ORDER NUMBER

F-4-25

 

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

 

and

 

Corix Burnaby Mountain DE Limited Partnership

Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility 2024-2025 Revenue Requirements and Rates

Participant Cost Award Application

 

BEFORE:

C. M. Brewer, Panel Chair

W. E. Royle, Commissioner

 

on February 13, 2025

 

ORDER

WHEREAS:

 

A.      On February 29, 2024, Corix Burnaby Mountain DE Limited Partnership (Corix) applied to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), pursuant to sections 59 to 61 and 89 of the Utilities Commission Act, for approval of its Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility (BMDEU) revenue requirements and rates for 2024 and 2025 (BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA or Application);

B.      By Orders G-76-24, G-173-24, G-308-24 and G-317-24, the BCUC established a regulatory timetable for the review of the Application, which included, among other things, intervener registration, two rounds of BCUC and intervener information requests (IR), and two rounds of final and reply arguments;

C.      British Columbia Old Age Pensioners’ Organization, Active Support Against Poverty, Disability Alliance BC, Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of BC, and Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (BCOAPO), Residential Consumer Intervener Association (RCIA) and Simon Fraser University participated as interveners in the proceeding;

D.      On December 19, 2024, the BCUC issued Order G-348-24 with accompanying Decision regarding the Application;

E.       The following participants filed Participant Cost Award (PCA) applications with the BCUC with respect to their participation in the proceeding:

F.       By letter dated January 21, 2025, Corix provided its comments on the PCA applications, expressing concerns about the allocation of the PCA and the reasonableness of the PCA amounts. BCOAPO responded to Corix’s comments on January 28, 2025; and

G.      The BCUC has reviewed the PCA applications in accordance with the criteria and rates set out in the Rules of Practice and Procedure, attached to Order G-296-24, and makes the following determinations.

 

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 118 of the Utilities Commission Act, and for the reasons outlined in the decision accompanying this order, the BCUC orders as follows:

 

1.       Costs are awarded to the following participants in the listed amounts for their participation in the BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA proceeding:

 

2.       Corix is directed to reimburse the above-noted participants for the awarded amounts in a timely manner.

 

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this          13^th          day of February 2025.

 

BY ORDER

 

Electronically signed by Carolann Brewer

 

C. M. Brewer

Commissioner

 

 

 

Corix Burnaby Mountain DE Limited Partnership

Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility 2024-2025 Revenue Requirements and Rates

Participant Cost Award Application

 

1.0              Background

On February 29, 2024, pursuant to sections 59 to 61 and 89 of the Utilities Commission Act, Corix Burnaby Mountain DE Limited Partnership (Corix) applied to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) for approval of its Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility (BMDEU) revenue requirements and rates (RRRA) for 2024 and 2025 (BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA or Application).

 

The BCUC established a regulatory timetable for the review of the Application, which included, among other things, intervener registration, two rounds of BCUC and intervener information requests, and two rounds of final and reply arguments.^[1]

 

On December 19, 2024, the BCUC issued Order G-348-24 and accompanying Decision to set rates for BMDEU.

 

British Columbia Old Age Pensioners’ Organization, Active Support Against Poverty, Disability Alliance BC, Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of BC, and Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (BCOAPO), Residential Consumer Intervener Association (RCIA) and Simon Fraser University (SFU) participated as interveners in the proceeding.^[2]

2.0              Participant Cost Award Applications

Part VI of the BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules) sets out the rules for Participant Cost Awards (PCA).^[3] BCOAPO and RCIA filed PCA applications with the BCUC in relation to their participation in the proceeding.^[4] RCIA filed its PCA application on December 27, 2024, requesting an award of $10,532.81.^[5] BCOAPO filed its PCA application on January 10, 2025, after the deadline for PCA applications, requesting an award of $22,274.84.^[6] BCOAPO explained that it missed the PCA deadline due to the holiday period, and the Panel accepted the late filing for review.

 

On January 21, 2025, Corix filed comments on the PCA applications, raising two main concerns:

•         Cost Allocation: Corix considers that PCA costs should be allocated solely to UniverCity customers, as SFU is a sophisticated customer with a negotiated Thermal Energy Services Agreement and actively participated in the proceeding as an intervener. Since BCOAPO and RCIA did not represent SFU, Corix contends SFU should not bear any portion of the PCA costs.^[7]  

•         Reasonableness of the Costs: Corix questions the reasonableness of the total of $32,807.65 requested in PCA funding, noting that it represents a 57 percent increase over the amount approved in the previous BMDEU 2020-2023 RRRA.^[8] Corix contends that such a significant increase is unjustified because
the BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA was a more routine review of historical costs and forecast costs,
whereas the BMDEU 2020-2023 RRRA involved more material issues, including a $40.3 million biomass central energy plant going into service, the introduction of SFU as a new customer, complex cost allocation processes and the introduction of flow-through energy supply costs for UniverCity customers. While Corix acknowledges that interveners sought to minimize duplication, it suggests the costs be reduced to better align with the materiality of issues and to reduce financial pressures on UniverCity ratepayers.^[9]  

On January 28, 2025, BCOAPO submitted its reply, disagreeing with Corix’s position on both issues, as follows:^[10]

•         Cost Allocation: BCOAPO argues that the appropriate test for allocating regulatory costs should be whether intervener participation benefited all customers, rather than whether an intervener formally represented a particular group of customers. BCOAPO maintains that its work in the BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA benefited not only UniverCity customers but also the BCUC, the utility and other ratepayers. According to BCOAPO, the PCA costs should therefore be a shared cost.

•         Reasonableness of Costs: BCOAPO rejects Corix’s claim that the applied-for PCA amounts are unreasonable, and emphasizes that the BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA proceeding addressed several significant issues, including:

o   A forecast cumulative rate increase of between 37 and 45 percent from 2024 to 2026;

o   A requested 12.5 percent rate increase in 2024, which would have been significantly higher in the absence of the proposed deferral of expenditures;

o   The requested extension of the levelization period of the Revenue Deficiency Deferral Account; and

o   A 57 percent increase in operating and maintenance expenditures.

BCOAPO also notes that Corix did not allege any duplication of effort by BCOAPO and RCIA, which would typically be a reason for the BCUC to consider reducing cost awards.^[11]

 

RCIA did not file reply comments.

 

Panel Determination

The Panel has evaluated RCIA and BCOAPO’s PCA applications in accordance with Section 36.01 of the Rules. We find that RCIA and BCOAPO have contributed to a better understanding by the BCUC in the proceeding. The requested amounts are reasonable and properly incurred, given the complexity and significance of the issues in the BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA proceeding. These included the potential range of rate increases, the extension of the Revenue Deficiency Deferral Account recovery period, and the size of increases in operating and maintenance expenditures. Given the scope and depth of these matters, amongst others, the Panel finds that RCIA and BCOAPO’s PCA requests are reasonable and commensurate with the resources necessary to effectively participate in the proceeding. Moreover, the Panel is not persuaded that comparing this proceeding’s PCA amounts against those in the BMDEU 2020-2023 RRRA proceeding is appropriate, in part because RCIA did not participate in the last proceeding.

 

Accordingly, the Panel grants PCA amounts of $10,532.81 to RCIA and $22,274.84 to BCOAPO, inclusive of applicable taxes. Corix is directed to reimburse RCIA and BCOAPO in a timely manner.

The Panel denies Corix’s proposal to allocate PCA costs solely to UniverCity customers. We find that some of the issues addressed by RCIA and BCOAPO, including forecast operating and maintenance costs, treatment of ash disposal costs, and the establishment of new deferral accounts for UniverCity and SFU, were canvassed for Corix’s utility as a whole, not only UniverCity. In a proceeding with multiple interveners representing different interests, PCA costs are typically not charged back to a specific customer or customer groups. Further, Corix submitted a single application seeking rate approvals and deferral accounts affecting both UniverCity and SFU, with some issues in the proceeding related to shared costs and cost allocation. Therefore, we are not convinced by Corix’s arguments that the PCA amounts for RCIA and BCOAPO should be charged solely to UniverCity customers for the BMDEU 2024-2025 RRRA proceeding.

 

 

Dated at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this            13^th            day of February 2025.

 

 

Electronically signed by Carolann Brewer

_________________________________

C. M. Brewer

Panel Chair

 

 

Electronically signed by Wendy Royle

_________________________________

W. E. Royle

Commissioner