ORDER NUMBER
R-29-19
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
Application for Change in Registration Footprint with the Mandatory Reliability Standards Program
BEFORE:
W. M. Everett, QC, Commissioner
on November 21, 2019
ORDER
WHEREAS:
A. On November 14, 2019, 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 Change of Registration Footprint (Recommendation) for FortisBC Inc. (FBC);
B. Section 125.2 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) assigns exclusive jurisdiction to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) to determine whether a “reliability standard,” as defined in the UCA, is in the public interest and should be adopted in BC. On June 4, 2009, the BCUC issued Order G-67-09 specifying that entities subject to reliability standards must register with the BCUC;
C. In accordance with the Administration Agreement between WECC and the BCUC, dated September 8, 2009 and renewed most recently on July 5, 2019, WECC makes registration recommendations in its role as the BCUC’s Administrator for the BC MRS Program;
D. Order R-40-17, dated September 1, 2017, approved the most recent version of the Rules of Procedure for Reliability Standards in British Columbia (ROP) Appendix 1: Registration Manual which states that every owner, operator and user of an element of the Bulk Electric System (BES), as that term is defined in the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Glossary of Terms and adopted by the BCUC, is a candidate for registration with the BC MRS Program;
E. On March 5, 2019, the BCUC accepted the assignment agreement between FBC and Teck Metals Ltd. (Teck), which assigns compliance responsibility of the Teck Waneta Plant assets to FBC for compliance with the Generator Owner (GO), Generator Operator (GOP), Transmission Owner (TO) and Transmission Operator (TOP) functions, effective December 1, 2018. By Order R-20-19, dated September 12, 2019, Teck was subsequently deregistered from the BC MRS Program;
F. On November 14, 2019, and at the request of FBC, WECC issued the Recommendation, which acknowledges the addition of the Teck Waneta Plant assets to the FBC footprint effective December 1, 2018. WECC noted that all of the FBC reliability functions remain in place and are not affected by the footprint change. In addition, WECC noted that the Recommendation for the FBC registration footprint change is consistent with what WECC would determine in the United States;
G. Pursuant to the Registration Manual section 2.3, an entity has 21 days to file a response to a registration recommendation with the BCUC. On November 19, 2019 and in response to the Recommendation, FBC informed the BCUC that it was in agreement with the Recommendation; and
H. The BCUC has reviewed WECC’s Recommendation and considers acceptance of WECC’s Recommendation 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 BCUC approves the registration of the recommended footprint change for FBC as of December 1, 2018.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 21st day of November 2019.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
W. M. Everett, QC
Commissioner