Compliant – Transmission Facility Owner
The AUC had originally directed AltaLink Management Ltd. (“AltaLink”) to refile an application for approval of a common set of Terms and Conditions (“T&Cs”) for Alberta Transmission Facility Owners (“TFOs”), and provide annual progress reports on the Alberta Electric System Operator (“AESO”) authoritative documents reform process in Decision 2008-108, and later in Decision 2009-248. This project was undertaken in concert with the AESO’s own Transition of Authoritative Documents (“TOAD”) initiative.
The AESO’s TOAD initiative was completed in June 2013. As a result, AltaLink received approval in Decision 2014-307 to file its 2014 progress report in order to ensure that no TFO T&Cs were missed as a result of the various AESO rule changes throughout the TOAD initiative. The AESO indicated to AltaLink that it required additional time to undertake a review of the various rule changes, and to coordinate such changes with the TFO T&Cs.
AltaLink, on behalf of itself and the other Alberta TFOs, filed a progress report on the efforts to integrate the Alberta TFO T&Cs with the AESO authoritative documents on or before October 1, 2015.
In the application, AltaLink advised that the AESO had completed its review of the T&Cs and authoritative documents, and noted that several provisions may be covered by either an existing AESO document, or by legislation, and noted that several further amendments were planned by the AESO and would be presented for further consultation.
The AUC noted that the information provided by AltaLink and the AESO indicated that changes to authoritative documents were being contemplated that may alter or eliminate several TFO tariff T&Cs. The AUC also noted that the planned dates for consultations on such changes by the AESO would likely occur in 2016.
The AUC expressed its concern with what it referred to as “limited progress” being made with the initiatives, and therefore held that it would not approve the proposed plan to integrate the TFO T&Cs with the AESO authoritative documents. Instead, the AUC determined that it would hear evidence on the status of the process to complete the alignment of the Alberta TFO T&Cs with the relevant AESO authoritative documents as part of AltaLink’s 2015-2016 general tariff application hearing. AltaLink’s 2015-2016 general tariff application is being heard in December 2015.
