IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
Recovery of Commission Costs
for the 2012/13 Fiscal Year
BEFORE: C.A. Brown, Commissioner
N.E. MacMurchy, Commissioner
D.M. Morton, Commissioner April 26, 2012
R.D. Revel, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. Section 125 of the Utilities Commission Act (the Act) enables the British Columbia Utilities Commission (the Commission) to recover its expenses arising from the administration of the Act, in each fiscal year commencing April 1 and to fix and collect levies from public utilities and other persons so defined. B.C. Regulation 283/88 dated July 29, 1988, authorizes the Commission to collect and retain all levies collected under the Regulation and to base the amount of a levy on the value and the volume of the energy transmitted or distributed or the service furnished;
B. The current year’s levy for recovering Commission expenses is based on its 2012/13 approved budget plus the Commission’s under-recovery of $116,461.32 from 2011/12. That figure is then divided by the total energy sales of the regulated energy utilities for the calendar year 2011;
C. The Commission’s recovery of its apportioned costs to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) requires a different method of cost recovery rather than by way of a levy on energy sales;
D. The Commission will recover its expenses from the levy calculation on a quarterly basis and may adjust the fourth quarter billing in order to account for additional revenues received during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013;
E. For ICBC the Commission has estimated the costs of the service furnished, including its Commissioners, staff and apportioned administrative office costs for 2012/13.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders as follows:
1. A levy, at the rate of $0.0113191801 per GJ equivalent of energy sold for the calendar year 2011 shall be paid by, and collected from, the public utilities listed below for the recovery of Commission expenses in the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2012.
2. The following public utilities are required to pay the levy fixed for the 2012/13 fiscal year, to be billed in installments, as set out in Appendix A attached to this Order.
Electric Utilities
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
FortisBC Inc.
The Corporation of the City of Nelson (rural areas)
Hemlock Valley Electrical Services Limited
The Yukon Electrical Company Limited
Silversmith Power & Light Corporation
CORIX Multi-Utility Services Inc. – Sun Rivers
Gas Utilities
FortisBC Energy Inc.
FortisBC Energy (Vancouver Island) Inc.
FortisBC Energy (Whistler) Inc.
Pacific Northern Gas Ltd.
Pacific Northern Gas (N.E.) Ltd.
Big White Gas Utility
Port Alice Gas Inc.
Sun Peaks Utilities Co. Ltd.
CORIX Multi-Utility Services Inc. – Sun Rivers, Panorama and Sonoma Pines
Stargas Utilities Ltd.
Cal Gas Inc. – Kickinghorse/Canyon Ridge
Steam Heat Utility
Central Heat Distribution Limited
3. Pursuant to section 125 of the Act and the regulation of ICBC, ICBC shall pay the Commission’s 2012/13 allocated budgeted expenses of $700,000.00, in quarterly installments.
4. The Commission’s cost recovery for ICBC for 2012/13 will be reviewed in the last quarter to ensure the apportioned costs to this company is appropriate.
5. Pursuant to Levy Regulation 283/88 and Letter L-39-96, the following upstream natural gas processors and intraprovincial oil pipelines shall pay the following amounts for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2012:
Keyera Energy (formerly Coastal Canada Field Services Inc. – Caribou area) $1,000
Canadian Natural Resources Limited - West Stoddart Plant $1,000
Spectra Energy Midstream Corporation
(Peggo, Midwinter, Tooga, Sunrise, Jedney I, II, Boundary Lake, West Doe
and Highway Transportation & Processing Facilities) $8,000
Plateau Pipeline Ltd.
- Sunset Prairie Pipeline $1,000
- Taylor to Dawson Creek Pipeline $1,000
- Blueberry $1,000
- Northeast BC and Boundary Lake Pipelines $1,000
- Western System $1,000
Canadian Natural Resources Limited - Inga Oil Pipeline $1,000
Trans Mountain (Jet Fuel) Inc. $1,000
AltaGas Ltd. (Blair Creek transportation and processing facility) $1,000
Spectra Energy Midstream (Sunrise, West Doe processing and pipeline facilities) $2,000
6. The cost recovery revenue from natural gas marketers for the residential and commercial unbundling program for 2012 is estimated to be $15,000.00.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 26th day of April 2012.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D.M. Morton
Commissioner
Attachment