Orders

ORDER NUMBER

R-27-22

 

IN THE MATTER OF

the Utilities Commission Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 473

 

and

 

Catalyst Paper Powell River Division

Application to Change Registration for Compliance with Mandatory Reliability Standards

 

BEFORE:

W. M. Everett, QC, Commissioner

 

on August 26, 2022

 

ORDER

WHEREAS:

 

A.      On July 15, 2022, the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), acting as the Administrator for the British Columbia Mandatory Reliability Standards Program (BC MRS Program), issued a Recommendation for Registration of Catalyst Paper Powell River Division (CPPR) for the functions of Transmission Owner (TO) and Transmission Operator (TOP), effective May 31, 2021 (Recommendation);

B.      Section 125.2 of the Utilities Commission Act (UCA) assigns exclusive jurisdiction to the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) to determine whether a “reliability standard” as defined in the UCA, is in the public interest and should be adopted in BC. On June 4, 2009, the BCUC issued Order G-67-09 specifying that entities subject to reliability standards must register with the BCUC;

C.      In accordance with the Administration Agreement between WECC and the BCUC, dated September 8, 2009 and renewed most recently on July 5, 2019, WECC makes registration recommendations in its role as the BCUC’s Administrator for the BC MRS Program;

D.      Order R-40-17, dated September 1, 2017, approved the most recent version of the Rules of Procedure for Reliability Standards in British Columbia (ROP), which includes Appendix 1: Registration Manual (ROP Registration Manual). The ROP Registration Manual establishes that every owner, operator and user of an element of the Bulk Electric System (BES), as that term is defined in the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Glossary of Terms and adopted by the BCUC, is a candidate for registration with the BC MRS Program;

E.       By Order G-140-10 dated September 16, 2010, CPPR was registered with the BC MRS Program, in part, as a TO and TOP;

F.       By Order R-43-16 dated December 22, 2016, CPPR was deregistered for the TO and TOP functions with the BC MRS Program as CPPR met the requirements for Exclusion E1, as defined in the Bulk Electric System definition adopted by the BCUC;

G.      In the Recommendation, WECC states that CPPR operates transmission lines that interconnect all Powell River Energy Inc. generation to British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, thus qualifying CPPR as a bright-line BES criteria and an I2 Inclusion of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s BES Definition approved by the BCUC;

H.      Pursuant to Section 2.2 of the ROP Registration Manual, Entities may file a response to a registration recommendation within 21 days of the date of the recommendation. CPPR did not file a response to the Recommendation with WECC or the BCUC; and

I.         The BCUC has reviewed WECC’s Recommendation and considers that acceptance of the Recommendation for registration is warranted.

NOW THEREFORE pursuant to section 125.2(10) of the UCA and in accordance with the ROP Registration Manual, the BCUC approves the registration of CPPR for the TO and TOP functions as of May 31, 2021.

DATED at the City of Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, this            26^th          day of August 2022.

 

BY ORDER

 

Original signed by:

 

W. M. Everett, QC

Commissioner