ORDER NUMBER
G-82-17
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
Recovery of British Columbia Utilities Commission Costs
for the 2017/18 Fiscal Year
BEFORE:
D. M. Morton, Commissioner
D. J. Enns, Commissioner
W. M. Everett, Commissioner
H. G. Harowitz, Commissioner
M. Kresivo, Commissioner
B. A. Magnan, Commissioner
R. I. Mason, Commissioner
R. D. Revel, Commissioner
on May 25, 2017
ORDER
WHEREAS:
A. Section 125 of the Utilities Commission Act (the 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 current year’s levy for recovering Commission expenses is based on its 2017/18 approved budget less the Commission’s over-recovery of $1,233,032 from 2016/17. That figure is then divided by the total energy sales of the regulated energy utilities for the calendar year 2016;
C. The Commission’s recovery of its apportioned costs to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia requires a different method of cost recovery rather than by way of a levy on energy sales and the amount of $700,000 per fiscal year was previously established; and
D. The Commission will recover its expenses from the levy calculation on a quarterly basis and may adjust the fourth quarter billing in order to account for additional revenues received during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 125 of the Utilities Commission Act and B.C. Regulation 283/88, the British Columbia Utilities Commission orders as follows:
1. A levy, at the rate of $0.0178988916 per gigajoule equivalent of energy sold for the calendar year 2016 shall be paid by, and collected from, the public utilities listed in Appendix A attached to this order for the recovery of Commission expenses in the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2017.
2. The public utilities are required to pay the levy fixed for the 2017/18 fiscal year, to be billed in installments, as set out in Appendix A attached to this order.
3. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia shall pay the Commission’s 2017/18 fiscal year allocated budgeted expenses of $700,000 in quarterly installments.
4. The Commission’s cost recovery for the 2017/18 fiscal year will be reviewed in the last quarter to ensure the apportioned costs to all regulated entities are appropriate and may make necessary adjustments at that time.
5. 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, 2016:
Canadian Natural Resources Limited $1,000
Canadian Natural Resources Limited – Inga Oil Pipeline $1,000
Trans Mountain (Jet Fuel) Inc. $1,000
Plateau Pipeline Ltd.
- Blueberry $1,000
- Northeast BC & Boundary Lake $1,000
- Sunset Prairie $1,000
- Taylor to Dawson Creek $1,000
- Western System $1,000
Spectra Energy Midstream Corporation
(Boundary Lake, Jedney I, Jedney II, Midwinter, Peggo, Sunrise, Tooga, West Doe
& Hwy Processing & Pipeline Facilities, West Doe & Hwy Transportation &
Processing Facilities) $10,000
6. The cost recovery revenue from natural gas marketers for the residential and commercial unbundling program for the 2017/18 fiscal year is estimated to be $9,000.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 2nd day of June 2017.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D. M. Morton
Commissioner
Attachment
BRITISH COLUMBIA UTILITIES COMMISSION - 2017/18 LEVY CALCULATION