Orders

 

ORDER NUMBER

G-334-20

 

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

 

and

 

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Canadian Forest Products Ltd. – Chetwynd Division Tariff Supplement No. 100

 

BEFORE:

E. B. Lockhart, Commissioner

 

on December 16, 2020

 

ORDER

WHEREAS:

 

A.      On November 16, 2020, the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) seeking approval of a transition tariff agreement (Transition Tariff Agreement) with Canadian Forest Products Ltd. – Chetwynd Division (Canfor) as Tariff Supplement No. 100 (TS 100), pursuant to sections 58 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act (Application);

B.      On May 16, 2000, the BCUC approved a special tariff agreement between BC Hydro and Canfor in the form of TS 53 pursuant to Order G-51-00. TS 53 allowed Canfor to take service under Rate Schedule (RS) 1821 (now RS 1823) while being served at distribution voltage from BC Hydro’s Chetwynd substation (CWD). TS 53 had a term of 20-years, commencing on August 1, 2000;

C.      Prior to the expiry of TS 53, BC Hydro and Canfor entered into discussions regarding the Transition Tariff Agreement which is intended to mitigate bill impacts and recover incremental costs associated with serving Canfor prior to Canfor moving to BC Hydro’s Large General Service (RS 1611);

D.      To allow the parties more time for settling the terms of the Transition Tariff Agreement, the BCUC issued Order G-174-20, approving a six-month extension of TS 53, expiring January 31, 2021;

E.       In the Application, BC Hydro submits that approval of TS 100 would allow Canfor to continue to be billed under the transmission service rate per RS 1823, while receiving service at distribution voltage of 25 kV from CWD. TS 100 includes a monthly rate rider charge and additional conditions to recover the incremental costs associated with providing service to Canfor at distribution voltage which are not recovered in the transmission service rate;

F.       TS 100 does not allow for subsequent renewal at the end of the 10-year term and after that time Canfor will transition to the otherwise applicable rate schedule;

 

G.      To preserve customer confidentiality, BC Hydro requests that information filed regarding Canfor’s individual electricity use and the schematics of the shared facilities be kept confidential pursuant to section 42 of the Administrative Tribunals Act and Part 4 of the BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure; and

H.      The BCUC considers a public hearing for the review of the Application and the establishment of a regulatory timetable are warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders as follows:

 

1.       A regulatory timetable for the review of the Application is established, attached as Appendix A to this order.

2.       BC Hydro is directed to provide notice of this Application and a copy of this order by Tuesday, December 29, 2020, electronically where possible, to its Large General Service Rate customers.

3.       Any party wishing to provide comments on the Application is invited to submit a letter of comment by Thursday, January 7, 2021. Letters of comment must be in the Letter of Comment Form available on the BCUC’s website at https://www.bcuc.com/forms/letter-of-comment.aspx.

4.       The BCUC will hold the confidential version of the Application confidential as it contains safety and security sensitive information.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this    16^th     day of December 2020.

BY ORDER

 

Original signed by:

 

E. B. Lockhart

Commissioner

 

 

 

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority