ORDER NUMBER
R-30-17
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
Northwood Pulp Mill
Application to Change Registration required for Compliance with
Mandatory Reliability Standards
BEFORE:
W. M. Everett, QC, Commissioner
on May 2, 2017
ORDER
WHEREAS:
A. On April 21, 2017, the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), acting as the Administrator for the British Columbia Mandatory Reliability Standards Program (BC MRS Program), issued a Recommendation for Deregistration (Recommendation) of Northwood Pulp Mill (NPM) for the function of Distribution Provider (DP) and recommended NPM be registered for the DP subcategory DP Under Frequency Load Shedding-Only (DP UFLS-Only);
B. Section 125.2 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) assigns exclusive jurisdiction to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) to determine whether a “reliability standard,” as defined in the UCA, is in the public interest and should be adopted in BC;
C. Ministerial Order M039, also referred to as the Mandatory Reliability Standards Regulation (MRS Regulation), deposited February 23, 2009, described the parties subject to reliability standards adopted under section 125.2(6) of the UCA and on June 4, 2009, the Commission issued Order G-67-09 specifying that entities subject to reliability standards must register with the Commission;
D. In accordance with the Administration Agreement between WECC and the Commission, dated September 8, 2009 and renewed August 21, 2014, WECC makes registration recommendations in its role as Administrator for the BC MRS Program;
E. By Commission Order G-95-10A, dated June 3, 2010, the Commission approved the registration of NPM as a DP with the BC MRS Program because NPM qualified for registration as a DP at the time;
F. On November 17, 2015, the UCA was amended to repeal sections 125.2(8) and 125.2(9) concerning the applicability of reliability standards and include updated sections 125.2(8) and 125.2(9), pursuant to which, the Commission may, by order, specify that a reliability standard adopted under the UCA applies or does not apply to a specified person, a class of persons or a person in respect of specified equipment;
G. Following a public process, the Commission issued Commission Order R-12-17 approving revisions to the Rules of Procedure for Reliability Standards in British Columbia (ROP) Appendix 1: Registration Manual which included, among other things, clarification of the DP function and registration criteria for DPs with UFLS-Only assets.
H. After careful review of the NPM facilities, WECC issued the Recommendation noting that deregistering NPM as a DP and registering it as DP UFLS-Only would be consistent with entity registration practice in the United States;
I. Pursuant to the Registration Manual section 2.3, an entity is allowed 21 days to respond to any registration recommendation issued by WECC. On April 26, 2017, and in response to the Recommendation, NPM informed the Commission that it agrees with WECC’s Recommendation; and
J. The Commission reviewed the Recommendation and considers deregistration of NPM as a DP and registering NPM as DP UFLS-Only is warranted.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 125.2(10) of the UCA and in accordance with the Registration Manual that is Appendix 1 to the ROP, the Commission approves that NPM be deregistered for the DP function and be registered as DP UFLS-Only with the BC MRS Program.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 2nd day of May 2017.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
W. M. Everett, QC
Commissioner