FEI-FEVI 2010 EEC Report filed March 31, 2011 - FortisBC

FORTISBC ENERGY INC. AND FORTISBC ENERGY (VANCOUVER ISLAND) INC.
2010 ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION ANNUAL REPORT
10.1.1.4.1 Funding Amount
In the 2010-2011 Revenue Requirements Application NSA, FEI received approval for EEC
funding of $2.334 million in 2010 for the Innovative Technologies Program Area. While FEI was
under spent in the Conventional EEC Portfolio compared to approved levels, there was more
invested in innovative technologies in FEI than was identified in the Revenue Requirements
Application. For FEI, actual expenditures in 2010 were approximately $5.821 million, and
approximately $3.487 million was transferred from the Conventional EEC Program Area to the
Innovative Technologies Program Area.
10.1.1.4.2 Rationale
The two rationales that support the reallocating of funding are: (1) reaching a favourable TRC
score for the Innovative Technologies Program Area; and (2) obtaining GHG emissions
reduction benefits associated with switching the transport industry from higher carbon fuel
sources.
1. The TRC score for the Innovative Technologies Program Area has met the TRC
threshold of 1.0 or greater.
The Innovative Technologies Program Area has a weighted average TRC score of 1.2. Without
the transfer of funds, the programs within the program area would have not been able to reach
the participant levels cited in the Report.
The TRC test “is the ratio of discounted total program benefits to discounted total program costs
over a specified period of time. A benefit-cost ratio greater than one indicates the program is
beneficial, on the basis of the TRC test.” 51 The TRC test does not consider societal benefits -
which can be defined as “effects of externalities, such as environmental implications” – such as
GHG emissions reductions benefits or positive impacts on delivery rates for existing customers
as a result of load building facilitated by the EEC funding. As the Commission stated in the EEC
Decision,
“While recognizing that societal factors have significance, the Commission Panel views
many of these factors as being rather subjective and difficult to measure. …The
Commission Panel does consider the TRC test to be appropriate and adequate for the
purposes of this Application and accepts it as such.” 52
Although GHG emissions reductions are not considered as part of the TRC test, one of the
objectives of the Innovative Technologies Program Area is to reduce GHG emissions, making
its GHG emissions reductions important in context of the overall evaluation.
51 EEC Decision, at page 34.
52 EEC Decision, at page 33.
SECTION 10: INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM AREA Page 178