2013 September - December
We periodically post bulletins here to inform customers of developments within BC Hydro Transmission and/or the industry and/or to solicit feedback on policy changes. These announcements can be time sensitive, so please subscribe for the updates.
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Our Transmission Scheduling bulletins for 2013 are listed below. Select another year to the right to view bulletins from the archive.
View the 2013 bulletins
September - December
Long Term PTP Transmission Queue
Posted on December 23, 1:01 p.m.
The Long Term PTP Transmission Queue [PDF, 94 KB] has been revised. Please refer to the Document Change History section located at end of the document for details.
Extended Windows for New Year's Day
Posted on December 19, 1:04 p.m.
BC Hydro is pleased to visually clarify the opening of extended windows [DOC, 30 KB] for purchasing transmission for New Year's Day, Wednesday, January 1, 2014.
Long Term Competition Process
Posted on December 17, 3:23 p.m.
On 11 December 2013, BCPS submitted a Transmission Service Request (TSR#79062900) with Renewal type to rollover its current contract of 25MW on the BCHA – AESO Path for a term of 5 years (the Rollover Request).
BC Hydro has completed an evaluation of the Point-to-Point Transmission Requests and identifies one Point-to-Point transmission request in the queue as the Competing Request. This Competing Request has met all criteria set out under section 4 of BC Hydro’s Rollover of a Long Term Transmission Reservation Business Practice. Details of the Competing Request:
TSR# 76072649 submitted on 19 August 2011 by BCPS requesting transmission capacity of 25MW for a 6-year term with service starting 1 April 2015 on the BCHA – AESO Path.
Pursuant to section 5 of BC Hydro’s Rollover of a Long Term Transmission Reservation Business Practice, BC Hydro is initiating a Competing Process today, 17 December 2013. Outlined below are the steps that BC Hydro will take to execute the Competing Process:
1. On 16 December 2013, BC Hydro notified BCPS (the Rollover Request customer) by email of its Right of First Refusal (ROFR) to accept a term at least equal to the Competing Request.
2. On 17 December 2013, BC Hydro will offer to BCPS (the Competing Request customer) by email a capacity of 25MW for a 6-year term with service starting 1 April 2015 on the condition that BCPS (the Rollover Request customer) does not exercise its ROFR.
3. Competing Process will continue, if applicable, should the Competing Request Customer not accept BC Hydro’s offer.
BCUC Order on Replacement of S&P Dow Jones Mid-Columbia Indices
Posted on December 13, 3:18 p.m.
Further to the bulletins posted on September 9, 2013 and September 27, 2013, the British Columbia Utilities Commission issued Order No. G-214-13 [PDF, 102 KB] on December 12, 2013 approving BC Hydro's use of Platts Mid-C electricity price indices in certain Electric Tariff and the OATT rate calculations, effective September 13, 2013.
Extended Windows for Christmas Day
Posted on December 9, 3:18 p.m.
BC Hydro is pleased to visually clarify the opening of extended windows [DOC, 33 KB] for purchasing transmission for Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25, 2013.
Submitting and Processing of Energy Schedules-Business Practice Amendments
Posted on December 5, 3:19 p.m.
Further to BC Hydro finalizing its Intra-Hour Scheduling – Transmission & Energy Business Practice (Intra-Hour BP) on November 8, 2013, BC Hydro has amended its Submitting Energy Schedules [PDF, 479 KB] and Processing of Energy Schedules [PDF, 363 KB] Business Practices to include appropriate references to the Intra-Hour BP. BC Hydro has also taken this opportunity to simplify and update the current language of these Business Practices, as well as correct references and typographical errors and to better align the language amongst the Business Practices. Please provide your comments on the Submitting Energy Schedules and Processing of Energy Schedules Business Practices to Brenda Ambrosi by December 20, 2013. The final Business Practices will be posted shortly thereafter.
Notice of Headroom Tariff Consultation Workshop
Posted on December 2, 3:13 p.m.
BC Hydro is holding a workshop on January 20, 2014, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. to engage its stakeholders regarding a tariff to be filed with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) which would allow BC Hydro to charge the AESO for its use of BC Hydro’s transmission system to enable flows of energy to Alberta for AESO's operational needs.For details, please go to the Workshops & Presentations section.
FERC’s Clarification on Transmission Service Curtailment Methodology
Posted on November 29 , 3:22 p.m.
On September 12, 2013, FERC issued an order [PDF,33 KB] that determined that the use of a last-in, first-out curtailment methodology among similarly situated firm or non-firm transmission customers is discriminatory and is not an acceptable curtailment approach. FERC further clarified that curtailment of similarly situated firm or non-firm transmission customers on a pro rata basis is an acceptable, non-discriminatory curtailment approach.
BC Hydro currently curtails its non-firm transmission customers using last-in, first-out methodology consistent with the practice of other transmission providers within the Western Interconnection that use the same scheduling software as BC Hydro. In response to the FERC Order, BC Hydro is working with industry and the vendor of the scheduling software to implement the functionality required to curtail similarly situated non-firm transmission customers on a pro rata basis. BC Hydro expects the necessary software upgrade to be completed in the fall of 2014. BC Hydro's Curtailment of Transmission and Energy Business Practice will be revised prior to the software implementation.
MODS System Outage – OVER
Posted on November 19, 3:20 p.m.
Further to the bulletin posted on November 8, we are pleased to advise OATT Transmission Customers that the MODS system outage concluded early and is now over. TSRs and E-Tags will resume automatic processing. Thank you for your support and patience.
Extended Windows for US Thanksgiving Day
Posted on November 13, 3:22 p.m.
BC Hydro is pleased to visually clarify the opening of extended windows [DOC, 52 KB] for purchasing transmission for US Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 2013.
MODS System Outage – Deferred to November 19
Posted on November 8, 3:14 p.m.
Further to the bulletin posted on October 31, 2013, the MODS system outage is delayed until November 19, 2013 from 15:00 PPT to 16:30 PPT. During the outage time Transmission Service Requests (TSRs) and E-Tags submitted on OASIS and WebTag will be manually processed. To mitigate the impact of this outage, we ask customers to schedule around this time period. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you, in advance, for your cooperation regarding this matter.
FERC Order No. 764 Intra-Hour Business Practice
Posted on November 8, 1:03 p.m.
Further to the bulletins posted on July 19, September 13, October 16, and November 1, 2013, BC Hydro has finalized its Intra-Hour Scheduling – Transmission & Energy Business Practice [PDF, 363 KB] , which adopts FERC's 15 minute scheduling reform effective 12:00 PPT on November 12, 2013.
BCUC Order No. G-180-13: approval of BC Hydro FERC Order No.764 OATT Amendments
Posted on November 1, 3:06 p.m.
Further to the bulletins posted on July 19, 2013, September 13, 2013, and October 16, 2013, the BCUC approved BC Hydro's application to amend the OATT to maintain comparability to the FERC pro forma OATT as reformed under FERC Orders No. 764, 764-A, and 764-B including:
Amendments to section 13.8 – Scheduling of Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service and section 14.6 - Scheduling of Non-Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service to offer intra-hour scheduling and allowing the adjustment of transmission schedules within the hour; and
Amendments to Attachment M-1 Appendix 5 – Standard Generator Interconnection Agreement to define ‘Variable Energy Resource’ and to require interconnection customers whose generating facilities are VERs to provide meteorological and forced outage data to BC Hydro to the extent such information is required for power production forecasting.
On October 31, 2013, the BCUC issued Order G-180-13 approving the above amendments.
MODS System Outage November 12, 2013 from 15:00 – 16:30 PPT
Posted on October 31, 3:17 p.m.
Please be advised that there will be a MODS System outage from 15:00 PPT to 16:30 PPT on November 12, 2013. During the outage time Transmission Service Requests (TSRs) and E-Tags submitted on OASIS and WebTag will be manually processed. To mitigate the impact of this outage, we ask customers to schedule around this time period. We apologize for the impact and thank you, in advance, for your cooperation regarding this matter.
Extended Windows for Remembrance Day
Posted on October 29, 1:05 p.m.
BC Hydro is pleased to visually clarify the opening of extended windows [DOC, 45 KB] for purchasing transmission for Remembrance Day, Monday, November 11, 2013.
Clarification of a capacity allocation for Redirect TSR
Posted on October 18, 1:03 p.m.
Further to the bulletin posted on Oct 8, 2013, BC Hydro did not receive any comments on the proposed revision. Therefore, BC Hydro is posting the final Redirect of a Transmission Reservation [PDF, 291 KB] Business Practice
FERC Order No.764 Business Practice Amendments
Posted on October 16, 3:14 p.m.
Further to the bulletins posted on July 18, and September 13, 2013, and in accordance with FERC Order Nos. 764, 764-A, and 764-B, BC Hydro Grid Operations has amended its Intra-Hour Scheduling – Transmission & Energy Business Practice [PDF, 390 KB], which adopts FERC’s 15 minute scheduling reform effective November 12, 2013. Please provide your comments on this amended Business Practice to Brenda Ambrosi by October 30, 2013. The final Business Practice will be posted by November 12, 2013.
Clarification of Capacity Allocation for Redirect TSR
Posted on October 8, 3:19 p.m.
In 2012, NAESB ratified two new standards to clarify that in evaluating both firm and non-firm redirect requests, transmission providers may credit the redirect request with the ATC encumbered by the parent reservation that is also needed by the redirect request. To align with NAESB, BC Hydro has reviewed its Business Practices and determined that an amendment to its Redirect of a Transmission Reservation [PDF, 465 KB] Business Practice is needed to reflect this clarification. The draft amendment to the Business Practice is available for review and comment. Please provide any comments on the proposed Business Practice amendment to Chris Yoo by October 15, 2013. Unless BC Hydro determines that further process is required as a result of customer comments, BC Hydro will post its final Business Practice by October 18, 2013.
BCUC Regulatory Timetable: Price Indices Replacement OATT Amendments
Posted on September 27, 12:56 p.m.
Further to the bulletin posted on September 9, 2013, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (Commission) issued Order No. G-156-13 on September 26, 2013 that permits BC Hydro to use the Platts Mid-C electricity price indices in the Electric Tariff and the OATT rate calculations, on an interim basis, effective September 13, 2013 until such time as the Commission renders a final decision on BC Hydro’s Application. A written regulatory process is established in this Order to review BC Hydro’s proposal to amend the Electric Tariff and the OATT due to the discontinuation of electricity price indices published by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. The Regulatory Timetable is attached as Appendix A to the Order.
BCUC Regulatory Timetable: BC Hydro FERC Order No. 764 OATT Amendments
Posted on September 13, 1:01 p.m.
Further to the bulletin posted on July 19, 2013, BC Hydro filed an Application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission on September 6, 2013 for approval of amendments to BC Hydro's OATT to maintain comparability to the pro forma OATT as reformed under FERC Order Nos. 764 and 764A including:
offering intra-hour scheduling and allowing the adjustment of transmission schedules within the hour; and
requiring interconnection customers whose generating facilities are Variable Energy Resources to provide meteorological and forced outage data to BC Hydro to the extent such information is required for power production forecasting.
On September 12, the Commission issued Order G-146-13 [PDF, 291 KB] establishing a written comment process.
OATT Application to Replace S&P Dow Jones Mid Columbia Indices
Posted on September 9, 1:00 p.m.
BC Hydro advises that it has filed an Application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission for approval of amendments to BC Hydro's Electric Tariff and OATT to reflect the discontinuation of the S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (SPDJI) U.S. Electricity Price Indices that are used to calculate certain rates under each of the tariffs (Application).
Effective after the close of business on Friday, September 13, 2013, SPDJI will no longer calculate the Dow Jones U.S. Hourly Electricity Indices. In the Application, BC Hydro proposes that all references to the SPDJI Mid Columbia (MidC) Electricity Price Indices for high load hours (HLH), low load hours (LLH) and Sundays and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) holidays be replaced with the equivalent index published by Platts, McGraw Hill Financial (Platts) as follows:
Electric Tariff:
1. RS 1253 – Distribution Service – IPP Station Service. BC Hydro proposes to amend RS 1253 to replace all references in the energy charge rate calculation from the "Dow Jones MidC Firm Electricity Price Index" for HLH and LLH with the Platts MidC Firm onpeak (HLH) and Firm offpeak (LLH) daily price indices.
2. RS 1853 – Transmission Service – IPP Station Service. BC Hydro proposes to amend the RS 1853 to replace all references in the energy charge rate calculation from the "Dow Jones MidC Firm Electricity Price" Index for HLH and LLH with the Platts MidC Firm onpeak (HLH) and Firm offpeak (LLH) daily price indices.
3. TS 54 Modified Demand Agreement – RS 1852. BC Hydro proposes to amend the definition of "MidC Price" in section 1.1 (c) to replace the "Dow Jones MidC Firm Electricity Price Index" for HLH with the Platts MidC Firm onpeak (HLH) daily price indices.
OATT
4. Energy Imbalance Service. BC Hydro proposes to amend RS 06 to replace all references in the Energy Imbalance rate calculations to the "Dow Jones Firm Daily MidC Index" for HLH, LLH or Sundays and NERC Holidays with Platts MidC Firm onpeak (HLH), Firm offpeak (LLH), and Firm Sunday and NERC Holiday daily price indices
5. RS 09 – Loss Compensation Service (LCS). BC Hydro proposes to amend RS 09 to replace all references in the LCS sell price rate calculations to the "Dow Jones Firm Daily Mid Columbia Index" for HLH, LLH or Sundays and NERC Holidays with Platts MidC Firm onpeak (HLH), Firm offpeak (LLH), and Firm Sunday and NERC Holiday daily price indices
6. TS 80: Network Economy – BC Hydro proposes to amend TS 80 section 2 (c)(i) and (ii) to replace the references to the "MidC Heavy Load Hour price" and "MidC Light Load Hour price", "as reported by Dow Jones", with Platts MidC Firm onpeak (HLH) and Firm offpeak (LLH) daily price indices.
7. BC Hydro also proposes to replace the reference to "… CME Group Index Services LLC, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and their respective affiliates…" in Attachment A section 10.4 with "…any index publishing services firms or their respective affiliates that are identified in the Open Access Transmission Tariff, including its schedules, and supplements.
8. BC Hydro also proposes to replace the reference to "… CME Group Index Services LLC, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and their respective affiliates…" in Attachment B section 9(c) with "…any index publishing services firms or their respective affiliates that are identified in the Open Access Transmission Tariff, including
Blacklined versions of affected tariff pages are as follows:
1. Electric Tariff: A1_Electric_Tariff_Pages_BL.pdf [PDF, 78 KB]
2. OATT: B1_OATT_Pages_BL.pdf [PDF, 86 KB]
Loss Compensation Results - September 6, 2013
Posted on September 5 , 3:22 p.m.
BC Hydro is experiencing technical difficulties which has impacted the posting of the Loss Compensation Actuals for September 6, 2013. Therefore we are posting the results for September 6, 2013 to lessen the inconvenience to customers. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.