Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-273-24

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

FortisBC Energy Inc.

Disposition of Prince George Customer Service Facility

BEFORE:

A. K. Fung, KC, Panel Chair

E. B. Lockhart, Commissioner

on October 24, 2024

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On October 7, 2024, FortisBC Energy Inc. (FEI) filed an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), pursuant to section 52 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA), seeking approval to sell the land and building located at 1190 2^nd Avenue in Prince George, BC, which has been used as FEI’s Prince George Customer Service Centre Office property (PGO Property), to the Carrier Sekani Family Services Society (Application);

B.      FEI also requests approval, pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the UCA, to establish a non-rate base deferral account attracting a weighted average cost of capital return titled the “Prince George Customer Service Centre Disposition deferral account”, to record the net book value of the PGO Property at the time of the sale, less the net proceeds from the sale. FEI proposes to transfer the balance of the non-rate base deferral account to rate base on January 1, 2026, and seeks approval to amortize this deferral account over one year, commencing January 1, 2026;

C.      In the Application, FEI states it has relocated its Prince George Customer Service Centre to another property to address ongoing employee safety and security concerns;

D.      Pursuant to Section 18 of the BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, FEI requests that the redacted portions of the Application and confidential Appendices be held confidential as they contain commercially sensitive information related to the purchase and sale, property valuation, and the contracts resulting from negotiations and that this information be held confidential until completion of the sale, as the disclosure of this information could adversely affect negotiations relating to the sale of the PGO Property; and

E.       The BCUC has commenced review of the Application and considers that establishing a written public proceeding and regulatory timetable is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders as follows:

1.       A public hearing for the review of the Application is established, in accordance with the regulatory timetable as set out in Appendix A to this order.

2.       FEI is to provide a copy of the Application and this order, electronically where possible, on or before Wednesday, October 30, 2024, to all First Nations affected by the Application and to all registered interveners in the FEI 2024 Annual Review of Delivery Rates proceeding.

3.       FEI is to publish the Application and a copy of this order on its website at www.fortisbc.com as soon as practicable, but no later than Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

4.       FEI is to post notice of the Application and this order on its relevant and existing social media platforms, including but not limited to X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, beginning as soon as practicable, but no later than Wednesday, October 30, 2024. Weekly reminder posts must be posted on each platform until the conclusion of the letter of comment period on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.

5.       FEI is to provide confirmation to the BCUC that it has complied with Directives 2 to 4 by Thursday, November 21, 2024, including a list of the parties notified and the platforms on which notice of the Application was posted.

6.       In accordance with the BCUC Rules of Practice and Procedure, parties who wish to participate in the proceeding may submit a letter of comment by the date established in the attached regulatory timetable. Letters of comment must be submitted through the Letter of Comment Form, available on the BCUC website, by e-mail to commission.secretary@bcuc.com, or by mail to the BCUC, Suite 410, 900 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC  V6Z 2N3.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this          24^th          day of October 2024.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

A. K. Fung, KC

Commissioner

Attachment

FortisBC Energy Inc.

Disposition of Prince George Customer Service Facility

FortisBC Energy Inc. Sale of Prince George Customer Service Facility

On October 7, 2024, FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) filed an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) requesting approval to sell the land and building located at 1190 2^nd Avenue in Prince George, BC to the Carrier Sekani Family Services Society. The property has been used as FortisBC’s Prince George Customer Service Centre office.

FortisBC is also seeking approval to establish a deferral account that would record the gain/(loss) on the sale of the property. FortisBC proposes to include the balance of the deferral account in customer rates in 2026.  

Please visit the proceeding webpage on bcuc.com under “Our Work” to learn more.

To participate in the proceeding, visit www.bcuc.com/get-involved.

Subscribe to this proceeding on bcuc.com under “Get Involved” to receive email notifications when public documents are added to the proceeding.