Orders

ORDER NUMBER

R-16-18

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

Catalyst Paper Powell River Division

Application for Acceptance of Mitigation Plan (Version 3) required for

Compliance with Mandatory Reliability Standard:

PRC-008-0 Requirement 2 - Violation ID: BCUC201100098

BEFORE:

W. M. Everett, QC, Commissioner

on March 7, 2018

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On February 28, 2018, the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), acting as the Administrator for the British Columbia Mandatory Reliability Standards Program (BC MRS Program), issued a Recommendation of Mitigation Plan (MP) Acceptance (Recommendation) to bring Catalyst Paper, Powell River Division (CPPR) into compliance with the reliability standard identified above;

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 British Columbia;

C.      By Order G-123-09, the Commission appointed WECC as its Administrator for registration and monitoring compliance as per section 8 of the UCA. The Administration Agreement between WECC and the Commission was signed on October 8, 2009, and WECC’s role as Administrator for the BC MRS Program was renewed in the first amended Administration Agreement, dated August 21, 2014;

D.      Commission Order G-123-09 also approved the Compliance Monitoring Program (CMP) for monitoring and enforcement of adopted reliability standards and most recent revisions to the CMP were approved by Commission Order R-40-17, dated September 1, 2017;

E.       Pursuant to section 5.1.1 of the CMP, an entity subject to approved Mandatory Reliability Standards found in Confirmed Violation of a reliability standard must prepare an MP to correct the Confirmed Violation or prepare a description of how the Confirmed Violation has been mitigated. Pursuant to section 5.3.2 of the CMP, an MP with respect to a Confirmed Violation must be submitted to the Administrator within ten days following confirmation by the Commission;

F.       An MP with respect to a Possible Violation or an Alleged Violation may be submitted at any time and the Commission encourages entities to mitigate all perceived instances of noncompliance upon detection;

G.      On January 19, 2011, Catalyst Paper Powell River Division (CPPR) submitted MP (Version 1) for PRC-008-0 R2 and on March 17, 2011, by Commission Order G-49-11, the Commission accepted MP (Version 1);

H.      Following thorough review of the facts and circumstances of this instance of noncompliance, on June 10, 2011, WECC issued a Notice of Alleged Violation to CPPR for PRC-008-0 R2 and by Commission Order G‑154‑11 dated September 1, 2011, the Commission confirmed this Alleged Violation;

I.        On October 20, 2011, CPPR submitted MP (Version 2) for Confirmed Violation PRC-008-0 R2 and on September 21, 2012, by Commission Order R-60-12, the Commission accepted MP (Version 2);

J.        On June 18, 2014, CPPR submitted an Attestation of Mitigation Plan Completion (AMPC) for MP (Version 2) and on Mach 12, 2015, WECC requested that CPPR submit a revised MP (Version 3) to address missing circuit test evidence for Confirmed Violation PRC-008-0 R2;

K.      On December 22, 2017, CPPR submitted MP (Version 3) to bring CPPR into compliance with PRC-008-0 R2 as shown below; and

L.       The Commission reviewed WECC’s Recommendation and considers that acceptance of the MP (Version 3) is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 125.2(10) of the UCA and in accordance with the CMP, the Commission accepts the MP (Version 3) with the proposed completion date as identified in recital K above.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this              7th                  day of March 2018.

BY ORDER

Original Signed By:

W. M. Everett, QC

Commissioner