Exemption Extension – Rule 028 – Rule 002
AltaGas Utilities Inc. (“AltaGas”) applied to the AUC for approval of an extension to its exemption from sections 2.11, 8.6.1.1 and 8.6.5.3 of Rule 028: Natural Gas Settlement System Code Rules (“Rule 028”), granted in Decision 3606-D01-2015, from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018.
AltaGas had originally applied for an exemption from Rule 028 due to a discrepancy in the profiling classes it used for natural gas settlement as compared with the profiling classes mandated by Rule 028. As a result, AltaGas indicated that it would be unable to comply with certain sections of Rule 028 related to the Select Retailer Notification (“SRN”) and Wholesale Settlement Details (“WSD”) profiling classes, and specific sections related to deeming of meter reads.
Subsequently, AltaGas applied to the AUC for an exemption related to its non-compliances for the period between January 26, 2014 and December 31, 2015. In that application, AltaGas indicated that it would become compliant with Rule 028 in three to five years, following the implementation of its customer information system (“CIS”). AltaGas indicated that it would apply annually to extend the exemption until it achieved compliance with Rule 028.
AltaGas submitted that an extension of the exemptions was again warranted in order to avoid, what it characterized as, significant time and costs associated with implementing a temporary solution, and would minimize overall cost impacts to customers.
AltaGas also submitted that it was not aware of any retailer concerns, complaints or issues resulting from its non-compliance with Rule 028 and its exemption extension request.
The AUC approved AltaGas’ exemption request effective from January 1, 2016 through to December 31, 2018. The AUC noted that a single extension, rather than an annual extension would reduce regulatory burden and avoid additional temporary costs.
The AUC expected AltaGas to continue to have regular discussions with retailers in its service territory respecting the continued viability of a workaround to its Rule 028 non-compliance issues that may arise. Therefore the AUC directed AltaGas to identify any new issues raised in discussions with retailers in its annual Rule 002: Service Quality and Reliability Performance Monitoring and Reporting for Owners of Electric Distribution Systems and for Gas Distributors (“Rule 002”) report. The AUC also directed AltaGas to confirm in its Rule 002 annual report that it is still on schedule to be compliant with Rule 028 by June 30, 2019.
Accordingly, the AUC made the following orders:
(a) The AUC granted to AltaGas a temporary exemption extension from the requirements of sections 2.11, Section 8.6.1.1(1)(b), and Section 8.6.3.2, Table 9, Sequence 8 of Rule 028 until December 31, 2018; and
(b) The AUC directed AltaGas to monitor and report annually in its Rule 002 annual report, the following specific items:
(i) The number of pre-final error corrections for profiling classes received in regard to Section 5.2.1(2)(d) and if applicable, the reasons why the manual workaround did not eliminate the pre-final error corrections;
(ii) Any new issues retailers have raised or potential customer dissatisfaction with respect to AltaGas’ Rule 028 non-compliances and any mitigation measures that AltaGas has taken; and
(iii) A confirmation that it is still on schedule to be compliant by June 30, 2019, and to include specific details on the steps it has taken to become compliant.
