Bulletin Index 2008

We periodically post bulletins here to inform customers of developments within BCTC and/or the industry and/or to solicit feedback on policy changes. These announcements can be time sensitive, so please subscribe for the updates.

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Our Transmission Scheduling bulletins for 2008 are listed below. Select another year in the drop-down to view bulletins from the archive.

Title	Bulletin Date
Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Study Report	April 29, 4:45 p.m.
BCTC System Control Relocation to Fraser Valley Office - Telephone Number Changes	April 26, 9:17 a.m.
Network Economy Meeting - Customer Feedback Solicited	April 23, 2:59 p.m.
Scheduling System Outage - Over	April 17, 4:05 p.m.
Scheduling System Outage	April 17, 3:53 p.m.
Market Operations’ Senior Management Change	April 11, 8:55 a.m.
Partial OASIS & eTag System Outages	April 7, 1:15 p.m.
Interim Transmission Rates	March 31, 10:41 a.m.
Extended Windows for Good Friday	March 11, 1:59 p.m.
Update on Transmission Expansion Policy (TEP) Implementation	March 3, 10:49 a.m.
Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Preliminary Report	February 29, 1:36 p.m.
Internet Problem Resolved	February 26, 12:05 p.m.
Internet Problems	February 26, 10:22 a.m.
Extended Windows for New Month (March 2008)	February 25, 3:23 p.m.
Additional Wheelthrough Postings	February 19, 4:50 p.m.
Extended windows for Presidents Day 2008	February 7, 5:52 p.m.
Information Release - Fortis BC Okanagan Transmission Reinforcement Project	February 7, 12:05 p.m.
Bulk Transmission System Cut-Planes, Total Transmission Capability	February 5, 4:37 p.m.
Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements - TIR Supplements	February 4, 1:40 p.m.
eTag Processing Issue	February 2, 1:07 p.m.
Business System Upgrade Project Session – CANCELLED	January 31, 1:44 p.m.
Business System Upgrade Project Session on Feb. 5	January 30, 1:45 p.m.
Posting of Daily Settlements Report and LCS Forecast - RESOLVED	January 25, 2:38 p.m.
Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Preliminary Report	January 24, 1:43 p.m.
The Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Preliminary Report	January 24, 1:42 p.m.
BCTC/OATI Communication Issue - Resolved	January 21, 12:25 a.m.
OATI/BCTC Communication Issue	January 20, 11:50 p.m.
Network Economy Test Results for January 17	January 15, 1:47 p.m.
Posting of Daily Settlements Report and LCS Forecast	January 15, 10:18 a.m.
Preschedule Window Opening	January 15, 9:54 a.m.
Extended Windows for Martin Luther King's Birthday	January 14, 5:41 p.m.
Dynamic Scheduling with Montana	January 10, 6:21 p.m.
Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements	January 4, 2:48 p.m.

Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Study Report

Posted on April 29 , 4:45 p.m.

Please click on the link to view the Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Study Report.

BCTC System Control Relocation to Fraser Valley Office - Telephone Number Changes

Posted on April 26 , 9:17 a.m.

Effective Saturday, April 26 at 14:00 PDT, the real time contact numbers will be changed.

New Contact Numbers at FVO:

Shift System Control Manager (SCM)

Phone: (604) 455-1720 (old number – (604) 293-5824)

PAX Number: 41720 (old number – 45824)

Toll Free Phone: 1-877-577-1720

MSAT: 600-700-2180 (old number – 600-700-3814)

IRIDIUM: 011-8816-514-2665

Interchange Scheduler (Scheduling Desk)

Phone: (604) 455-1705 (old numbers – (604) 293-5822/473-2723)

PAX: 41705 (old number – 45822)

Toll Free Phone: 1-877-888-1705

Network Economy Meeting - Customer Feedback Solicited

Posted on April 23 , 2:59 p.m.

Pursuant to BCUC Order No. G-127-06, Appendix 1, the BCUC directed BCTC to convene annual Network Economy Meetings no later than June 1, 2008 to discuss, on a “without prejudice” basis, issues arising with respect to the use of Network Economy. A standing agenda item for these meetings will be to review the use of, and continued requirement for, a different Trigger Price for the November to February period.

Since adopting the new business practice, BCTC has received no complaint or comment from customers with regard to the use of Network Economy. In order to identify agenda items for the annual meeting, BCTC is soliciting customer input including input on whether or not the annual Network Economy meeting is necessary this year.

Please provide your responses, to the questions below, to brenda.ambrosi@bctc.com by Wednesday, April 30. If there is a consensus that a meeting is not necessary, BCTC intends to seek an Order from the BCUC relieving BCTC from that requirement for this year, and may file the customer responses that it receives as support for that application.

Are there any Network Economy issues that you want to discuss? Please describe the issues.
Are you satisfied with how the Trigger Price is used?
Do you think a different Trigger Price is needed for the November to February period?
Do you think it is necessary to convene a Network Economy Meeting this year?

Thank you for your time and consideration regarding this matter.

Scheduling System Outage - Over

Posted on April 17 , 4:05 p.m.

Further to the bulletin posted April 17, 2008 at 3:53pm, BCTC is pleased to advise that the scheduling system is once again operational. Thank you for your patience.

Scheduling System Outage

Posted on April 17 , 3:53 p.m.

BCTC is experiencing technical difficulties with our scheduling system. As a result, we are reverting to backup procedures. Please refer to Business Practice Section 13.4. We will post an advisory bulletin when the system is once again operational. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Market Operations’ Senior Management Change

Posted on April 11 , 8:55 a.m.

Effective April 14, Janet Fraser will assume the position of Director, Regulatory Affairs. In this role, Janet will be responsible for the development and implementation of BCTC’s regulatory strategy. We want to take this opportunity to wish Janet all the best in her new position and thank her for her contributions over the past 2.5 years!

Also effective April 14, Rohan Soulsby, Director of Business Development, will assume the additional responsibility of Market Operations. The amalgamation of these two departments will allow BCTC to more fully integrate new business opportunities with existing tariff services for customers. As such, Market Operations and Business Development will be renamed and the announcement will be imminent. Welcome, Rohan!

Partial OASIS & eTag System Outages

Posted on April 7 , 1:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, April 8, 2008, from 12:15 AM to 12:45 AM PPT, OATI will be performing maintenance on a variety of its systems. BCTC has been informed that OATI believes this outage will not require the full duration. Most systems at OATI will be down or partially inoperative during this outage. Therefore, BCTC asks its customers to schedule around this outage as we are not declaring a full system outage. Thank you for your cooperation regarding this matter.

Interim Transmission Rates

Posted on March 31 , 10:41 a.m.

Effective April 1, 2008, BCTC has revised rate schedules that reflect the new interim rates approved by BCUC Order G-22-08. The maximum tariff rate will be changing from 5.3 to 5.5.

Extended Windows for Good Friday

Posted on March 11 , 1:59 p.m.

Market Operations is pleased to visually clarify the opening of the extended windows (DOC, 57KB) for purchasing transmission during Good Friday, 21 March 2008.

Update on Transmission Expansion Policy (TEP) Implementation

Posted on March 3 , 10:49 a.m.

Following the announcement of its TEP Implementation Plan in June of 2007, BCTC continues to advance efforts for bringing forward projects under the provisions of TEP consistent with the Government’s Special Direction No. 9.

On December 12, 2007, BCTC filed with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) an application for approval to incur capital expenditures associated with the thermal upgrade of transmission circuits 5L51 and 5L52 (the Thermal Upgrade Project). The Thermal Upgrade Project application is BCTC’s first application for a project to be advanced under BCTC’s TEP and is currently undergoing BCUC regulatory processes. Earlier in February, BCTC filed responses to BCUC and intervener Information Requests and BCTC’s final reply written submission is due by March 14, 2008. A decision from the BCUC is anticipated in the F2009 Q1 timeframe. The Thermal Upgrade Project Application (PDF, 1MB) can be viewed on BCTC’s website.

In addition to bringing forward the first TEP project, BCTC continues efforts to identify and evaluate other potential candidate projects for advancement under the TEP. Following an open Request for Information in summer 2007, BCTC received submissions for and is considering a number of TEP projects that fall under two broad categories: (a) projects that reinforce or expand the transmission system in areas with potential for significant new generation; and (b) projects that create opportunities for increased trade or wheeling activities. For more information on these projects, please see Section 7 of the Thermal Upgrade Project Application on BCTC’s website.

As outlined at the October 18, 2007 stakeholder workshop, BCTC’s intention is to evaluate candidate TEP projects to enable them to be considered, subject to due process and business case justification, in BCTC’s next capital planning cycle. This is still BCTC’s intention; however the scope and diversity of the candidate TEP projects has warranted additional time requirements to complete their preliminary assessment and is causing BCTC to run behind schedule in setting the date of the next stakeholder workshop, as initially contemplated.

Also per stakeholder discussions, BCTC is proceeding with setting up of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) that will aid the evaluation of TEP projects. Proposed Draft Terms of Reference for the TEP TAC were discussed at the Transmission Planning Advisory Committee (TPAC) meeting on February 21, 2008.

BCTC is continuing its preliminary assessment of TEP project submissions. Once this assessment is complete, BCTC will hold a stakeholder workshop to seek feedback on the assessment and determine the requirements for next process steps.

Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Preliminary Report

Posted on February 29 , 1:36 p.m.

Updates to The Wind Integration Projects Stage 1 preliminary report is now available.

Internet Problem Resolved

Posted on February 26 , 12:05 p.m.

The internet problem has been resolved. If you have problems acessing OATI OASIS and ETS, please contact OATI helpdesk at 763-201-2020.

Internet Problems

Posted on February 26 , 10:22 a.m.

Customers may be experiencing difficulties accessing OATI OASIS and ETS due to an internet router failure in Chicago. This may be specific to a customer's internet service provider and is not necessarily affecting everyone. BCTC is not declaring an eTag or OASIS outage since both websites and their communication links with TP's and BA's are operational. Customers may request another PSE that has access to ETS and is not affected by the internet failure to submit tags on their behalf.

Please contact OATI helpdesk at 763-201-2020 if you are experiencing difficulties. BCTC will post an update once we receive further information. If you have questions, please contact BCTC's Pre-schedule office at 604-699-7575.

Extended Windows for New Month (March 2008)

Posted on February 25 , 3:23 p.m.

Market Operations is pleased to visually clarify the opening of the extended windows (DOC, 51KB) for purchasing transmission during the New Month, Saturday, 1 March 2008.

Additional Wheelthrough Postings

Posted on February 19 , 4:50 p.m.

At the request of its customers, BCTC is pleased to announce it will post TTC/ATC offerings immediately on OASIS for the following wheelthrough paths:

W/BCTC/NWUSA>FBCSYS/Wheelthrough
W/BCTC/FBCSYS>NWUSA/Wheelthrough.

Refer to Business Practice Section 5, Table 1 for POR/POD combinations.

Extended windows for Presidents Day 2008

Posted on February 7 , 5:52 p.m.

Market Operations is pleased to visually clarify the opening of the extended windows for purchasing transmission during President's Day, Monday, February 18, 2008.

Extended Windows for President's Day (DOC, 57KB)

Information Release - Fortis BC Okanagan Transmission Reinforcement Project

Posted on February 7 , 12:05 p.m.

BCTC is posting an information release to assist Fortis BC with their response to a British Columbia Utilities Commission information request on the Fortis BC Okanagan Transmission Reinforcement Project (PDF, 11KB).

Bulk Transmission System Cut-Planes, Total Transmission Capability

Posted on February 5 , 4:37 p.m.

BCTC has posted an information release entitled Bulk Transmission System Cut-Planes, Total Transmission Capability (PDF 487KB).

Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements - TIR Supplements

Posted on February 4 , 1:40 p.m.

Please click on the links to view the Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements - TIR Supplements and Comment Response Form to January 4, 2008 Draft.

eTag Processing Issue

Posted on February 2 , 1:07 p.m.

As a result of a technical problem with BCTC's Scheduling system, an eTag (WACM_PWX010493644) change was not correctly processed yesterday, February 1, 2008. This resulted in an incorrect cut to Network Economy transmission (71896390) scheduled for February 3, 2008. BCTC will therefore, reinstate the incorrect cut to Network Economy transmission. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Business System Upgrade Project Session – CANCELLED

Posted on January 31 , 1:44 p.m.

Further to the bulletin posted on January 30 at 4:04 pm, the Business System Upgrade Project Information Session is cancelled due to lack of response.

Business System Upgrade Project Session on Feb. 5

Posted on January 30 , 1:45 p.m.

Market Operations recently posted an event to be held on February 5 for an information session on our Business System Upgrade Project. In this session, we proposed to describe the project that we have undertaken to evaluate our current business systems. Unfortunately, we have not received much interest in this session and we may have to cancel it if interest does not increase. Therefore, please RSVP to Brenda Ambrosi by 09:00 PPT, January 31, if you are interested in attending. Another bulletin will be posted about the status of this session.

Posting of Daily Settlements Report and LCS Forecast - RESOLVED

Posted on January 25 , 2:38 p.m.

Further to the bulletin posted on January 15 at 10:18 am, BCTC has resolved the problem with the posting of customers’ Daily Settlement Reports and the Loss Compensation Service forecast to our website. Again, we thank you for your patience while we resolved this matter.

Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Preliminary Report

Posted on January 24 , 1:43 p.m.

The Wind Integration Project Stage 1 preliminary report is now available.

The Wind Integration Project Stage 1 Preliminary Report

Posted on January 24 , 1:42 p.m.

The Wind Integration Project Stage 1 preliminary report is now available at BCTC Website.

BCTC/OATI Communication Issue - Resolved

Posted on January 21 , 12:25 a.m.

The communication problem between OATI ETS and BCTC's scheduling application has been resolved and we are experiencing normal operations. Thank you for your patience.

OATI/BCTC Communication Issue

Posted on January 20 , 11:50 p.m.

BCTC is experiencing communication issues between its scheduling application and OATI ETS. As a result, BCTC cannot process modifications to existing or new e-Tags. BCTC will update customers as new information becomes available.

Network Economy Test Results for January 17

Posted on January 15 , 1:47 p.m.

The following are the Network Economy Test Results for January 17 where:

PASS - Network Economy reservations for the hour ending will have normal priority; and
FAIL - Network Economy reservations for the hour ending will have Non-firm priority.

Jan-17-2008
HE	US - BC Import Intertie	AB - BC Import Intertie
01	PASS	FAIL
02	PASS	FAIL
03	PASS	FAIL
04	PASS	PASS
05	PASS	FAIL
06	PASS	FAIL
07	PASS	FAIL
08	PASS	FAIL
09	PASS	FAIL
10	PASS	FAIL
11	PASS	FAIL
12	PASS	FAIL

Jan-17-2008
HE	US - BC Import Intertie	AB - BC Import Intertie
13	PASS	FAIL
14	PASS	FAIL
15	PASS	FAIL
16	PASS	FAIL
17	PASS	FAIL
18	PASS	FAIL
19	PASS	FAIL
20	PASS	FAIL
21	PASS	FAIL
22	PASS	FAIL
23	PASS	PASS
24	PASS	FAIL

Posting of Daily Settlements Report and LCS Forecast

Posted on January 15 , 10:18 a.m.

We are experiencing technical difficulties in posting customers' Daily Settlement Reports and the loss compensation service forecast to our website. Thus, we are investigating this issue and we will post another bulletin once it is resolved. Thank you for your patience regarding this matter and we apologize for the inconvenience.

Preschedule Window Opening

Posted on January 15 , 9:54 a.m.

Due to technical difficulties encountered this morning the preschedule window will be open at 10:00ppt. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Extended Windows for Martin Luther King's Birthday

Posted on January 14 , 5:41 p.m.

Market Operations is pleased to visually clarify the opening of the extended windows for purchasing transmission during Martin Luther King's Birthday, Monday, January 21, 2008.

Extended Windows for Martin Luther King's Birthday (DOC, 60KB).

Dynamic Scheduling with Montana

Posted on January 10 , 6:21 p.m.

BCTC is pleased to announce that it can facilitate Dynamic Scheduling with Montana. Refer to Business Practice Section 11.6 (PDF, 73KB) and Attachment O (PDF, 138KB) of the OATT for eligibility requirements, procedures, and energy and operating reserve types.

Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements

Posted on January 4 , 2:48 p.m.

Following the November 7 Technical Workshop and comments received from the stakeholders, BCTC has revised its 2 November 2007 draft Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements. BCTC has posted a new draft, the 4 January 2008 draft Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements (PDF, 225KB), for review and comments. Please forward your written comments to Stephen Tran by January 15, 2008. A final version of the Wind Generation Interconnection Requirements will be available by the end of January or early February 2008.