ORDER NUMBER
G-336-19
IN THE MATTER OF
the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473
and
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
General Service Rate Schedules 1205, 1206 and 1207 (General Service E-Plus) Amendments Application
BEFORE:
B. A. Magnan, Panel Chair
C. M. Brewer, Commissioner
E. B. Lockhart, Commissioner
on December 19, 2019
ORDER
WHEREAS:
A. On November 14, 2019, the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro) applied to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) for approval of amendments to Rate Schedules (RS) 1205, 1206 and 1207 General Service – Dual Fuel (Closed) (General Service E-Plus) (Application). The proposed amendments allow customers to make changes to their space, water and industrial process heating equipment, remove the requirement to maintain a permanent back-up heating system and clarify that BC Hydro will not be providing service under these Rate Schedules to any premises beyond March 31, 2023, amongst other things;
B.
On June 18, 2019, BC Hydro issued a letter to
all General Service E-Plus customers to notify them that
BC Hydro will not be providing service under RS 1205, 1206 and 1207 to any
premises beyond March 31, 2023 and all accounts will be transferred to the
appropriate General Service rate schedules effective April 1, 2023;
C. BC Hydro proposes a limited regulatory process where all General Service E-Plus customers may submit comments on the Application, followed by BC Hydro reply comments, if any; and
D.
The BCUC has reviewed the Application and considers
that supplementary evidence is required from
BC Hydro prior to establishing further regulatory process.
NOW THEREFORE pursuant to sections 58 to 61 of the Utilities Commission Act, the BCUC orders as follows:
1. BC Hydro is directed to file supplementary evidence on or before January 14, 2020, with the following information:
• A breakdown of the existing General Service E-Plus accounts between Rate Schedules 1205, 1206, 1207 and the corresponding General Service rate schedule that the accounts are expected to be transferred to on April 1, 2023. For Rate Schedule 1207, please also specify how many customers are farm use.
• An analysis of the estimated average annual bill impact upon transferring to the appropriate General Service rate on April 1, 2023 for each of Rate Schedule 1205, 1206 and 1207.
• A geographic distribution of the existing General Service E-Plus accounts.
• A summary of any feedback received to date from existing General Service E-Plus customers in response to BC Hydro’s letter issued on June 18, 2019.
DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this 19th day of December 2019.
BY ORDER
Original signed by:
B. A. Magnan
Commissioner