Orders

ORDER NUMBER

F-8-20

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

and

British Columbia Utilities Commission

Indigenous Utilities Regulation Inquiry

Interim Participant Assistance/Cost Award Application

BEFORE:

D. M. Morton, Panel Chair

C. M. Brewer, Commissioner

A. K. Fung, QC, Commissioner

E. B. Lockhart, Commissioner

on March 27, 2020

ORDER

WHEREAS:

A.      On March 11, 2019, the Lieutenant Governor in Council, by Order in Council (OIC) No. 108, directed the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), pursuant to section 5(1) of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA), to advise the Lieutenant Governor in Council respecting the regulation of Indigenous utilities in accordance with the terms of reference set out in section 3 of OIC No. 108 (the Inquiry);

B.      By Order G-71-19 dated March 28, 2019, the BCUC established a regulatory timetable for the Indigenous Utilities Inquiry (Inquiry). The regulatory timetable was amended by Orders G-110-19, G-190-19, G-214-19, G-240-19, G-269-19, G-282-19 and G-26-20;

C.      Beecher Bay (Sc’ianew) First Nation and Adams Lake First Nation (together referred to as the Applicants) applied for intervener status on June 6, 2019 and June 20, 2019 respectively;

D.      In accordance with the BCUC’s Participant Assistance/Cost Award (PACA) Guidelines, the following applicants filed a joint Interim Participant Assistance/Cost Award application (Interim PACA Application) with the BCUC with respect to their participation in the Inquiry for the period up to the filing of the Interim PACA Application. The procedural steps covered in this time period include information requests (IRs) to interveners on written evidence, intervener responses to IRs on written evidence, and final written arguments;

E.       The following participants filed a joint Participant Assistance/Cost Award (PACA) application with the BCUC with respect to their participation in the proceeding:

F.       By March 19, 2020 the Fortis BC Group of Companies (FortisBC), British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro), and Pacific Northern Gas (PNG) provided their comments on the Interim PACA Application. FortisBC, BC Hydro and PNG did not raise any concerns;

G.     On March 23, 2020, BCUC staff noted a minor arithmetic error with respect to Beecher Bay First Nation’s application and consider the application should be for $26,207.19; and

H.      The BCUC has reviewed the Interim PACA Application in accordance with the criteria and rates set out in the PACA Guidelines attached to BCUC Order G-97-17, and concludes that the Applicants’ Interim PACA Application should be approved and further that such amount would constitute final awards for costs incurred up to filing of the Interim PACA Application. 

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 118(1) of the Utilities Commission Act, the BCUC orders final awards in the amounts listed below are approved for the following interveners for their participation in the Indigenous Utilities Inquiry up to the filing of the Interim PACA Application:

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this                 27th            day of March 2020.

BY ORDER

Original signed by:

D. M. Morton

Commissioner