IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
An Application by FortisBC Energy (Vancouver Island) Inc.
for Approval to Amend the Gas Tariff Standard Terms and Conditions and Rates for Gas Service -
Part D Rate Schedule Large Commercial Service No. 13 (LCS-13) General Firm Transportation Service
BEFORE: L.F. Kelsey, Commissioner
C.A. Brown, Commissioner
N.E. MacMurchy, Commissioner August 22, 2013
B.A. Magnan, Commissioner
D.M. Morton, Commissioner
R.D. Revel, Commissioner
C. van Wermeskerken, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A.
On February 25, 2013, FortisBC
Energy (Vancouver Island) Inc. (FEVI) applied for approval to amend its Gas Tariff
Standard Terms and Conditions and Rates for gas service to introduce Part D - Rate
Schedule Large Commercial Service No. 13 (LCS-13) General Firm Transportation
Service (the Application), effective March 1, 2013;
B.
In the FortisBC Energy Utilities
(FEU) 2012 and 2013 Revenue Requirements and Natural Gas Rates Application, FEU
asked for approval to maintain current natural gas rates for all FEVI customers
other than those with specified rates in their transportation service
agreements for a two‐year period commencing January 1, 2012, pursuant to
sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act and section 2.1 of the
Vancouver Island Natural Gas Pipeline Agreement Special Direction. British
Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) Order G-44-12 dated
April 12, 2012, approved FEU’s proposal of the maintenance of FEVI
2011 rates for 2012 and 2013 for all customers other than those with specified
rates in their transportation agreements;
C.
On February 27, 2013, FEVI
submitted a Revision Filing to Page TA-D.3 of the proposed Tariff to the
Commission, as the original version filed inadvertently missed the section for
execution between the parties to the Transportation Agreement;
D.
The Commission reviewed the
Application and determined that the Interested Parties (natural gas marketers, existing and potential
transportation customers, and registered interveners from the FEU 2012 and 2013 Revenue Requirements and Natural Gas
Rates Application) should have the opportunity to provide their comments on the
proposed Tariff amendment and this new service;
E.
Commission Order G-33-13, dated
March 7, 2013, approved FEVI’s proposed Part D - Rate Schedule Large Commercial
Service No. 13 (LCS-13) General Firm Transportation Service on an interim and
refundable basis effective March 1, 2013 and required FEVI to request
comments from Interested Parties within 30 days of the distribution of the
Application and Order to the Interested Parties;
F.
FEVI distributed Order G-33-13 and
the Application to Interested Parties on March 13, 2013 and requested comments
to be sent to the Commission and FEVI by April 12, 2013;
G.
On March 26, 2013, FEVI filed an
amendment to the Application to make twenty revisions to the proposed Tariff.
At the same time as filing the amendment, FEVI copied the Interested Parties
and requested their comments on the the inclusion of proposed amendments to the
Application;
H. Commission Letter L-26-13 dated May 9, 2013, advised FEVI that a full Hearing will not be required for this Application and that Commission staff will perform an internal review of the comments from Interested Parties, the FEVI response and the Interim Tariff, as amended by the February 27, 2013 and March 26, 2013 filings. The Commission will also submit a round of information requests to FEVI;
I.
The Commission notes there is a
reconsideration of the FEU Amalgamation underway, which could impact this
tariff;
J. The Commission has reviewed and considered the Application as amended and all related filing including the responses to Information Requests 1 and 2.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders as follows:
1.
The Tariff is approved on a
permanent basis effective March 1, 2013, subject to FEVI filing a complete package,
including black-lined and clean versions of all the revised Tariff pages, by
September 3, 2013.
2. FEVI must advise Interested Parties and Commercial customers of the issuance of this Order, approving the permanent tariff and advising customers that any complaints on the permanent tariff must be received within 60 days, in recognition that they did not participate in the ongoing review.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 23rd day of August 2013.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D.M. Morton
Commissioner