Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-200-18

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Application for Electricity Purchase Agreement Renewals for

Sechelt Creek Hydro, Brown Lake Hydro and Walden North Hydro

BEFORE:

D. M. Morton, Commissioner/Panel Chair

B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

R. I. Mason, Commissioner

on October 19, 2018

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On May 31, 2018, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) an application, pursuant to section 71 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA), to accept for filing the following Electricity Purchase Agreements (EPA) (collectively, the Application):

1.       An EPA effective March 1, 2018 between BC Hydro and MPT Hydro LP for the Sechelt Creek run-of-river hydroelectric project;

2.       An EPA effective April 1, 2018 between BC Hydro and Brown Miller Power Limited Partnership  for the Brown Lake Storage hydroelectric project; and

3.       An EPA effective April 1, 2018 between BC Hydro and Cayoose Creek Power Limited Partnership for the Walden North run-of-river hydroelectric project;

B.      By Ministerial Order M-22-9801, dated August 28, 1998, any EPAs agreed upon by BC Hydro or any persons selling electricity to BC Hydro on or before March 31, 2000, were exempted from section 71 of the UCA. The threshold date for this exemption was subsequently updated to September 30, 2001, by Amending Ministerial Order M-22-9801-A1;

C.      By Order G-61-12, dated May 17, 2012, the BCUC approved the Rules for Energy Supply Contracts for Electricity (Rules). Appendix A of Order G-61-12 contains the Rules, which are intended to facilitate the BCUC’s review of energy supply contracts for electricity, pursuant to section 71 of the UCA;

D.      On April 17, 2018, BC Hydro requested an extension from the 60 days filing rule for the Sechelt Creek EPA Renewal, as set out in the Rules. BC Hydro’s filing extension request was granted by letter dated April 24, 2018;

E.       By Order G-153-18, dated August 16, 2018, the BCUC established the regulatory timetable to review the Application, including an opportunity for intervener registration, and directed BC Hydro to provide further elaboration on why the confidentially filed information should be held confidential;

F.       On August 24, 2018 BC Hydro filed its response on confidentiality;

G.      The BCUC and the Commercial Energy Consumers Associated of British Columbia, a registered intervener, submitted Information Requests (IR) No. 1 to BC Hydro on September 27 and October 5, respectively;

H.      On October 16, 2018, BC Hydro submitted a request to the BCUC for an extension request for providing responses to BCUC and intervener IRs No. 1 and to suspend the current regulatory timetable for this proceeding until four weeks following the release of a report with respect to the Government Review of BC Hydro (Government Review), which is expected in late fall 2018. BC Hydro submits that this would allow sufficient time for the outcomes of the Government Review to better inform the IR responses, and expects the Government Review to provide guidance that will impact the Load Resource Balance; and

I.        The Panel has reviewed the submission and considers that amending the regulatory timetable established by Order G-168-18 is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders that the regulatory timetable established by Order G-168-18 is amended and attached as Appendix A to this order.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this              19^th              day of October 2018.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

D. M. Morton

Commissioner

Attachment

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Application for Electricity Purchase Agreement Renewals for

Sechelt Creek Hydro, Brown Lake Hydro and Walden North Hydro