ontario regulation 23/07

made under the

Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998

Made: February 7, 2007
Filed: February 9, 2007
Published on e-Laws: February 9, 2007
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: February 24, 2007


Amending O. Reg. 53/05

(Payments under Section 78.1 of the Act)

1. Ontario Regulation 53/05 is amended by adding the following section:

Definition

0.1 In this Regulation,

“approved reference plan” means a reference plan, as defined in the Ontario Nuclear Funds Agreement, that has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen in right of Ontario in accordance with that agreement;

“nuclear decommissioning liability” means the liability of Ontario Power Generation Inc. for decommissioning its nuclear generation facilities and the management of its nuclear waste and used fuel;

“Ontario Nuclear Funds Agreement” means the agreement entered into as of April 1, 1999 by Her Majesty the Queen in right of Ontario, Ontario Power Generation Inc. and certain subsidiaries of Ontario Power Generation Inc., including any amendments to the agreement.

2. Subparagraph 1 iii of section 2 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

iii. Sir Adam Beck Pump Generating Station.

3. Section 5 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

Deferral and variance accounts

5. (1) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall establish a variance account in connection with section 78.1 of the Act that records capital and non-capital costs incurred and revenues earned or foregone on or after April 1, 2005 due to deviations from the forecasts as set out in the document titled “Forecast Information (as of Q3/2004) for Facilities Prescribed under Ontario Regulation 53/05” posted and available on the Ontario Energy Board website, that are associated with,

(a) differences in hydroelectric electricity production due to differences between forecast and actual water conditions;

(b) unforeseen changes to nuclear regulatory requirements or unforeseen technological changes which directly affect the nuclear generation facilities, excluding revenue requirement impacts described in subsections 5.1 (1) and 5.2 (1);

(c) changes to revenues for ancillary services from the generation facilities prescribed under section 2;

(d) acts of God, including severe weather events; and

(e) transmission outages and transmission restrictions that are not otherwise compensated for through congestion management settlement credits under the market rules.

(2) The calculation of revenues earned or foregone due to changes in electricity production associated with clauses (1) (a), (b), (d) and (e) shall be based on the following prices:

1. $33.00 per megawatt hour from hydroelectric generation facilities prescribed in paragraphs 1 and 2 of section 2.

2. $49.50 per megawatt hour from nuclear generation facilities prescribed in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of section 2.

(3) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall record simple interest on the monthly opening balance of the account at an annual rate of 6 per cent applied to the monthly opening balance in the account, compounded annually.

(4) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall establish a deferral account in connection with section 78.1 of the Act that records non-capital costs incurred on or after January 1, 2005 that are associated with the planned return to service of all units at the Pickering A Nuclear Generating Station, including those units which the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation Inc. has determined should be placed in safe storage.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the non-capital costs include, but are not restricted to,

(a) construction costs, assessment costs, pre-engineering costs, project completion costs and demobilization costs; and

(b) interest costs, recorded as simple interest on the monthly opening balance of the account at an annual rate of 6 per cent applied to the monthly opening balance in the account, compounded annually.

Nuclear liability deferral account, transition

5.1 (1) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall establish a deferral account in connection with section 78.1 of the Act that records for the period up to the effective date of the Board’s first order under section 78.1 of the Act the revenue requirement impact of any change in its nuclear decommissioning liability arising from an approved reference plan, approved after April 1, 2005, as reflected in the audited financial statements approved by the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation Inc..

(2) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall record simple interest on the monthly opening balance of the account at an annual rate of 6 per cent applied to the monthly opening balance in the account, compounded annually.

Nuclear liability deferral account

5.2 (1) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall establish a deferral account in connection with section 78.1 of the Act that records, on and after the effective date of the Board’s first order under 78.1 of the Act, the revenue requirement impact of changes in its total nuclear decommissioning liability between,

(a) the liability arising from the approved reference plan incorporated into the Board’s most recent order under section 78.1 of the Act; and

(b) the liability arising from the current approved reference plan.

(2) Ontario Power Generation Inc. shall record interest on the balance of the account as the Board may direct.

4. Subsection 6 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(2) The following rules apply to the making of an order by the Board that determines payment amounts for the purpose of section 78.1 of the Act:

1. The Board shall ensure that Ontario Power Generation Inc. recovers the balance recorded in the variance account established under subsection 5 (1) over a period not to exceed three years, to the extent that the Board is satisfied that,

i. the revenues recorded in the account were earned or foregone and the costs were prudently incurred, and

ii. the revenues and costs are accurately recorded in the account.

2. In setting payment amounts for the assets prescribed under section 2, the Board shall not adopt any methodologies, assumptions or calculations that are based upon the contracting for all or any portion of the output of those assets.

3. The Board shall ensure that Ontario Power Generation Inc. recovers the balance recorded in the deferral account established under subsection 5 (4).  The Board shall authorize recovery of the balance on a straight line basis over a period not to exceed 15 years.

4. The Board shall ensure that Ontario Power Generation Inc. recovers capital and non-capital costs, and firm financial commitments incurred to increase the output of, refurbish or add operating capacity to a generation facility referred to in section 2, including, but not limited to, assessment costs and pre-engineering costs and commitments,

i. if the costs and financial commitments were within the project budgets approved for that purpose by the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation Inc. before the making of the Board’s first order under section 78.1 of the Act in respect of Ontario Power Generation Inc., or

ii. if the costs and financial commitments were not approved by the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation Inc. before the making of the Board’s first order under section 78.1 of the Act in respect of Ontario Power Generation Inc., if the Board is satisfied that the costs were prudently incurred and that the financial commitments were prudently made.

5. In making its first order under section 78.1 of the Act in respect of Ontario Power Generation Inc., the Board shall accept the amounts for the following matters as set out in Ontario Power Generation Inc.’s most recently audited financial statements that were approved by the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation Inc. before the effective date of that order:

i. Ontario Power Generation Inc.’s assets and liabilities, other than the variance account referred to in subsection 5 (1), which shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 1.

ii. Ontario Power Generation Inc.’s revenues earned with respect to any lease of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Stations.

iii. Ontario Power Generation Inc.’s costs with respect to the Bruce Nuclear Generating Stations.

6. Without limiting the generality of paragraph 5, that paragraph applies to values relating to,

i. capital cost allowances,

ii. the revenue requirement impact of accounting and tax policy decisions, and

iii. capital and non-capital costs and firm financial commitments to increase the output of, refurbish or add operating capacity to a generation facility referred to in section 2.

7. The Board shall ensure that the balances recorded in the deferral accounts established under subsections 5.1 (1) and 5.2 (1) are recovered on a straight line basis over a period not to exceed three years, to the extent that the Board is satisfied that revenue requirement impacts are accurately recorded in the accounts, based on the following items, as reflected in the audited financial statements approved by the board of directors of Ontario Power Generation Inc.,

i. return on rate base,

ii. depreciation expense,

iii. income and capital taxes, and

iv. fuel expense.

8. The Board shall ensure that Ontario Power Generation Inc. recovers the revenue requirement impact of its nuclear decommissioning liability arising from the current approved reference plan.

9. The Board shall ensure that Ontario Power Generation Inc. recovers all the costs it incurs with respect to the Bruce Nuclear Generating Stations.

10. If Ontario Power Generation Inc.’s revenues earned with respect to any lease of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Stations exceed the costs Ontario Power Generation Inc. incurs with respect to those Stations, the excess shall be applied to reduce the amount of the payments required under subsection 78.1 (1) of the Act with respect to output from the nuclear generation facilities referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of section 2.