Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-31-16

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

W.A.C. Bennett Dam Riprap Upgrade Project

BEFORE:

D. M. Morton, Panel Chair/Commissioner

N. E. MacMurchy, Commissioner

H. G. Harowitz, Commissioner

on March 9, 2016

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On November 13, 2015, the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed the W.A.C. Bennett Dam Riprap Upgrade Project application and statement of capital expenditures with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) under section 44.2(1)(b) of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) and requests acceptance pursuant to section 44.2(3)(a) of the UCA (Application);

B.      On November 24, 2015, the Commission issued Order G-182-15 which established the preliminary Regulatory Timetable for the review of the Application which included one round of information requests followed by a procedural conference;

C.      On December 9, 2015, BC Hydro submitted a report titled BC Hydro WAC Bennett Dam Expert Engineering Panel Report - Volume 1, dated August 13, 2012 (Exhibit B-1-4) as an evidentiary update to the Application;  

D.      On December 11, 2015, BC Hydro released a letter to the public from the director of dam safety which stated that the Expert Engineering Panel was reconvened in November 2015 to assess BC Hydro’s progress and reassess the status of the dam. The letter further stated that a new Expert Engineering Panel report was in draft form and the final version should be available early in 2016;

E.       The Procedural Conference was held on January 27, 2016, in which participants made submissions on the completeness of the evidentiary record and further regulatory process;

F.       On February 4, 2016, the Commission issued Order G-15-16 which amended the Regulatory Timetable establishing a second Procedural Conference on April 18, 2016;

G.     On March 9, 2016, BC Hydro filed a letter requesting that the date of second Procedural Conference be changed to April 25, 2016 to facilitate ongoing discussion with the Saulteau First Nation; and

H.      The Panel has reviewed the evidentiary record and the submissions made at the Procedural Conference and finds that a second round of  information requests is warranted, with the scope limited to inquiries concerning the 2012 recommendation of the Expert Engineering Panel that a solution be produced that considers the three identified risks to the upper part of the dam.

NOW THEREFORE the British Columbia Utilities Commission orders as follows:

1.       The Regulatory Timetable for the review of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam Riprap Upgrade Project application is revised, as set out in Appendix A to this order.

2.       The scope of the second round of information requests is limited to inquiries concerning the recommendation of the Expert Engineering Panel that a solution be produced that considers the three identified risks to the upper part of the dam.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this               9^th        day of March 2016.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

D. M. Morton

Panel Chair/Commissioner

Attachment

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

W.A.C. Bennett Dam Riprap Upgrade Project

REGULATORY TIMETABLE

*Location:           Commission Hearing Room

                                12^th Floor, 1125 Howe Street

                                Vancouver, BC  V6Z 2K8