Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-44-20

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

FortisBC Energy Inc.

Biomethane Purchase Agreement between FortisBC Energy Inc. and REN Energy International Corp.

BEFORE:

T.A. Loski, Panel Chair
E.B. Lockhart, Commissioner
R.I. Mason, Commissioner

on March 6, 2020

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On February 7, 2020, pursuant to sections 71 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) and the British Columbia Utilities Commission’s (BCUC) Rules for Natural Gas Energy Supply Contracts, FortisBC Energy Inc. (FEI) filed an application with the BCUC seeking acceptance of a Biomethane Purchase Agreement (BPA) between FEI and REN Energy International Corp. (REN) (Application);

B.      Section 18(1) of the Clean Energy Act (CEA) defines a prescribed undertaking as “...a project, program, contract or expenditure that is in a class of projects, programs, contracts or expenditures prescribed for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia.”;

C.      Section 18(3) of the CEA states that “the commission must not exercise a power under the UCA in a way that would directly or indirectly prevent a public utility...from carrying out a prescribed undertaking.”;

D.      Section 2(3.8) of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Regulation (GGRR) states that the acquisition of renewable natural gas is a prescribed undertaking subject to:

•         the public utility paying no more than $30/GJ; and

•         the total volume of RNG purchased in a calendar year does not exceed 5 percent of the total volume of natural gas provided by public utility to its non-bypass customers in 2015. Under the BPA, REN will supply biomethane, processed from wood waste in a facility located in Fruitvale, British Columbia, to FEI for injection in FEI’s existing natural gas system;

E.       FEI requests that the redacted portions of the filing and certain appendices be kept confidential due to their commercially sensitive nature pursuant to Section 18 of the BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure regarding confidential documents set out in Order G-15-19 and section 71(5) of the UCA; and

F.       The BCUC has reviewed the Application and considers that a regulatory process is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders as follows:

1.       A regulatory timetable is established, as set out in Appendix A to this order.

2.       Redacted portions of the Application will be held confidential, as requested by FEI, due to its commercially sensitive nature.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this               6^th                  day of March 2020.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

T.A. Loski

Commissioner

Attachment

FortisBC Energy Inc.

FortisBC Energy Inc. Biomethane Purchase Agreement between FortisBC Energy Inc. and REN Energy International Corp.