Review Application – Needs Identification Document
The Livingstone Landowners Guild (“LLG”), a group of landowners located in southern Alberta in the Oldman River watershed, east of the Livingstone Range, applied to the AUC pursuant to Section 2 of AUC Rule 016: Review of Commission Decisions (“Rule 16”) to request a review of Decision 2009-126, which granted approval for part of the Southern Alberta Transmission Reinforcement (“SATR”) project. The LLG requested that the AUC review the decision on its own motion, given that the LLG was seeking relief more than 60 days after issuance of the decision in question.
Decision 2009-126 approved a Needs Identification Document (“NID”) from the Alberta Electric System Operator (“AESO”) seeking approval for the Castle Rock Ridge to Chapel Rock transmission line.
While the AUC declined to review the decision of its own motion, it held that it was prepared to treat the LLG’s request as a review application based on new facts or changed circumstances under section 4(d)(ii) of Rule 16. In this decision, the AUC considered the preliminary question of whether it would review Decision 2009-126 based on the grounds advanced by the LLG.
The LLG sought a review of Decision 2009-126 by questioning the ongoing need for the Castle Rock Ridge to Chapel Rock transmission line portion of SATR. The LLG submitted that the AESO’s original NID application stated that the NID was responding to the anticipated development of wind generation in Southern Alberta, enabling the connection of up to 2,700 MW of wind power over the next 10 year period. The LLG contended that development of wind farms in the Pincher Creek area had essentially stopped, submitting that only 620 MW of the predicted 2,700 MW in wind generation had been developed. The LLG further submitted that low power pool prices, coupled with low oil and gas prices would discourage any projects in the connection queue from proceeding.
The AUC determined that it had previously considered such changed circumstances in Decision 2010-343, where the AUC determined that the AESO’s milestone assessment process for the SATR project were in the public interest. The AESO also applied for approval to amend the NID in question as part of Decision 2014-004, where it noted that “there is a large degree of uncertainty associated with future wind power development” acknowledging that some projects had been cancelled.
However, in that application, the AESO noted that current and future generation would total 992 MW reiterating the need for the project, which was again approved by the AUC.
The AUC noted that some of the concerns raised in the proceeding dealt with routing and environmental issues. The AUC held that facility applications are the appropriate forum for these concerns, and noted that the facility application for this particular line had not yet been filed.
With respect to the grounds advanced by the LLG however, the AUC held that the original hearing panel in Decisions 2009-126, 2010-343 and 2014-004 made explicit findings of fact that the Castle Rock Ridge to Chapel Rock transmission line was needed for a number of reasons, some of which were independent of simply connecting future wind developments, such as improving the reliability of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System.
The AUC therefore determined that the new facts or changed circumstances alleged in the review application were in fact future contingencies expressly contemplated in prior NID approvals applicable to the Castle Rock Ridge to Chapel Rock transmission line. The AUC also found that there was no reasonable possibility that the new facts or changed circumstances would lead the AUC to materially vary or rescind the original decision.
The AUC therefore declined to review Decision 2009-126 outside the 60 day period prescribed by Rule 16, and dismissed the application.
