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
The Commission Panel also takes note of the DSM Regulation which will apply to
Terasen as of June 01, 2009 requiring the Commission to use, in addition to any
other test it considers appropriate, the TRC test in determining whether a
demand-side measure is cost-effective. While the DSM Regulation is not in effect
for the purposes of this EEC Decision, the Commission Panel does consider the
TRC test to be appropriate and adequate for the purposes of this Application and
accepts it as such.
Furthermore, the Commission accepted a portfolio level approach when considering the
TRC ratio. That is, all EEC programs, on an overall combined level, rather than on
individual initiatives or programs, should achieve a portfolio TRC level of 1.0 or greater.
Thus, the cost effectiveness of EEC expenditure is evaluated as a whole, on the portfolio
level, which must have a TRC test of one or greater.
Please refer to Table 10-2 which shows the TRC for the Innovative Technologies portfolio as a
whole including the Commercial NGV Demonstration program for 2010.
10.2.3.1.2.2 GHG Emissions Reduction by
Promoting Fuel Switching From
Higher Carbon Fuel to a Lower
Carbon Fuel
In the EEC Application, FEI and FEVI had applied for approval of funding to encourage the
adoption of natural gas as a fuel instead of both higher carbon fuels and electricity in the
residential sector. The Commission accepted the former, and rejected the latter. As per page
18 of the EEC Decision:
The Commission Panel accepts EEC expenditures directed at fuel switching from
fossil fuels with a higher carbon content than that of natural gas.
We acknowledge that fuel switching was addressed in the EEC Application in the context of the
residential sector, and that this statement did not represent Commission approval to pursue fuel
switching in the transportation sector. (The Companies submit that the approval to do so came
later, following upon the Commission’s approval of the 2010-2011 Revenue Requirements
Application Negotiated Settlement Agreement.) However, this recognition of the benefits of high
to low carbon fuel switching speaks to the Companies’ rationale for pursuing NGV incentives.
Not only does using NGV technologies in the transportation section move customers from
higher carbon fuel such as diesel to low carbon natural gas, but also the principles underlying
the fuel switching and underlying all the Innovative Technologies Program Area are consistent –
reduction of the GHG emissions. Please refer to Section 10.2.3.3.2, which outlines the GHG
emissions reduction in 2010 from providing EEC incentives to NGVs.
Since the EEC Decision was issued, Government enacted the Clean Energy Act (“CEA”).
Reducing GHG emissions in BC is one of the main objectives of the provincial government, as
outlined in the CEA. In fact, the CEA includes as one of “British Columbia’s energy objectives”
SECTION 10: INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM AREA Page 207