ORDER NUMBER
G-195-25
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 August 8, 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 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 British Columbia consumer price index (BCCPI) 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. 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 BCCPI;
F. By Order G-173-25, the BCUC established a regulatory timetable for the review of the Application, which included notification to FortisBC, the filing of supplementary information by BC Hydro, letters of comment, and BC Hydro’s reply to letters of comment;
G. On July 22, 2025, BC Hydro filed its supplementary information, confirming that the incorrect consumer price index values were used to compute the general wheeling service and emergency wheeling service charges in RS 3817 for certain years, which resulted in differences in the overall underbilled amount and the amount that will be back-billed to FortisBC compared to those provided in the Application. The supplementary information included revised RS 3817 tariff pages effective October 1, 2024 for the BCUC’s endorsement;
H. BC Hydro filed a redacted and an unredacted version of its supplementary information. BC Hydro requests that the unredacted version of its supplementary information be held confidential in perpetuity to maintain confidentiality over customer billing information;
I. The BCUC did not receive any letters of comment by the deadline in the regulatory timetable; and
J. The BCUC has reviewed the Application and supplementary information and makes the following determinations.
NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders as follows:
1. BC Hydro’s request to update RS 3817 is approved.
2. The revised RS 3817 tariff pages, as filed in the supplementary information, are accepted as filed.
3. BC Hydro is directed to file an updated RS 3817 with the BCUC for endorsement by September 1 each year to reflect the actual charges for the year escalated by the July BCCPI.
4. The unredacted version of the supplementary information is to be kept confidential due to its customer specific billing information until the BCUC orders otherwise.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 8th day of August 2025.
BY ORDER
Electronically signed by Bernard Magnan
B. A. Magnan
Commissioner