IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, Chapter 473
and
An Application by British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Transmission Service Rate - Customer Baseline Load
F2009 and F2010 Dispute
BEFORE: D.A. Cote, Commissioner
L.F. Kelsey, Commissioner April 15, 2010
O R D E R
WHEREAS:
A. On August 7, 2009, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) filed its Customer Baseline Load F2009 and F2010 Application (the F09/F10 CBL Application) with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (the Commission) requesting approval of Permanent Adjusted F2009 CBLs and Interim F2010 CBLs under the Utilities Commission Act; and
B. On September 3, 2009, the Commission issued Order G-100-09 and Letter L-68-09 directing BC Hydro to inform each Transmission Service Rate customer of their adjusted CBL as proposed in the F09/F10 CBL Application. Customers were requested to provide the Commission with comment on BC Hydro’s proposed CBLs by October 14, 2009. If a customer had not responded to the Commission by that date, the Commission would conclude that the customer agreed with the CBLs proposed by BC Hydro; and
C. By October 14, 2009, the Commission received an objection from Buckeye Canada (Buckeye) to BC Hydro’s strict application of the CBL Tariff Practices’ facility shutdown threshold during the economic slowdown, stating it posed a particular hardship on smaller operations. Buckeye also appealed BC Hydro’s termination of its persistence allowance (a CBL credit over the lesser of the life of the demand-side management project or ten years); and
D. On December 18, 2009, Buckeye informed the Commission that BC Hydro had issued an interim F2010 CBL and that BC Hydro had extended the persistency of the CBL credit for an additional two years but that the parties could not agree on a CBL adjustment for facility shutdown and that Buckeye wished to dispute the matter; and
E. On January 21, 2010, the Commission issued Order G-16-10 approving the Adjusted F2009 CBLs and Interim F2010 CBLs applied for in the F09/F10 CBL Application; and
F. On February 16, 2010, Buckeye informed the Commission that it has been unable to reach a settlement with BC Hydro on its CBL adjustment and requested the Commission resolve the dispute; and
G. The Commission has determined that a written process is the most effective means to resolve customer CBL disputes. The written process will begin with BC Hydro providing a complete, detailed explanation of its position on the dispute, followed by one concurrent round of information requests to BC Hydro and Buckeye if necessary, a final submission by BC Hydro, if necessary, and a final submission by Buckeye. At the conclusion of the written process, the Commission will schedule an oral phase of argument if the Commission wishes to hear further submissions before rendering a decision.
NOW THEREFORE the Commission orders as follows:
1. A written hearing process to review the customer dispute is established according to the Regulatory Schedule attached as Appendix A to this Order.
2. To protect commercially sensitive information, all detailed information about the operations of the customer will be kept confidential.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 15th day of April 2010.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
D.A. Cote
Commissioner
Attachment
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Transmission Service Rate - Customer Baseline Load
F2009 and F2010 Dispute
Regulatory Schedule
ACTION DATE
BC Hydro submissions on disputed CBL Friday, April 23, 2010
Information Requests to BC Hydro and Buckeye, if necessary Friday, April 30, 2010
Responses to Information Requests, if necessary Friday, May 14, 2010
Final Submission of BC Hydro, if necessary Friday, May 28, 2010
Final Submission of Buckeye Friday, June 11, 2010
Oral Argument, if necessary To be determined