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

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
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
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 195
engaged in theft will be identified and the remaining 190 sites will be undetected
representing an annual revenue loss of $3.7 million in 2012. ...
However, it is anticipated that after it becomes clear that FortisBC will not have an AMIenabled
theft detection program (as would be the case with the status quo), the current
deterrence benefit will drop from 75 percent in 2012 to 70 percent by 2017.”
A 2011 study titled “The Nature and Extent of Marihuana Growing Operations in Mission
British Columbia: A 14 Year Review (1997-2010) by the University of the Fraser Valley”
(Exhibit A2-7) states on page 6:
“In terms of electrical theft, this too has increased three fold in terms of the percentage of
operations since the late 1990’s that installed a bypass to steal power. Specifically, as
demonstrated in Table 8, a majority (57 per cent) of [Mission marijuana grow] operations
were stealing electricity.”
85.1 Please describe the FortisBC Revenue Protection Program. Please include in
your description the program's objective, staffing and budget (from 2009 to
2011).
The primary objective of the FortisBC Revenue Protection Program is to identify, recover and
deter electricity theft. The program staff consists of one manager who is responsible both for
the administration of electric theft investigations as well as the administration of third party
contracts (leasing of pole space to telecommunication companies). The theft investigation
activity is supported by one contracted theft investigator responsible for investigating leads on
potential theft sites, invoicing and collecting losses, and attending court as required. The
budget also includes support from a contracted power line technician to assist in after-hours and
underground service investigations. The budget for the years 2009-2011 appears in the
following table.
Response:
2009 2010 2011
$225,000 $230,000 $234,600
85.2 Please describe any expected changes in the Revenue Protection Program and
budget over the next 20 years, under the status quo scenario and under the AMI
scenario.
No changes to staffing or methodology are assumed in the Status Quo scenario, with costs
escalating by inflation.