ORDER NUMBER
C-2-20
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
Creative Energy Vancouver Platforms Inc.
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Acquire
and Operate a Thermal Energy System for Cooling at the Vancouver House Development
BEFORE:
T. A. Loski, Panel Chair
E. B. Lockhart, Commissioner
R. I. Mason, Commissioner
on April 1, 2020
CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY
WHEREAS:
A. On August 28, 2019, Creative Energy Vancouver Platforms Inc. (Creative Energy) filed an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) pursuant to sections 45 and 46 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) to acquire and operate a district cooling system (DCS) to provide cooling to the Vancouver House Development (Vancouver House) in the south downtown area of Vancouver (Application). Vancouver House comprises four buildings located on three parcels of land:
• Buildings 1 and 2 at 1480 Howe Street;
• Building 3 at 1461 Granville Street; and
• Building 4 at 1462 Granville Street.
B. On August 28, 2014, the BCUC issued Order G‐127‐14 approving the Thermal Energy Systems (TES) Regulatory Framework Guidelines (TES Guidelines) and revisions to the TES Guidelines were approved by Order G‐27‐15. Under Section 2.1 of the TES Guidelines, a Stream A TES is defined as:
An On‐Site TES with an Initial Capital Cost above $500,000 but less than $15,000,000 is exempt from sections 44.1, 45 and 59‐61 of the UCA. TES Providers are required to register Stream A TES prior to building or otherwise acquiring the Stream A TES.
C. On November 7, 2018, Creative Energy filed with the BCUC an application to register the 1480 Howe Street Cooling Stream A Thermal Energy System in accordance with the TES Guidelines. By Order G‐251‐18, Creative Energy’s application was denied;
D. By Orders G-222-19, G-227-19 and G-339-19, dated September 12, November 8, and December 19, 2020, respectively, the BCUC established a regulatory timetable for the review of the Application, which included, among other things, intervener registration, two rounds of information requests, submissions on further process and final arguments;
E. FortisBC Alternative Energy Services Inc. and Commercial Energy Consumers Association of British Columbia (the CEC) registered as interveners;
F. On January 10, 2020 and January 24, 2020, Creative Energy and the CEC filed final arguments, respectively. On January 31, 2020, Creative Energy filed its reply argument; and
G. The BCUC has considered the evidence and submissions and finds that the public convenience and necessity requires Creative Energy’s acquisition and operation of the DCS to provide cooling service to Vancouver House.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to sections 45 and 46 of the UCA and for the reasons outlined in the decision issued concurrently with this order, the BCUC orders that a CPCN is granted to Creative Energy to acquire and operate the DCS to provide cooling service to Vancouver House.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 1st day of April 2020.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
T. A. Loski
Commissioner
Attachment