IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
Recovery of Commission Costs
for the 2015/16 Fiscal Year
BEFORE: L. F. Kelsey, Commissioner
H. G. Harowitz, Commissioner June 25, 2015
K. A. Keilty, Commissioner
D. M. Morton, Commissioner
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. Section 125 of the Utilities Commission Act (Act) enables the British Columbia Utilities Commission (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 Commission drafted its 2015/2016 budget and by letter dated June 11, 2015 consulted with the regulated utilities regarding the implications of the provincial government’s Independent Review Report of the Commission (Report). The Commission requested that if the regulated utilities have questions on the information provided in its June 11, 2015 letter that they contact the Commission by June 17, 2015;
C. To provide sufficient time for the consultation to occur, by Order G-73-15 the Commission established a levy for the first quarter of 2015/2016 at the same level as the fourth quarter installment billing of Commission Order G-64-14;
D. The Commission received questions from two utilities about their expected quarterly levy assessments for quarters two, three and four. The requested information was provided;
E. The current year’s levy for recovering Commission expenses is based on its 2015/16 forecast expenses, the expected cost of Strategic Initiatives that will be incurred to comply with the Report’s recommendations and reduction for an over-recovery of expected costs from 2014/15. That figure is then divided by the total energy sales of the regulated energy utilities for the calendar year 2014;
F. The Commission’s recovery of the apportioned cost 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;
G. The levy calculation for remainder of 2015/16 will be applied on a go-forward basis where the difference between the annual allocation and the first quarter levy will be recovered over quarters two, three and four. The Commission may adjust the fourth quarter billing in order to account for additional revenues or costs that may be received or incurred during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016;
H. For ICBC the Commission has estimated the costs of the service furnished, including its staff and apportioned administrative office costs for 2015/16.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders as follows:
1. A levy, at the rate of $0.0146897035 per GJ equivalent of energy sold for the calendar year 2014 is fixed for the 2015/16 fiscal year. The following public utilities are required to pay the levy, 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.
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
Thermal Energy Utilities
Creative Energy Vancouver Platforms Inc.
Dockside Green Energy
River District Energy Inc.
Corix Multi-Utility Services Inc. - UniverCity
FortisBC Alternative Energy Services Inc. - Delta School District #37
2. Pursuant to section 125 of the Act and the regulation of ICBC, ICBC shall pay the Commission’s 2015/16 allocated budgeted expenses of $700,000.00 in quarterly installments.
3. The Commission’s cost recovery for ICBC for 2015/16 will be reviewed in the last quarter of 2015/16 to ensure the apportioned costs to this company is appropriate.
4. 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, 2015:
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
5. The natural gas marketers shall each pay an annual levy of $1,000 for the residential and commercial unbundling program for fiscal year 2015/16.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 26th day of June 2015.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D.M. Morton
Commissioner