Orders

IN THE MATTER OF

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

and

Pacific Northern Gas Ltd.

Section 71 Filing of Summer 2015 Natural Gas Supply Contracts

BEFORE:               L. F. Kelsey, Commissioner

                                C. A. Brown, Commissioner

                                H. G. Harowitz, Commissioner

                                K. A. Keilty, Commissioner

                                N. E. MacMurchy, Commissioner                              March 12, 2015

                                I. F. MacPhail, Commissioner

                                B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

                                D. M. Morton, Commissioner

O  R  D  E  R

WHEREAS:

A.      By Letter L-46-14 dated August 21, 2014, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) accepted the Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. (PNG) Annual Gas Contracting Plan dated June 2014 (2014 ACP), which covered the period of November 2014 to October 2015 (2014/2015 Gas Year). The 2014 ACP describes PNG’s plan to meet the natural gas requirements for all service areas, including PNG West and Pacific Northern Gas (N.E.) Ltd.’s Fort St. John/Dawson Creek and Tumbler Ridge divisions, for the 2014/2015 Gas Year;

B.      By Order E-26-14 dated December 4, 2014, the Commission accepted for filing natural gas supply contracts for the 2014/2015 Gas Year. In PNG’s filing, PNG also noted that its base load firm gas supply for the period April 2015 to October 2015 (Summer 2015) had not yet been secured and that this information would be filed with the Commission subsequent to the completion of transactions in the first quarter of 2015;

C.      On February 12, 2015, pursuant to section 71 of the Utilities Commission Act and the Commission’s Rules for Natural Gas Energy Supply Contracts, PNG filed executed gas supply contracts for summer 2015 (Application);

D.      PNG requests that the details of the Application and related filings be kept confidential for the reasons of commercial sensitivity and submits that disclosure of this information may adversely affect PNG’s ability to secure the most competitively priced gas supply arrangements in the future; and

E.       The Commission reviewed the natural gas supply contracts, shown in Appendix A of this order, and is satisfied they are appropriate considering market conditions at the time they were negotiated, consistent with the 2014 ACP, and in the public interest.

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 71 of the Utilities Commission Act and the British Columbia Utilities Commission’s Rules for Natural Gas Energy Supply Contracts, the Commission accepts for filing the natural gas contracts shown in Appendix A to this order. The Commission will hold the details of the Application and related filings confidential as requested by Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. as they contain commercially sensitive information.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this      16^th        day of March 2015.

                                                                                                                                BY ORDER

Original signed by:

D. Morton

                                                                                                                                Commissioner

Attachment

Pacific Northern Gas Ltd.

2014/2015 Natural Gas Supply Arrangements – Summer Supply