Orders

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473

and

An Application by Summitt Energy BC LP

for renewal of its Gas Marketer Licence

under the Customer Choice Program

BEFORE:               L.F. Kelsey, Commissioner                                          

                                D.A. Cote, Commissioner                                             October 28, 2010

O  R  D  E  R

WHEREAS:

A.    On August 24, 2010, Summitt Energy BC LP (Summitt Energy) applied to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) for renewal of its Gas Marketer Licence (Application).  The Application for Licence renewal included the payment of the $1,000 Application Fee and a $250,000 Letter of Credit, pursuant to items 2 and 3 respectively, of the Licence Requirements; 

B.    The Commission has reviewed Summitt Energy’s Application and relying upon the information and representations made by Summitt Energy, finds that renewal of its Gas Marketer Licence, subject to conditions, is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 71.1(6) of the Utilities Commission Act the Commission orders as

follows:

1.       The Commission issues a Gas Marketer Licence to Summitt Energy for the period November 1, 2010 to

October 31, 2011.

2.       The Gas Marketer Licence is subject to the following conditions which are expected to be reviewed and amended within four months following a review of Summitt Energy’s current compliance matters and its anticipated improvements in its compliance regimes being monitored November 1, 2010 through March 1, 2011:

a.       Summitt Energy will carry out the undertakings as set out in the Application for a Licence to Market Natural Gas dated August 24, 2010 and the Rules for Gas Marketers.

b.      Summitt Energy will comply with the Code of Conduct for Gas Marketers and Rate Schedule 36 of Terasen Gas Inc.  Summitt Energy shall ensure that its employees, salespersons or other representatives of its products and services comply with the standards required of a Gas Marketer as set out in the Code of Conduct for Gas Marketers and Summitt Energy shall be responsible for any non-compliance of its employees, salespersons or other representatives of its products and services.

c.       Summitt Energy will maintain a $250,000 Letter of Credit or acceptable substitute in full force and effect for the duration of the Licence.

d.      Summitt Energy will maintain a Working Capital position of at least $50,000 and a Current Ratio of current assets to current liabilities of at least 1.10.

e.      The Commission may, at any time and without prior notice to Summitt Energy, amend or impose new terms and conditions on, suspend, or cancel the Gas Marketer Licence for reasons the Commission, in its sole discretion, deems and considers sufficient.

f.        The Gas Marketer Licence and all copies of it shall remain the property of the Commission and Summitt Energy will return these documents forthwith upon written request from the Commission.

g.       Summitt Energy will continue to file a quarterly salesperson activity report with the Commission which must be filed with the Commission within 15 business days following the last date of the reporting period.  The report must contain sales activity information with respect to all active salespersons employed by Summitt Energy within the reporting period.  The information to be provided by Summitt Energy is outlined in the MS Excel template, attached as Appendix A to Order A-23-08A. 

h.      Summitt Energy must make contact with a customer within 3 business days, upon receipt of a verbal or written enquiry or complaint and a record of the response, either in writing or as a recording, will be made available by Summitt Energy upon request from the Commission.

i.         Summitt Energy will record and maintain all of its inbound and outbound communications.  The digital recordings will be made available by Summitt Energy within three days of the initial recording and must be provided upon request of the Commission.

j.        Upon receipt of a web enrolment for service, Summitt Energy will forward its written agreement to enrol for service and obtain from the customer a signed agreement in return.  An electronic signature must be obtained from the customer via Summitt Energy’s website, however Summitt Energy must be in receipt of a signed hard copy of the agreement before the customer is registered with Terasen Gas Inc.  All documents must be maintained on file and available to the Commission in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

k.       Summitt Energy will complete a Third Party Verification call, in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Gas Marketers, for all customers who sign‐up for service by internet marketing.  The Third Party Verification must take place after the signed written agreement is received from the customer and before the enrollment of the customer is registered with Terasen Gas Inc.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this          29^th         day of October 2010.

                                                                                                                                BY ORDER

                                                                                                                                Original signed by:

                                                                                                                                L.F. Kelsey

                                                                                                                                Commissioner

Attachment