Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-60-21

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

Stargas Utilities Ltd.

Natural Gas Purchase Plan and Commodity Rate Application

Effective November 1, 2020  

                                                                                                        BEFORE:                                                                                      

C. M. Brewer, Panel Chair

K. A. Keilty, Commissioner

B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

on March 2, 2021

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On September 15, 2020, Stargas Utilities Ltd. (Stargas) filed an application under sections 71 and 61(4) of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) seeking approval of its natural gas purchase plan for the contract year from November 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021 and approval to increase the commodity rate from $3.98 per gigajoule (GJ) to $7.48 per GJ, or approximately 88 percent, effective November 1, 2020 (Application);

B.      On October 21, 2020, Stargas filed an updated application with the BCUC seeking approval to increase the commodity rate from $3.98 per GJ to $7.87 per GJ, or approximately 98 percent, effective November 1, 2020, based on updated forecast gas cost as on October 20, 2020;

C.      On December 15, 2020, Stargas filed further updates to its Application with the BCUC on a confidential basis and subsequently filed a redacted version January 25, 2021, seeking approval to increase the commodity rate to $7.06 per GJ effective November 1, 2020, based on updated forecast gas cost as on December 3, 2020;

D.      By Order G-271-20 dated October 27, 2020, the BCUC set an interim commodity rate of $3.98 per GJ on an interim and refundable basis, effective November 1, 2020;

E.       By Orders G-271-20, G-321-20, G-329-20 and G-10-21, the BCUC established and furthered a written hearing process and regulatory timetable to review the Application. The timetable included intervener registration, two rounds of BCUC and intervener information requests (IRs), final arguments and reply;

F.       In response to BCUC IR No. 1, Stargas indicated that it had executed an agreement with FortisBC Energy Inc. (FEI) that provides for the sale of Stargas’s regulatory assets and operations to FEI (Asset Purchase Agreement), subject to BCUC approval;

G.      The regulatory timetable set out by Order G-10-21 included filing deadlines of February 18, 2021 for Stargas final argument and February 25, 2021 for intervener final argument;

H.      On February 24, 2021, Stargas requested an extension to the filing deadline for its final argument to a date five business days following the termination of the Asset Purchase Agreement, on the basis that if the Asset Purchase Agreement is approved, the unrecovered gas costs will have been addressed in that application;

I.         By Order G-54-21 dated February 25, 2021, the BCUC denied Stargas’s request for extension for the reasons that followed the order;

J.        On February 26, 2021, Silver Star Property Owners Association (SSPOA) requested an extension to the regulatory timetable to allow for SSPOA final arguments following a Stargas submission; and

K.       The BCUC has reviewed SSPOA’s request and determines that an extension to the filing deadline for Stargas final argument is not warranted for the reasons given for Order G-54-21, and that an amendment to the regulatory timetable to allow additional time for intervener final argument submissions is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE, the BCUC orders that the regulatory timetable established by Order G-10-21 is amended, as set out in Appendix A to this order.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this             2^nd              day of March 2021.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

C. M. Brewer

Commissioner

Attachment

Stargas Utilities Ltd.

Natural Gas Purchase Plan and Commodity Rate Application