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
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 252
107.2.1 Are these time periods reasonably similar to that used in the
Future Program Study by Navigant to estimate participant
response to TOU rates? Please explain why or why not.
At page 38 of the Navigant report, the authors note,
We recommend using the BC Hydro CRI results as the impact from participating customers. BC
Hydro is most similar to FortisBC in terms of climate, prices and demographics. As discussed
below, these need to be adjusted for number of participation rates. We recommend assuming
that 20% to 30% response rate is consistent with analyses that show that 20% to 30% provide
most of the response to mandatory TOU programs, and make the voluntary programs (e.g. BC
Hydro, Hydro One) consistent with the mandatory programs (Newmarket Hydro).
The recommendation is based not on a specific set of time periods as an input to the analysis,
but rather on the outcomes produced in the referenced studies. The BC Hydro CRI used peak
time periods reflective of actual high use periods on its system rather than the long HLH time
frames of the Mid-C index.
The BC Hydro CRI used a single peak period defined for non-holiday weekdays from 4pm to
9pm for the Lower Mainland and Fort St. John, November through February and a two peak
period defined for non-holiday weekdays from 7am to 11am and from 4pm to 9pm for Campbell
River on Vancouver Island, November through February. 5
Response:
107.2.2 Are these differences between the Mid-C based HLH prices and
LLH prices similar to the peak/off-peak generation prices typically
seen in other jurisdictions with residential TOU rates? Please
explain why or why not.
A comparison of prices is not possible because neither the FortisBC AMI Application not the
Navigant report use a set of TOU prices as a basis for estimating the customer participation rate
or capacity and energy savings attributable to the introduction of the conservation rate. Rather
than developing a set of rates and then determining an estimated customer response to those
rates, recommendations were provided by Navigant based upon the experience in other
jurisdictions.
5 Conservation Research Initiative Residential Time of Use Rate Application August, 2006