent basis effective April 1, 2010, and Interim F2012 CBLs, on an interim basis effective April 1, 2011, for Transmission Service Rate (TSR) customers billed on BC Hydro’s Rate Schedule (RS) 1823. BC Hydro also sought approval to bill certain customers on RS 1823 Energy Charge A;
B. BC Hydro in the F11/F12 CBL Application also requested that the F2011 CBL remain interim for ten customer sites identified in Appendix A of the F11/F12 CBL Application pending the resolution of certain matters concerning the CBL determination of those customers;
C. BC Hydro stated that per section 6.2.1 of the CBL Determination Guidelines, BC Hydro has submitted all Adjusted F2011 CBL and Interim F2011 CBL determinations to the customer for review and comment prior to filing the F11/F12 CBL Application;
D. By letter dated November 28, 2011, the Commission requested each BC Hydro TSR customer inform the Commission by December 14, 2011 as to whether it disputes its Adjusted F2011 CBL or Interim F2012 CBL, as proposed by BC Hydro;
E. On December 8, 2011, two customers: (i) Canfor Chetwynd and (ii) Norampac – Burnaby, a division of Cascades Canada ULC (Norampac), informed the Commission that they dispute their CBLs. Canfor Chetwynd is disputing its Interim F2012 CBL. Norampac is disputing its Adjusted F2011 CBL and its Interim F2012 CBL;
F. On March 30, 2012, BC Hydro filed Amendment #1 to the F11/F12 CBL Application (Amendment #1 Application). The Amendment #1 Application includes revisions to the CBLs for seven of the ten customers that BC Hydro requested to remain interim for F2011 in the original F11/F12 CBL Application. The Amendment #1 Application requests the approval of Adjusted F2011 CBLs, on a final and permanent basis effective April 1, 2010, and Interim F2012 CBLs, on an interim basis effective April 1, 2011. The Amendment #1 Application also requests the transfer of Canfor Chetwynd’s site to RS 1823 Energy Charge A, which if approved, would resolve its dispute of its F2012 Interim CBL. BC Hydro has also amended Tembec Chetwynd’s Interim F2012 CBL to reflect actual RS 1823 energy purchases. BC Hydro requests that the Interim F2011 CBL for Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (Ontario Street), Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (Port Mellon), Neucel Specialty Cellulose Ltd. (Neucel) and Norampac are to remain interim until further order of the Commission;
G. BC Hydro has requested that the filing and associated documents remain confidential due to their commercially sensitive nature;
H. The Commission has reviewed the Amendment #1 Application and considers that its approval is appropriate and is in the public interest.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders as follows:
1. The CBLs and transfers to RS 1823 Energy Charge A in the column identified as “Adjusted F2011 CBL for Final Approval” contained in Appendix A of the Amendment #1 Application are approved on a final and permanent basis.
2. The F2011 CBLs for the four customer sites identified as “Customers with F2011 CBL and F2012 CBL for Interim Approval” at the bottom of Appendix A to the Amendment #1 Application are to remain interim pending the resolution of certain matters related to the determination of those CBLs and will be made final through a further order from the Commission.
3. The CBLs and transfers to RS 1823 Energy Charge A in the column identified as “Interim F2012 CBL for Interim Approval” contained in Appendix A of the Amendment #1 Application are approved on an interim basis until such time as they are approved on a permanent basis by the Commission.
4. To protect commercially sensitive information, all detailed information of the customers including Appendix A of the Amendment #1 Application will be kept confidential as requested by BC Hydro.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 20th day of April 2012.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
L.F. Kelsey
Commissioner