Electricity – Rates
Application
The Alberta Electric System Operator (“AESO”) applied for approval to settle its 2022 net deferral account surplus (“DAR”) of $18.9 million with market participants on a final basis. In addition, the AESO requested approval of a DAR methodology revision to restrict retrospective adjustments to a maximum of five years for future DAR applications.
Decision
To expedite the settlement of the deferral account balance with market participants, this decision dealt only with the AESO’s proposed 2022 DAR. The AUC stated that it will issue a decision on the AESO’s proposed DAR methodology revision on or before September, 29, 2023.
Pertinent Issues
One of the AESO’s roles is to provide system access service (“SAS”) on the transmission system through its tariff. The AESO may over- or under-collect its forecast revenue requirement as a result of AUC decisions that impact the transmission facilities owners’ tariffs. The AESO has a deferral account for the over- or under-collected revenue requirement to ensure that no profit or loss results from its operation on an annual basis. This application sought approval to reconcile the AESO’s revenue and costs through the deferral account.
The AESO provided a list of the reconciliations performed in past DAR applications, and outlined the relevant AUC decisions that affected prior years by a significant amount. The AUC accepted the calculation of the net deferral account surplus of $18.9 million, as submitted by the AESO. This included the one-time collection or refund as required for each settlement point and/or market participant, on a final basis.
