Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-54-16

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 April 26, 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 Regulatory Timetable for the review of the Application;

C.      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 following the Saulteau First Nation’s (Saulteau) submission of its Traditional Use Study and joint Independent Technical Report on April 15, 2016;

D.      On March 9, 2016, BC Hydro filed a letter requesting that the date of second Procedural Conference be changed to April 25, 2016 which the Commission subsequently granted through Order G-31-16;

E.       On April 7, 2016, the Commission issued a letter requesting participants in the proceeding to provide written submissions to the Commission on two regulatory timetable options by April 13, 2016;

F.       The Commission received written comments on the two regulatory timetable options from BC Hydro and three registered interveners;  

G.     On April 15, 2016, Saulteau submitted its Traditional Use Study and joint Independent Technical Report;

H.      On April 19, 2016, BC Hydro submitted its reply to the Saulteau’s April 13, 2016 regulatory process submission;

I.        On April 20, 2016, the Saulteau submitted a reply to BC Hydro’s April 19, 2016 reply submission;

J.        On April 21, 2016, the Commission issued a letter confirming and setting out the agenda of the April 25, 2016 Procedural Conference;

K.      On April 22, 2016, BC Hydro filed an Evidentiary Update with an updated Assessment of the Scope of the Duty to Consult and First Nations Consultation process;

L.       The second Procedural Conference was held on April 25, 2016, in which participants made submissions on the need for further evidentiary filings, the scope of Information Request No. 3, their preference for written and /or oral argument and suggested timelines for further regulatory process; and

M.    Upon review of the regulatory process written submissions and giving consideration to the oral submissions made during the April 25, 2016 Procedural Conference, the Panel finds that it is in the public interest to revise the Regulatory Timetable, as set out in Appendix A to this order.

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.       Commission staff and interveners may submit a third round of information requests to British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) of limited scope per the revised Regulatory Timetable, as set out in Appendix A to this order. The scope of the Information Request No. 3 shall be limited to inquiries relating to BC Hydro’s duty to consult and the First Nations consultation process.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this          26^th             day of April 2016.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

D. M. Morton

Commissioner

Attachment

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

W.A.C. Bennett Dam Riprap Upgrade Project

REGULATORY TIMETABLE