By Bill Andrews, lawyer for BCSEA, and Tom Hackney, BCSEA Policy Advisor
BCSEA is celebrating its 20th year intervening in BC Utilities Commission proceedings. BCSEA has completed some 300 interventions (wow, the time flies!) in BCUC proceedings over the years. BCSEA applies evidence-based policy advocacy to issues within the BCUC’s jurisdiction. The group’s overarching objectives are energy conservation and efficiency, reduced BC GHG emissions, and clean electricity generation. BCSEA also supports low-income customers, and First Nations’ rights and title.
BCSEA’s intervention team is Bill Andrews (lawyer) and Tom Hackney (policy consultant), plus subject-matter experts as needed for particular proceedings. The intervention team reports to BCSEA’s board of directors. Financial wherewithal for BCSEA’s interventions comes from BCUC costs awards that direct a public utility to pay money to an intervener based on criteria and the BCUC’s perceived contribution to the proceeding.
BCSEA was formed back in 2004, when ecofuturist Guy Dauncey realized an advocacy group was needed to champion a sustainable energy transition in BC. BCSEA’s work at the BCUC began at about the same time, as part of a citizen advocacy campaign that stopped a proposed natural gas pipeline to Vancouver Island intended to fuel future gas-fired electrical generation. BCSEA quickly came to realize that the BCUC is a key decision-maker on energy issues in BC and that participating in BCUC reviews of the various filings of BC’s energy utilities is a great way to advocate for a sustainable energy transition.
The BCUC was an ‘insiders club’ when BCSEA began intervening in BCUC proceedings. Customers of public utilities were understood to want nothing more than the lowest possible rates for safe reliable service. BCSEA worked for many years to establish that ratepayers who want the energy they receive to come from sustainable sources have a legitimate voice in the BCUC’s decision-making.
Conservation and efficiency have always been, and remain, at the centre of BCSEA’s focus at the BCUC. BC’s energy utilities are allowed to, and in some ways required to, deliver “demand-side management” (DSM) programs. DSM programs are funded by the utility, and paid for by customers through rates. DSM programs encourage customers to consume less energy – such as electricity or natural gas – from the utility. BCSEA pushes the BCUC to require utilities to scale up DSM spending to achieve “all cost-effective” conservation and efficiency measures. While “all cost-effective” DSM has not yet been achieved, the amount of DSM spending and energy savings has increased dramatically over BCSEA’s 20 years of intervening in BCUC proceedings. For example, BC’s largest natural gas distribution utility had no DSM spending when BCSEA began intervening in BCUC proceedings, and BCSEA recently supported BCUC approval of the utility spending more than $150-million per year on DSM for 2024 to 2027. And the BC government recognizes DSM as a key part of its strategy to meet BC’s legislated GHG reduction targets.
Ever since it began intervening in BCUC proceedings, BCSEA has worked to reduce GHG emissions caused by BC’s regulated energy utilities. For the electricity utilities, this means generating or purchasing electricity only from clean generation facilities. For natural gas delivered by BC’s regulated utilities, the GHG-reduction challenges are more complex. Maximizing energy savings from DSM is essential, of course. In addition, BCSEA has supported BCUC approval of biomethane as a cleaner substitute for fossil natural gas delivered by the gas utilities. And, BCSEA strongly supports BCUC approval of BC Hydro’s low-carbon electrification initiatives. Still, while substantial reductions in the amount of fossil natural gas used in BC are feasible over the next, say, ten years, BCSEA, and many others within and outside of BC, continue to grapple with how to get from substantial reductions to complete elimination of GHG emissions from gas utility customers in the next decades. Neither “green hydrogen” nor “complete electrification” is a complete solution. But what?
Meanwhile, BCSEA is tackling a number of important topics at the BCUC that were miniscule at most when BCSEA started out. Electric utilities are now providing public EV charging networks to kickstart the uptake of electric vehicles in BC. EVs and other electrification measures are driving (excuse the pun) electric utilities’ load forecasts and acquisition of more power. Net metering (typically, customer rooftop solar generation to reduce electricity purchases from the utility and to deliver surplus electricity to the utility) is on the cusp of becoming mainstream after having been the domain of sustainable energy pioneers for some years. Widespread net metering in BC has considerable regulatory implications for both participating and non-participating customers. Thermal energy systems (typically providing space and water heating through pipes from a central energy facility) are expanding in number and size in BC but with significant regulatory supervision by the BCUC. BCSEA is pressing the BCUC to adopt a light-handed regulatory approach to encourage thermal energy systems as low-carbon alternatives to traditional fossil fuel heating.
For information about BCSEA’s ongoing activities at the BCUC, see the Policy Corner on BCSEA’s website.