Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-173-25

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Management Review Summary Report and Proposed Updates to Rate Schedule 3817

BEFORE:

B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

on July 9, 2025

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On April 29, 2024, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed a letter informing the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) of billing errors that resulted in certain transmission customers being under-billed for demand. As part of this filing, BC Hydro committed to filing a management review summary report with the BCUC detailing the review of its billing system for compliance with its rate schedules, and a review of its relevant control processes (Report);

B.      On June 19, 2025, in line with its previous commitment, BC Hydro filed the Report with the BCUC and consequently requests updates to Rate Schedule (RS) 3817 (Wheeling Service – FortisBC Inc.) to address a billing error that was identified through the Report (Application). BC Hydro states that this error resulted in under-billing of approximately $11,000 between fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2024 to FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC);

C.      BC Hydro states that the current RS 3817 shows general wheeling service and emergency wheeling service charges in October 1, 2013 values when the rate schedule was first introduced, with instructions to escalate these charges by the July consumer price index annually based on updated rate information posted on BC Hydro’s website rather than in the tariff itself. The Report found that the emergency wheeling service charge billed to FortisBC had not been adjusted annually as specified in RS 3817 because the updated emergency wheeling service charge was inadvertently omitted from BC Hydro’s website;

D.      BC Hydro explains that the proposed updates to RS 3817 improve the clarity of the rate schedule by specifying the actual general wheeling service and emergency wheeling service charges as opposed to requiring manual billing updates that rely on information posted on BC Hydro’s website. Following the discovery of the billing error, BC Hydro notes that it has, among other things, notified FortisBC of the rate correction on a go-forward basis and updated the RS 3817 rate table posted on its website to include the emergency wheeling service charge;

E.       Pursuant to the back-billing provisions in Section 5.7 of BC Hydro’s Electric Tariff, which allows BC Hydro to back-bill for the duration of an error up to one year for transmission service, BC Hydro explains that no billing adjustment was issued to FortisBC, because FortisBC has not been charged the emergency wheeling service rate in the past 12 months;

F.       To continue to specify the actual charges, BC Hydro proposes to file an updated RS 3817 with the BCUC for approval each September as a compliance filing which would include the actual charges for the year escalated by the consumer price index;

G.      BC Hydro provided blacklined and clean versions of the proposed update to RS 3817 in Attachment 1 to its submission dated June 19, 2025; and

H.      The BCUC has commenced review of the Application and determines that the following orders are warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders as follows:

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

2.       BC Hydro is directed to provide a copy of this order to FortisBC by Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

3.       BC Hydro is directed to provide written confirmation to the BCUC that it has complied with Directive 2 of this order by Thursday, July 17, 2025.

4.       BC Hydro is directed to supplement the Application with the additional information set out in Appendix B to this order by Monday, July 21, 2025.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this      9^th      day of July 2025.

BY ORDER

Electronically signed by Bernard Magnan

B. A. Magnan

Commissioner

Attachment

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Management Review Summary Report and Proposed Updates to Rate Schedule 3817

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Management Review Summary Report and Proposed Updates to Rate Schedule 3817

1.       Please confirm, or explain otherwise, that the rate adjustments based on Statistics Canada's B.C. consumer price index annual rate of inflation for July applied to the general wheeling service and emergency wheeling service charges effective October 1, 2016, should be 2.1 percent as opposed to 2.3 percent and effective October 1, 2017, should be 1.9 percent as opposed to 1.6 percent.

a.       If confirmed, please provide the updated tariff pages containing the revised rates, discuss whether BC Hydro will update the rates on its website, recalculate the total under-billed amount, and explain whether BC Hydro plans to issue any billing adjustment to FortisBC, pursuant to Section 5.7 of BC Hydro’s Electric Tariff, as a result of the revised general wheeling service charges.

b.       If not confirmed, please provide a reference to the source of the rate adjustments.