ORDER NUMBER
G-68-17
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Tariff Supplement No. 37 Amendments Application
Northwest Transmission Line Supplemental Charge
BEFORE:
D. M. Morton, Commissioner
D. J. Enns, Commissioner
W. M. Everett, Commissioner
H. G. Harowitz, Commissioner
B. A. Magnan, Commissioner
R. I. Mason, Commissioner
on May 11, 2017
ORDER
WHEREAS:
A. On February 17, 2017, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission), pursuant to section 8(2) of the Clean Energy Act (CEA) and sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA), an application to amend BC Hydro’s Tariff Supplement No. 37 (Application);
B. Under section 7(1) of the CEA, the Northwest Transmission Line (NTL) is exempt from sections 45 to 47 and 71 of the UCA. Section 8(2) of the CEA provides that the Commission must set a rate proposed by BC Hydro;
C. On April 10, 2013, by Order G-52-13 with reasons attached to that order, the Commission approved Tariff Supplement No. 37 (TS 37) pursuant to sections 59-61 of the UCA;
D. TS 37 contains provisions that enable BC Hydro to recover its costs incurred in constructing the NTL from certain customers receiving electricity service or generator interconnection service by means of the NTL;
E. In the Application, BC Hydro seeks the following Commission approvals related to TS 37, effective on the date of the Commission’s order:
i. under section 3.2, modifications to the payment of the NTL Supplemental Charge;
ii. under section 4, elimination of the customer’s security requirement;
iii. under section 5, modifications to suspend service to a customer in the event of non-payment of the NTL Supplemental Charge;
iv. five additional amendments to clarify TS 37 terms and other housekeeping amendments;
v. a variance to the terms and conditions in section 3.2(c) in Appendix 1 of TS 37 (Cost Recovery Agreement) to be applicable only to Red Chris Development Company Ltd. (Red Chris), a subsidiary of Imperial Metals Corporation and a customer of BC Hydro, to reflect the payment arrangements between Red Chris and BC Hydro; and
vi. deferral of variances between planned and actual NTL Supplemental Charge revenues under TS 37 to the Non-Heritage Deferral Account to ensure that all revenues under TS 37 are to the account of the ratepayer and that BC Hydro is not double-recovering costs;
F. On April 21, 2017, BC Hydro filed responses to Commission staff questions dated March 29, 2017;
G. In Attachment C of the Application, BC Hydro redacted certain sections of its October 24, 2016 letter to Red Chris and requests the redacted information be kept confidential on the basis that it contains commercially sensitive information; and
H. The Commission reviewed the Application in the context of sections 7 and 8 of the CEA, sections 59 to 61 of the UCA, and Order G-52-13.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act, the British Columbia Utilities Commission orders as follows:
1. The amendments to British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority’s Tariff Supplement No. 37, as set out in the blacklined version attached as Appendix A of this order, are approved, effective as of the date of this order, in accordance with section 8(2) of the Clean Energy Act.
2. The variance to section 3.2(c) of the Cost Recovery Agreement applicable only to Red Chris is approved, effective as of the date of this order, in accordance with section 8(2) of the Clean Energy Act.
3. The use of the Non-Heritage Deferral Account to defer variances between planned and actual Northwest Transmission Line Supplemental Charge revenues is approved.
4. The redacted information in Attachment C of the Application will be kept confidential as requested by British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority as it contains commercially sensitive information.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 11th day of May 2017.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D. M. Morton
Commissioner
Attachment