ORDER NUMBER
G-136-25
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
FortisBC Alternative Energy Services Inc.
Fixed-Scale Thermal Energy System Exemption Application of the Florin Thermal Energy System
BEFORE:
B. A. Magnan, Commissioner
E. B. Lockhart, Commissioner
on June 4, 2025
ORDER
WHEREAS:
A. On April 8, 2025, FortisBC Alternative Energy Services Inc. (FAES) filed with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) an application (Application) for a Fixed-Scale Thermal Energy System (TES) Exemption for the Florin TES, in accordance with the BCUC’s TES Guidelines approved by Order G-48-25 (TES Guidelines);
B. On February 26, 2025, by Order G-47-25, the BCUC granted an exemption to a person, or the person's lessee, trustee, receiver or liquidator, who owns or operates in British Columbia a Fixed-Scale TES for the production, generation, storage, transmission, sale, delivery or provision of heat and/or cold for compensation, with a capital cost greater than a minimum threshold, from sections 28 to 30, 34 to 35, 39, 44.1, 45 and 59 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) for that specific TES. The exemption only applies if:
1. The person files information that allows the BCUC to determine that Order G-47-25 applies to the person’s specific TES; and
2. The BCUC determines that Order G-47-25 applies to the person’s specific TES;
C. FAES identifies in its Application that the Florin TES has equipment in two buildings located at 375 Clayton Street, and 600 Rochester Avenue, Coquitlam, and states that the Florin TES serves the energy demand of a single strata customer;
D. On May 5, 2025, the BCUC issued BCUC Staff Questions No. 1 regarding the Florin TES, and on May 9, 2025 FAES filed its responses;
E. FAES requests that certain information contained in the Application and responses to BCUC Staff Questions No. 1 be held confidential by the BCUC in perpetuity, pursuant to Section 18 of the BCUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. FAES has provided a version of the Application with the proposed confidential information redacted and seeks confidentiality over the entirety of its responses to BCUC Staff Question No. 1. FAES states that the information is commercially sensitive and if publicly disclosed, could reasonably be expected to result in harm or prejudice to FAES’s competitive or negotiating position with other parties or future projects; and
F. The BCUC has reviewed the Application and responses to BCUC Staff Questions No. 1 and is satisfied that the Florin TES, which has equipment in two buildings, constitute a single Fixed-Scale TES, and that the Florin TES is suitable for exemption.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 88(3) of the UCA, and with the advance approval of the minister responsible for the administration of the Hydro and Power Authority Act, the BCUC orders as follows:
1. FAES is exempt from sections 28 to 30, 34 to 35, 39, 44.1, 45 and 59 to 61 of the UCA for the Florin TES.
2. FAES must file with the BCUC an annual report for the Florin TES in accordance with the Fixed-Scale TES annual report form, as outlined in Section C.7 of Appendix C to the TES Guidelines, as may be amended from time to time.
3. The Florin TES may not be extended without applying to the BCUC to determine whether the extension of the Florin TES qualifies for exemption.
4. The unredacted version of the Application and the confidential responses to BCUC Staff Questions No. 1 shall be treated as confidential unless otherwise determined by the BCUC.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 4th day of June 2025.
BY ORDER
Electronically signed by Bernard Magnan
B. A. Magnan
Commissioner