P.U. 31 (2000-2001)
IN THE MATTER OF THE
PUBLIC UTILITIES
ACT, R.S.N. 1990,
Chapter P-47, (THE AACT@);
AND
IN THE MATTER OF AN
APPLICATION BY
NEWFOUNDLAND AND
LABRADOR HYDRO
(THE AAPPLICANT@) FOR APPROVAL OF:
(1) ITS 2001 CAPITAL
BUDGET PURSUANT TO
S.41 (1) OF THE ACT;
(2) ITS 2001 CAPITAL
PURCHASES AND
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
IN EXCESS OF $50,000
PURSUANT TO S.41(3)(a)
OF THE ACT; (3) ITS
LEASES FOR 2001 IN EXCESS
OF $5,000 PER YEAR
PURSUANT TO S.41(3)(b)
OF THE ACT; AND (4)
ITS ESTIMATED
CONTRIBUTIONS IN AID
OF CONSTRUCTION FOR
2001 PURSUANT TO
S.41(5) OF THE ACT.
WHEREAS Section 41(1) of the Act requires that a
public utility submit an annual capital budget of proposed improvements or
additions to its property to the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities
(the ABoard@) for its approval not later than the 15th day of December in each year
for the next calendar year; and
WHEREAS Section 41(2) of the Act requires that the
budget shall contain an estimate of future required expenditures on improvements
or additions to the property of the public utility that will not be completed
in the next calendar year; and
WHEREAS Section 41(3) of the Act requires that a
public utility shall not proceed with the construction, purchase or lease of
improvements or additions to its property where
(a) the
cost of the construction or purchase is in excess of $50,000; or
(b)
the
cost of the lease is in excess of $5,000 in a year of the lease
without the
prior approval of the Board; and
WHEREAS Section 41(5) requires that a public utility
that intends to demand from its customers a contribution towards the cost of
improvements or additions to its property shall not demand the contribution
without the prior approval of the Board; and
WHEREAS the Applicant submitted its application on
October 16, 2000, and on November 21, 2000, filed a revised capital budget and
schedules incorporating changes in the budget since the initial application;
and
WHEREAS on November 23, 2000, the Board
conducted a public hearing to consider the application in its Hearings Room in
St. John=s; and
WHEREAS evidence in support of the application was
presented by the following Officers of the Applicant: Derek W. Osmond,
Vice-President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the Hydro Group of
Companies; T. David Collett, Executive Vice-President, Production and President
of Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation; and David W. Reeves, Vice-President
of Transmission and Rural Operations; and
WHEREAS Maureen P. Greene, Q.C., Vice-President Human
Resources, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, was present as Counsel for
the Applicant; and
WHEREAS Randy Pelletier was present as Counsel to the
Board; and
WHEREAS the Applicant provided details of its proposed
2001 Capital Budget in Section A of the Application; and
WHEREAS the Applicant provided a list of its proposed
2001 construction projects and capital purchases in excess of $50,000 in
Section B of the Application; and
WHEREAS the Applicant provided a list of those
proposed leases for 2001 for which the costs are in excess of $5,000 per year
in Section D of the application; and
WHEREAS the Applicant has estimated the total
contributions in aid of construction (ACIAC@) for 2001 to be approximately $147,669 and
that the information contained in the 2001 Capital Budget (Section A) takes
into account this estimate of the CIAC to be received from customers, and that
all such contributions to be recovered from customers shall be calculated in
accordance with the relevant policies as approved by the Board; and
WHEREAS
the Board has, in
the past, approved a contingency fund as part of the capital budget for use by
the Applicant in emergency situations; and
WHEREAS
during the course
of the hearing it became apparent to the Board that further reporting with
respect to the contingency fund is required; and
WHEREAS the Applicant provided additional
information at the request of the Board after the hearing regarding its
telecommunications plan and the status of carryover projects; and
WHEREAS the Board has carefully considered all the
evidence and comments of the Applicant.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. The
Applicant=s Capital Budget, as set out in Section A hereto, in the amount of
$54,681,000 is hereby approved.
2. The
Applicant=s proposed 2001 construction projects and capital purchases in excess of
$50,000, as set out in Section B hereto, are hereby approved.
3. The
Applicant=s 2001 leases in excess of $5,000 per calendar year, as set out in
Section D hereto, are hereby approved.
4. The
Board will make a determination as to contributions in aid of construction in
2001 when those matters are presented to the Board.
5. The Applicant will present to the Board, in
conjunction with the 2002 Capital Budget application, an up-to-date status
report on the 2001 capital expenditures showing, for each project,
i)
the
approved budget for 2001,
ii)
the
expenditures prior to 2001,
iii)
the
expenditures to the date of the application in 2001,
iv)
the
expected remaining expenditures in 2001,
v)
the variances
between the expected total expenditures and the approved budget,
vi)
an
explanation of the variances, and
vii)
amounts
anticipated to be carried over to 2002 and the reasons for the carryovers.
6. The
Applicant will present a report to the Board on its 2001 capital expenditures
within sixty (60) days after the end of the year 2001.
7. As part of its quarterly capital
expenditures reports to the Board in 2001 the Applicant will provide an
itemized listing of the amounts allocated to the contingency fund, including a
description of the projects, the amounts spent on each project, any future
commitments, and the reasons why there was an exigency requiring the use of the
funds.
8. All costs and expenses of the Board
incurred in connection with this Application shall be borne by the Applicant.