O. Reg. 451/21: EXPANSION OF NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

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ontario regulation 451/21

made under the

Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998

Made: April 15, 2021
Filed: June 8, 2021
Published on e-Laws: June 8, 2021
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: June 26, 2021

Amending O. Reg. 24/19

(EXPANSION OF NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS)

1. Section 2 of Ontario Regulation 24/19 is revoked and the following substituted:

Qualifying investment

2. (1) Subject to subsection (2), for the purposes of the definition of “qualifying investment” in subsection 36.2 (1) of the Act, an investment is a qualifying investment if it is in respect of a project,

(a)  that is listed in,

(i)  Column 1 of the Table to Schedule 1, located as described opposite the project in Column 2 of the Table to Schedule 1, or

(ii)  Column 1 of the Table to Schedule 2, located as described opposite the project in Column 2 of the Table to Schedule 2; and

(b)  in respect of which the gas distributor has obtained all necessary approvals from the Board to authorize the expansion of a natural gas distribution system.

(2) The following rules apply to any project listed in Column 1 of the Table to Schedule 2 that requires a Board order under section 96 of the Act granting leave to construct a hydrocarbon line:

1.  If the gas distributor fails to apply for the Board order on or before December 31, 2025, investments in the project are no longer eligible to be qualifying investments.

2.  If the gas distributor applies for and receives the Board order but the leave to construct is terminated because construction of the hydrocarbon line has not commenced within the time specified in the order, subject to any further time extensions by the Board, any investments in the project are no longer qualifying investments.

3.  If the gas distributor applies for and receives the Board order but the Board notifies the gas distributor that the order has been revoked, any investments in the project are no longer qualifying investments.

(3) The Board shall provide the gas distributor and the IESO with notice as soon as reasonably possible,

(a)  if investments in a project are no longer eligible to be qualifying investments due to the application of paragraph 1 of subsection (2); or

(b)  if investments in a project are no longer qualifying investments due to the application of paragraph 2 or 3 of subsection (2).

2. Section 4 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(2) Every gas distributor that is making a qualifying investment in one or more projects listed in Column 1 of the Table to Schedule 2 shall establish one or more variance accounts for the purpose of tracking amounts distributed to them by the IESO under this Regulation in respect of the gas distributor’s projects listed in Column 1 of the Table to Schedule 2.

3. (1) Paragraph 1 of subsection 5 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Schedule 1 opposite” and substituting “Schedule 1 or 2, as applicable, opposite”.

(2) The definition of variable “B” in the formula set out in subparagraph 3 i of subsection 5 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Schedule 1” and substituting “Schedule 1 or 2, as applicable”.

(3) The definition of variable “G” in the formula set out in subparagraph 3 ii of subsection 5 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “section 4” and substituting “subsection 4 (1)”.

4. Subsection 6 (5) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Schedule 1 has” and substituting “Schedule 1 or 2, as applicable, has”.

5. Section 7 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

IESO to distribute amounts collected

7. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), once the IESO receives confirmation from the Board that the necessary approvals referred to in subsection 2 (1) have been obtained in respect of a project in respect of which a qualifying investment is made, the IESO shall distribute to the applicable gas distributor the amount of compensation to which it is entitled under subsection 36.2 (3) of the Act for each fiscal quarter, calculated in accordance with section 5 of this Regulation.

(2) If the IESO receives notice under clause 2 (3) (a) that an investment in a gas distributor’s project is no longer eligible to be a qualifying investment, any amounts remitted to the IESO under subsection 6 (4) which were originally allocated for distribution in respect of that project under subsection (1) are deemed, for the purposes of section 8, to be amounts of rate reduction that exceed the amount required to compensate gas distributors.

(3) If the IESO receives notice under clause 2 (3) (b) that investments in a gas distributor’s project are no longer qualifying investments, the IESO shall immediately cease distributing compensation under subsection (1) in respect of the project.

Remittance to the IESO if investments are no longer qualifying investments

7.1 (1) A gas distributor that receives notice under subsection 2 (3) that investments in their project are no longer qualifying investments shall remit to the IESO any amounts it received from the IESO under subsection 7 (1) in respect of the project.

(2) The amounts must be remitted to the IESO within 30 days after the day the gas distributor received the notice.

(3) Any amounts remitted to the IESO under this section are deemed, for the purposes of section 8, to be amounts of rate reduction that exceed the amount required to compensate gas distributors.

6. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

Quarterly reports for Sched. 2 projects

10.1 (1) Every gas distributor that is making a qualifying investment in respect of a project set out in the Table to Schedule 2 shall provide a quarterly report in accordance with this section to the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines.

(2) A quarterly report must be provided on or before January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 in each year up until the final report date of January 1, 2027.

(3) The quarterly reports must include the following information in respect of each of the projects:

1.  The status of any community consultations undertaken by the gas distributor in respect of the project.

2.  The expected timeline for the filing of an application for leave to construct a hydrocarbon line under section 90 of the Act, if such an application is required.

3.  Progress updates on every necessary approval and permit for the project other than the leave to construct referred to in paragraph 2.

4.  The schedule for construction of the project and the progress made in the preceding quarter.

5.  Confirmation of the date on which the project is anticipated to come into service or the date on which the project came into service, as applicable.

6.  The number of consumers in each of the following classes who have been connected or who are anticipated to be connected to the gas distributor’s natural gas distribution system as a result of the project:

i.  Residential consumers.

ii.  Commercial consumers.

iii.  Institutional consumers.

iv.  Agricultural consumers.

v.  Industrial consumers.

7.  The amounts in any variance accounts established by the gas distributor under subsection 4 (2) in respect of the project.

7. Item 9 of Schedule 1 to the Regulation is revoked.

8. The Regulation is amended by adding the following Schedule:

Schedule 2

Item	Column 1 Name of project in respect of which investment is made	Column 2 Location of project	Column 3 Maximum amount of rate reduction, in dollars
1.	Bobcaygeon Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Bobcaygeon and currently unserved areas within the City of Kawartha Lakes	68,029,650
2.	Boblo Island Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Boblo Island (Town of Amherstburg)	1,915,672
3.	Brockton Project being developed by EPCOR Utilities	Throughout the Municipality of Brockton, and in the communities of Elmwood, Vesta, Solway, Glammis, Cargill, Chepstow, Pinkerton, Narva, Greenock, and Riversdale	20,340,000
4.	Burk’s Falls Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Unserved areas within the Village of Burk’s Falls	1,237,071
5.	Caledon (Humber Station) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Town of Caledon along Humber Station Road	5,048,975
6.	Cedar Springs Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Cedar Springs within the City of Burlington	2,517,260
7.	Chute-à-Blondeau Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Chute-à-Blondeau in the Township of East Hawkesbury	4,446,983
8.	East Gwillimbury (North and East) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Northern part of the Town of East Gwillimbury	8,373,365
9.	Eganville Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Eganville within the Township of Bonnechere Valley and along Cobden Road in the Township of Admaston/Bromley	26,169,413
10.	Glendale Subdivision Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Glendale Subdivision within the Township of South Glengarry	2,352,112
11.	Grimsby-Lincoln (Economic Development) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Grimsby-Lincoln area of the Niagara Peninsula	4,295,182
12.	Haldimand Shores Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Haldimand Shores in the Grafton area of the Township of Alnwick/Haldimand	2,827,923
13.	Hamilton Airport Regional Expansion (Economic Development) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Hamilton Airport Employment Growth District and Red Hill Business Park lands	10,331,404
14.	Hidden Valley (Huntsville) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Hidden Valley in the Township of Huntsville	1,899,859
15.	Kenora District (Highway 594) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Along Highway 594 in the District of Kenora, west of the City of Dryden	956,804
16.	Lanark and Balderson Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Lanark within the Township of Lanark Highlands and the Community of Balderson within the Township of Drummond/North Elmsley	12,673,429
17.	Merrickville-Wolford Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	North of the Rideau River in the Community of Merrickville	2,465,037
18.	Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation and parts of the Community of Shannonville in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory	8,080,907
19.	Neustadt Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Neustadt in the Municipality of West Grey	5,128,997
20.	Perth East (Brunner) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Brunner in the Township of Perth East	814,850
21.	Prince Edward County (Cherry Valley) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Cherry Valley in Prince Edward County	5,206,389
22.	Red Rock First Nation (Lake Helen Reserve) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Red Rock First Nation (Lake Helen Reserve 53A)	3,295,103
23.	Sandford Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Sandford within the Township of Uxbridge	4,392,566
24.	Selwyn Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Along 8th Line in the Township of Selwyn	1,674,964
25.	Severn (Washago) Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Community of Washago in the Township of Severn	19,204,171
26.	St. Charles Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Municipality of St. Charles in Sudbury District	6,385,185
27.	Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm and northern parts of York’s Corners Road in the City of Ottawa	376,205
28.	Tweed Project being developed by Enbridge Gas	Unserved areas within the Municipality of Tweed	3,800,656

Commencement

9. This Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.

 

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