IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Application for Approval of Section 2.5 Guidelines
for Tariff Supplement No. 3 to Rate Schedule 3808
BEFORE: L. A. O’Hara, Panel Chair/Commissioner
B. A. Magnan, Commissioner September 1, 2015
R. D. Revel, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. On May 24, 2013, the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) for Approval of Rates between BC Hydro and FortisBC Inc. (FBC) with regards to Rate Schedule 3808 (RS 3808), Tariff Supplement No. 3 – Power Purchase and Associated Agreements, and Tariff Supplement No. 2 to Rate Schedule 3808 (RS 3808 Application);
B. In the RS 3808 Application BC Hydro requested approval to, among other things, replace an existing 1993 Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with FBC under RS 3808 with a new PPA and proposed that Section 2.5 of the new PPA, contained in Tariff Supplement No. 3 to RS 3808, include the following language:
(a) Electricity taken under this Agreement:
(ii) shall not be sold to any FortisBC customer with self-generation facilities, or used by FortisBC to serve any such customer’s load, when such customer is selling self-generated Electricity unless a portion of the customer’s load equal to or greater than the customer-specific baseline is being served by Electricity that is not Electricity taken under this Agreement, where such customer-specific baseline is as determined in accordance with Commission-approved guidelines and in consultation with the customer;
C. By Order G-60-14, on May 6, 2014, the Commission approved the RS 3808 Application, including Section 2.5 (a)(ii), and by way of Directive 2 required BC Hydro to initiate a consultation process resulting in an application for RS 3808, Section 2.5 customer-specific baseline guidelines;
D. Order G-60-14 also directed FBC to initiate a concurrent consultation process in its service territory and to file a resultant Self-Generation Policy application to establish high level principles for its service territory;
E. On December 15, 2014, in compliance with Order G-60-14, BC Hydro filed its Application for Approval of Section 2.5 Guidelines for Tariff Supplement No. 3 to Rate Schedule 3808 (Application);
F. By Order G-205-14, dated December 19, 2014, the Commission issued a regulatory timetable establishing a deadline for intervener registration and dates for submissions from stakeholders on the process for the review of the Application;
G. On January 9, 2015, in compliance with Order G-60-14, FBC filed the Self-Generation Policy Application (FBC SGPA), which addressed the subjects of Arbitrage, the 1999 Access Principles, Generator Baseline Guidelines, and the benefits of self-generation;
H. On January 13, 2015, by Order G-3-15, the Commission established a procedural conference, scheduled for February 5, 2015, to hear submissions from stakeholders on the regulatory review process for the FBC SGPA; and
I. To ensure regulatory efficiency the Commission considers that the submissions on further process for the review of the Application may be informed by the submissions made at the FBC SGPA procedural conference and finds that suspending the regulatory timetable established by Order G-205-14 is warranted.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders that the regulatory timetable established by Order G-205-14 is suspended until further notice.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 13th day of January 2015.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
L. A. O’Hara
Commissioner