ORDER NUMBER

R-50-23

 

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

 

and

 

Tolko Industries Limited

Notice of Penalty for the Contravention of

Mandatory Reliability Standards Identified as:

PRC-005-1 Requirement 1 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000710

PRC-005-1a Requirement 2 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000711

PRC-019-2 Requirement 1 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000712

PRC-024-2 Requirement 1 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000713

PRC-024-2 Requirement 2 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000714

 

BEFORE:

E. B. Lockhart, Panel Chair

M. Kresivo, KC, Commissioner

B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

 

on October 10, 2023

 

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      By Order R-41-23 dated July 31, 2023, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) issued Confidential Reasons for Decision to Tolko Industries Limited (Tolko) for contraventions of the following Protection and Control (PRC) Reliability Standards (Confidential Order with Reasons);

B.      On August 20, 2021, Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) issued Noticed of Alleged Violation (NOAV) CF1923 citing alleged violations of the five PRC Reliability Standards noted above;

C.      By confidential orders R-42-22, R-43-22, R-44-22, R-45-22, and R-13-23, the BCUC confirmed Tolko’s contravention of the five PRC Reliability Standards;

D.      In the Confidential Order with Reasons, the BCUC directed Tolko to file written submissions with respect to the confidentiality of the Confidential Order with Reasons and other materials filed during that proceeding. The BCUC also directed Tolko to provide reasons for the proposed confidential treatment, including proposed redactions, if any, that Tolko seeks;

E.       On September 12, 2023, Tolko filed its submission with respect to the public disclosure of Confidential Order R-41-23, stating that Tolko does not consider the disclosure of Order R-41-23 to jeopardize the security of the Bulk Electric System and has no redactions to Order R-41-23;

F.       On September 13, 2023, Tolko rescinded its submission with respect to the public disclosure of Confidential Order R-41-23, stating that Tolko has redacted sections containing details on its equipment and procedures that it considers confidential; and

G.      Following review of Tolko’s submissions, the Panel determines that release to the general public of the Confidential Order with Reasons is warranted and in the public interest.

 

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 125.2(10), Part 8.1 of the Utilities Commission Act and for the reasons attached as Appendix A, the BCUC orders the following:

 

1.       Orders R-42-22, R-43-22, R-44-22, R-45-22, and R-13-23 are to be made public, as attached in Appendix B.

2.       Order R-41-23 with Confidential Reasons for Decision is to be made public, as attached in Appendix C.

3.       NOAV CF1923 dated August 20, 2021, as filed by WECC, is to be made public, as attached as Appendix D.

4.       All other materials filed in this proceeding will remain confidential, unless otherwise ordered by the BCUC.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this            10^th            day of October 2023.

 

BY ORDER

 

Original signed by:

 

E. B. Lockhart

Commissioner

 

 

Attachment

 

 

Tolko Industries Limited

Notice of Penalty for the Contravention of

Mandatory Reliability Standards Identified as:

PRC-005-1 Requirement 1 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000710

PRC-005-1a Requirement 2 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000711

PRC-019-2 Requirement 1 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000712

PRC-024-2 Requirement 1 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000713

PRC-024-2 Requirement 2 - Violation ID: BCUC2019000714

 

1.0              Introduction

By Order R-41-23 dated July 31, 2023 (Confidential Order with Reasons), the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) issued a Notice of Penalty and Confidential Reasons for Decision to Tolko Industries Limited (Tolko) for contraventions of five Protection and Control (PRC) Reliability Standards (PRC Violations).

 

Directive No. 5 of the Confidential Order with Reasons directed Tolko to file written submissions with respect to the confidentiality of the following materials (collectively, Compliance Materials):

•         Notice of Alleged Violation (NOAV) CF1923, as filed by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council;

•         Confidential orders R-42-22, R-43-22, R-44-22 and R-45-22 dated December 20, 2022 and Confidential Order R-13-23 dated April 26, 2023 confirming the five PRC Reliability Standard violations (Confirmation Orders); and

•         Confidential Order with Reasons, including the Notice of Penalty.

1.1              Rules of Procedure for Reliability Standards in British Columbia

Section 6.2 of the Rules of Procedure for Reliability Standards in British Columbia states:

All Information submitted to the Commission for the purposes of a Hearing … will be held in confidence pursuant to the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, Part IV (Order G‐1‐16), as amended from time to time, governing the handling of Confidential Information filed with the Commission.

Section 4.3.1 of the Compliance Monitoring Program for British Columbia Mandatory Reliability Standards (Compliance Monitoring Program) states:

[…] A Notice of Alleged Violation will be treated as confidential unless and until the Commission confirms the Alleged Violation and the Commission considers that disclosure would not relate to a cybersecurity incident or otherwise jeopardize the security of the bulk power system.

1.2              BCUC Rules of Practice and Procedure

Part IV of the BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules) outline the provisions for requests for confidentiality and the filing of confidential documents.

 

Section 20.01 outlines the considerations for the BCUC with respect to determinations on confidential information:

In determining whether the nature of the information or documents require a confidentiality direction, the BCUC will have regard to matters that it considers relevant, including:

(a)    whether the disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to result in:

                                             i.      undue material financial loss or gain to a person;

                                           ii.      significant harm or prejudice to that person’s competitive or negotiating position; or

                                         iii.      harm to individual or public safety or to the environment;

(b)    whether the information is personal, financial, commercial, scientific, labour relations or technical information that is confidential and consistently treated as confidential by the person;

(c)     whether the person’s interest in confidentiality outweighs the public interest in the disclosure of the information or documents in the hearing;

(d)    whether the person submitting the document has any legal obligation to maintain confidentiality; and

(e)    whether it is practicable to hold the hearing in a manner that is open to the public.

With respect to documents not accepted as confidential, Section 22.01 states:

If a document is filed confidentially and the request for confidentiality is denied, the BCUC may allow the person that submitted the documents an opportunity to make submissions as to what should be done with the document, such as withdrawing the document.

2.0              Tolko Submission

On September 12, 2023, Tolko submitted that it does not consider the disclosure of the materials outlined in confidential Order R-41-23 to jeopardize the security of the Bulk Electric System and had no redactions to the order. Further, Tolko stated that it does not require Order R-41-23 to remain confidential.

 

On September 13, 2023, Tolko rescinded its initial submission with respect to the disclosure of confidential Order R-41-23 and submitted redacted sections containing details on Tolko’s equipment and procedures that it considers confidential.

Panel Determination

The Panel determines that the Compliance Materials should be released because the disclosure does not relate to a cybersecurity incident and would not jeopardize the security of the bulk power system. Further, the disclosure of the Compliance Materials is in the public interest.

 

Section 4.3.1 of the Compliance Monitoring Program states that a NOAV will be treated as confidential unless and until the BCUC confirms the Alleged Violation and the BCUC considers that disclosure would not relate to a cybersecurity incident or otherwise jeopardize the security of the bulk power system. Given the BCUC has confirmed the PRC Violations and the penalty process has concluded, the Panel finds that lifting the confidential treatment of NOAV CF1923 is warranted and in the public interest. There is no evidence that the contents of NOAV CF1923 is related to a cybersecurity incident or poses a risk to the security of the bulk power system. While Tolko proposes that certain sections of the Confidential Order with Reasons and NOAV CF1923 should remain confidential as it pertains to Tolko’s equipment and procedures, the Panel notes the information that Tolko proposes for redaction, comprising basic facts and information regarding previous contraventions, is available in other parts of the Confidential Order with Reasons and NOAV CF1923. Tolko has not asked for that information to be kept confidential.