FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC) Application for a Certificate of Public ...

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Response:
FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC or the Company)
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Response to British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC or the Commission)
Information Request (IR) No. 1
described in response to BCUC IR1 Q53.4.
53.6 What is not included in the estimate?
All known capital, sustaining and operating expenditures are included in the estimate.
Response:
53.7 What allowances have been included in the estimate?
The estimate includes:
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 115
• Inflation at 1.8 percent per year, on all aspects of the project not covered by fixed unit or
fixed price contract; and
• the contingency allowance as described in response to BCUC IR1 Q53.4.
Response:
53.8 What assumptions have been included in the estimate?
High-level assumptions include:
• Positive BCUC decision by mid-July 2013, ensuring that the contract with Itron need
not be renegotiated or canceled;
• Project implementation begins as per preliminary project plan, in Q3 2013;
• Implementation proceeds as per schedule in preliminary project plan, completing in
Q4 2015;
• Post-AMI manual meter reading for no more than 1% of customer base;
• Customer AMI meter refusals do not exceed 0.5% of customer base; and
• Regulatory costs do not exceed $2 million.
Section 5.0 of the Application contains a number of more detailed assumptions that underlie the
estimate, including discount rates, inflation rates, depreciation rates and assumptions made
when calculating benefits.