Orders

ORDER NUMBER

G-68-19

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

FortisBC Inc.

Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

for the Grand Forks Terminal Station Reliability Project

BEFORE:

R. I. Mason, Panel Chair

W. M. Everett, QC, Commissioner

B. A. Magnan, Commissioner

on March 25, 2019

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On November 19, 2018, FortisBC Inc. (FBC) submitted an application to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) seeking approval for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN), pursuant to sections 45 and 46 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA), for the Grand Forks Terminal (GFT) Station Reliability Project (Application);

B.      The Application consists of the following (collectively, the Project):

1.       Purchase and installation of a second transformer at GFT Station;

2.       Removal of 44.6km of transmission lines “9 line” (9L) and “10 line” (10L) between the Christina Lake and Cascade substations; and

3.       Repurposing of the remaining 20.8km of transmission lines 9L and 10L to distribution lines in order to continue supplying power to existing customers;

C.      By Order G-250-18 dated December 21, 2018, the BCUC established a written hearing process and regulatory timetable to review the Application. The timetable included intervener registration, one round of information requests (IR) and further process to be determined;

D.      British Columbia Municipal Electrical Utilities, Industrial Consumers Group, the Commercial Energy Consumers of British Columbia, British Columbia Old Age Pensioners’ Organization, Disability Alliance BC, Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of BC, and the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (BCOAPO et al.), Mr. Alan Wait and Mr. Norman Gabana registered as interveners;

E.       By Order G-43-19 dated February 28, 2019, the BCUC established a further regulatory timetable to review the Application. The timetable included a second round of IRs and submissions on further process;

F.       On March 21, 2019, FBC submitted a request to the BCUC for an eight-day extension to March 29, 2019 in order to file its response to BCUC Confidential IR 2.9.2 as a result of the key FBC staff member responsible for this response being out of the office; and

G.      The Panel has reviewed FBC’s submission and considers the extension request to be warranted.

NOW THEREFORE the BCUC orders that that the regulatory timetable established by Order G-43-19 is amended and attached as Appendix A to this order.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this              25th              day of March 2019.

BY ORDER

Original Signed By:

R. I. Mason

Commissioner

Attachment

FortisBC Inc.

Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

for the Grand Forks Terminal Station Reliability Project