Rate Protection and the Determination of Direct Benefits under Ontario Regulation 330/09
Case number
EB-2009-0349
Launched
Sector
Electricity
Status
Archived
Details
The Green Energy Act introduced a mechanism whereby some of the Board-approved costs incurred by a distributor to make an ‘eligible investment’ for the purpose of connecting a ‘renewable energy generation facility’ to its distribution system may be recovered from all provincial ratepayers rather than solely from the ratepayers of the distributor making the investment.
Regulation 330/09 sets out the framework for the determination of the amount which may be recovered from all provincial ratepayers. In particular, the difference between:
(a) the costs associated with making an eligible investment and determined to be the responsibility of the distributor in accordance with the Distribution System Code, and
(b) the amount the Board determines to represent the ‘direct benefits’ that accrue to prescribed consumers as a result of all or part of the eligible investment made or planned to be made by the distributor.
The Board initiated a consultation process to address how the Board should determine what constitutes those ‘direct benefits’ and the methodology for quantifying them.