IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
FERC Order No. 764 Open Access Transmission Tariff Amendments
BEFORE: L.F. Kelsey, Commissioner
C.A. Brown, Commissioner
N.E. MacMurchy, Commissioner October 31, 2013
B.A. Magnan, Commissioner
D.M. Morton, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. On April 23, 1998, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) issued Order G‑43-98 approving an application for a Wholesale Transmission Services (WTS) tariff, submitted by British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act (Act) to be comparable to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) pro forma Open Access Transmission Tariff (pro forma OATT) as established under FERC Orders No. 888, 888-A, 888-B and 888-C. Among other things, the WTS included provisions for Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service, Non-Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service and Energy Imbalance Service;
B. On June 19, 2005, the Commission issued Order G-58-05 approving an application by the British Columbia Transmission Corporation (BCTC) to replace the WTS tariff with an Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) which contained all of the basic elements of the WTS tariff with some additional refinements required to ensure compatibility with the pro forma OATT. Among other things, the OATT contained standard generator interconnection procedures including a standard generator interconnection agreement (SGIA);
C. On December 9, 2010, the Commission issued Order G‑192‑10 approving amendments to the OATT, submitted by BC Hydro pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Act, to reflect the integration of BC Hydro and BCTC pursuant to the Clean Energy Act;
D. On June 22, 2012, FERC issued Order No. 764 which reformed pro forma OATT with the intent of removing barriers to the integration of variable energy resources (VERs). Entities under FERC jurisdiction are required to comply with the Order No. 764 reforms by November 12, 2013;
E. On July 19, 2013, BC Hydro posted a bulletin (Bulletin) on its transmission website notifying its OATT customers of proposed amendments to the OATT to maintain comparability to the pro forma OATT and requested that any comments on the proposed amendments be submitted by August 16, 2013. A notification of the bulletin was sent to those parties who subscribed for BC Hydro's transmission bulletins. No comments were received;
F. On September 6, 2013, BC Hydro, pursuant to sections 58 to 61 of the Act, submitted to the Commission an application reflecting proposed amendments to the OATT (Application) to maintain comparability to the pro forma OATT as reformed under FERC Orders No. 764 and 764-A including:
- Amendments to section 13.8 – Scheduling of Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service and section 14.6 - Scheduling of Non-Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service. The reforms are intended to remove barriers to the integration of variable energy resources (VERs) by offering intra-hour scheduling and allowing the adjustment of transmission schedules within the hour; and
- Amendments to Attachment M‑1 Appendix 5 – Standard Generator Interconnection Agreement to define ‘Variable Energy Resource’ and to require interconnection customers whose generating facilities are VERs to provide meteorological and forced outage data to BC Hydro to the extent such information is required for power production forecasting.
G. On September 12, 2013, the Commission issued Order G-146-13, establishing a written comment process to review BC Hydro’s application to amend the OATT to maintain comparability to the FERC pro forma OATT;
H. On September 26, 2013, BC Hydro responded to Commission Information Request No. 1. No comments were received from Stakeholders; and
I. The Commission has reviewed the Application and determines that the proposed amendments to the OATT are not unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory or unduly preferential.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission, pursuant to sections 58-61 of the Utilities Commission Act, orders as follows:
1. Amendments to section 13.8, section 14.6, and Attachment M1 – Appendix 5 of the Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT), as described in British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority’s (BC Hydro) Application dated September 6, 2013, are approved, effective November 12, 2013.
2. BC Hydro must post a bulletin on its transmission website notifying customers of this Order establishing amendments to section 13.8, section 14.6, and Attachment M1 – Appendix 5 of the OATT within 30 days.
3. BC Hydro must file the amended OATT with the Commission in accordance with the terms of this Order within 30 days.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 31st day of October 2013.
BY ORDER
Original Signed By:
D.M. Morton
Commissioner