Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-4-25

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

FortisBC Energy Inc.

Application for the Regional Gas Supply Diversity Development Account Cost Recovery

BEFORE:

B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

on January 10, 2025

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On December 20, 2024, FortisBC Energy Inc. (FEI) filed an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) pursuant to sections 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA), seeking approval to transfer the balance in the non-rate base Regional Gas Supply Diversity (RGSD) Development Account to a rate base deferral account, and to recover the balance in the deferral account over three years, commencing January 1, 2026 (Application);

B.      On September 14, 2022, by Order G-253-22, the BCUC approved the establishment of the RGSD Development Account to capture actual development costs incurred for the potential RGSD Project, with disposition of the deferral account balance to be determined in a future proceeding;

C.      In the Application, FEI states that costs totalling $3.749 million net of tax and allowance for funds used during construction were required to investigate the potential for the RGSD Project;

D.      The BCUC has reviewed the Application and considers that the establishment of a public hearing process for the review of the Application is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders as follows:

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

2.       FEI is directed to provide a copy of the Application and this order on or before Friday, January 17, 2025, to parties who participated in the proceeding to establish the RGSD Development Account.

3.       FEI is directed to make the Application and this order available on its website at www.fortisbc.com.

4.       FEI is directed to publish the Public Notice in Appendix B to this order on all of its current social media platforms, on or before Friday, January 17, 2025. Weekly reminder posts that include the Public Notice must be published on each of these platforms until the intervener registration deadline on Thursday, January 30, 2025.

5.       FEI is directed to provide written confirmation to the BCUC by Thursday, January 23, 2025, of compliance with Directives 2, 3 and 4 of this order.

6.       In accordance with BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, any party who wishes to participate in this proceeding may submit a Letter of Comment or request intervener status by the dates established in the regulatory timetable. Letters of comment must be submitted by way of the Letter of Comment form available on the BCUC’s website at https://www.bcuc.com/Forms/LetterOfComment. Any party requesting intervener status must register with the BCUC by completing the Request to Intervene Form, available on the BCUC’s website at https://www.bcuc.com/get-involved/get-involved-proceeding.html.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this      10^th      day of January 2025.

BY ORDER

Electronically signed by Bernard Magnan

B. A. Magnan

Commissioner

Attachment

FortisBC Energy Inc.

Application for the Regional Gas Supply Diversity Development Account Cost Recovery

 FORTISBC ENERGY INC. APPLICATION FOR THE REGIONAL GAS SUPPLY DIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT COST RECOVERY

On December 20, 2024, FortisBC Energy Inc. filed an application seeking approval to transfer the balance of $3.749 million in the non-rate base Regional Gas Supply Diversity Development Account to a rate base deferral account, and to recover the balance in the deferral account over three years, commencing January 1, 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.