Toronto: APPrO recently submitted comments to the Ontario Energy Board as part of a proceeding designed to finalize amendments to certain codes that will facilitate regional planning. The changes proposed by the OEB are the result of a consultation process with industry that began in 2011 and culminated in the Board establishing the Planning Process Working Group, to create a more structured regional planning process for Ontario.
![Proposed timelines for regulated entities and the OPA in Regional Planning: The Ontario Energy Board is developing changes to the TSC and DSC and the OPA’s licence to support the industry-developed regional planning process. As shown in the chart above, if an Integrated Regional Resource Plan (IRRP) is deemed necessary in a given region, then the OPA would have one year to develop the IRRP through their consultative processes. Following that, solution-specific initiatives, such as generation, conservation and wires solutions will be planned and executed, once a Regional Infrastructure Planning process is completed to fully develop the wires solutions. It is currently proposed that the lead transmitter in a region will take six months to complete a Regional Infrastructure Planning process. The chart above was intended to depict OEB proposals as of July 2013 and may differ from the final code and licence amendments issued by the Board. (See also “Board proposes code changes for regional planning,” IPPSO FACTO, June 2013. Dx [H] - Host Distributor Dx [E] - Embedded Distributor Dx [L] - Lead Distributor (monitoring only Tx [L] - Lead Transmitter Tx - Other Transmitter Note 1: When RP is not finalized, a Planning Status letter is provided to Dx within 30 days of the request. Note 2: OPA Responsibilities - Scoping Outcome Report / IRRP - Illustrative & identified so entire process can be set out. Final timelines to be determined in licence amendment hearing process. General note: this chart is intended to provide a high level overview to show how the process and timelines in the Proposed Code Amendments fit together. It is not possible to reflect all proposed timelines. This chart should be used as a guide and the official Notice and Proposed Code Amendments should be relied upon.](/images/magazine/stories/1308/regional_planning_chart.png "Proposed timelines for regulated entities and the OPA in Regional Planning: The Ontario Energy Board is developing changes to the TSC and DSC and the OPA’s licence to support the industry-developed regional planning process. As shown in the chart above, if an Integrated Regional Resource Plan (IRRP) is deemed necessary in a given region, then the OPA would have one year to develop the IRRP through their consultative processes. Following that, solution-specific initiatives, such as generation, conservation and wires solutions will be planned and executed, once a Regional Infrastructure Planning process is completed to fully develop the wires solutions. It is currently proposed that the lead transmitter in a region will take six months to complete a Regional Infrastructure Planning process. The chart above was intended to depict OEB proposals as of July 2013 and may differ from the final code and licence amendments issued by the Board. (See also “Board proposes code changes for regional planning,” IPPSO FACTO, June 2013. Dx [H] - Host Distributor Dx [E] - Embedded Distributor Dx [L] - Lead Distributor (monitoring only Tx [L] - Lead Transmitter Tx - Other Transmitter Note 1: When RP is not finalized, a Planning Status letter is provided to Dx within 30 days of the request. Note 2: OPA Responsibilities - Scoping Outcome Report / IRRP - Illustrative & identified so entire process can be set out. Final timelines to be determined in licence amendment hearing process. General note: this chart is intended to provide a high level overview to show how the process and timelines in the Proposed Code Amendments fit together. It is not possible to reflect all proposed timelines. This chart should be used as a guide and the official Notice and Proposed Code Amendments should be relied upon.")
In a submission filed on June 17, APPrO noted that it supports the OEB’s decision that the Planning Process Working Group remain in place to monitor and consider the need for revisions to the regional planning process based on lesson learned, and that it welcomed more specific plans for the group.
In its comments on the specific changes proposed, APPrO stressed that, “the Scoping Process is in our view a material part of the regional planning process.” Noting that the Working Group report indicated that the Scoping Process would be undertaken by the OPA in collaboration with transmitters and distributors, APPrO’s submission said, “The transmitter should be obliged to provide requested assistance and support to the OPA in the Scoping Process.”
APPrO also submitted that posting of the Scoping Process Outcome Report “for stakeholder / public comment is in our view one of the key and fundamental stages of the regional planning process. It will allow refinement of the report before final decisions are made on whether an IRRP is first required or an RIP process should be implemented immediately, and it will add greatly to the social license embedded in any subsequent plans. While we recognize that the process is led by the OPA, the engagement and support by relevant transmitters and distributors is essential, and they have an obligation with respect to sign-off on the final decision. These aspects at least should be reflected in the TSC (and DSC) amendments.” IRRP refers to “Integrated Regional Resource Planning,” a process used when a combination of wires, generation and conservation and demand management solutions are deemed necessary. RIP refers to “Regional Infrastructure Planning,” a narrower process used when wires-only solutions are found to be sufficient in a given region during a given planning period.
APPrO’s submission also endorsed a Board proposal to extend the period during which connecting parties are eligible to receive refunds for capital contributions in certain situations. For generators who pay capital contributions to connect to the grid, the existing rule obliges later connecting parties who benefit from that transmission connection asset to pay or refund a share of the cost to the initial party that connected, for up to five years after the asset goes into service. Under the proposed changes, refunds would be required for up to 15 years.
The Board will soon be issuing final code amendments once it decides on appropriate revisions to the proposed amendments based on stakeholder input. Those code amendments will apply to transmitters and distributors.
The Board is also carrying out a separate hearing process to amend the OPA’s license, with a primary focus on establishing appropriate timelines related to the OPA’s obligations in the regional planning process including those discussed above. The most notable Board proposals include setting timeframes of up to one year to complete an IRRP process and 90 days to complete a Scoping process.
See also “Board proposes code changes for regional planning,” IPPSO FACTO, June 2013.
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