Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.

Decision 2341-D03-2015
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
Harmattan 187S Substation
Facility Application
January 30, 2015
Alberta Utilities Commission
Decision 2341-D03-2015
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
Harmattan 187S Substation
Facility Application
Proceeding 2341
Application 1610353
January 30, 2015
Published by
Alberta Utilities Commission
Fifth Avenue Place, Fourth Floor, 425 First Street S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 3L8
Telephone: 403-592-8845
Fax: 403-592-4406
Website: www.auc.ab.ca
Alberta Utilities Commission
Calgary, Alberta
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
Harmattan 187S Substation
Facility Application
1
Decision 2341-D03-2015
Proceeding 2341
Application 1610353
Introduction and background
1.
On February 26, 2014, Grande Prairie Generation, Inc. (GPG) applied to the
Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC or the Commission) pursuant to sections 14 and 15 of the
Hydro and Electric Energy Act for approval to construct and operate a new substation to be
named the Harmattan 187S substation. This facility application was registered as
Application 1610353 (the GPG application).
2.
GPG’s new Harmattan 187S substation would include the following major equipment:
a) two 138/13.8-kilovolt transformers,
b) three 138-kilovolt circuit breakers, and
c) an enclosure surrounded by a chain-link fence and other substation equipment as
described in the application.
3.
GPG’s new Harmattan 187S substation would be located on the site of GPG’s
95-megawatt Harmattan Energy Centre power plant, approximately 15 kilometres north of the
village of Cremona in Mountain View County, Alberta. The Commission had approved its
construction in Decision 2013-2831 on July 30, 2013, granting Power Plant
Approval U2013-351.2 The legal description of the location of the Harmattan 187S substation is
LSD 5 of Section 26, Township 31, Range 4, west of the Fifth Meridian.
4.
On December 20, 2012, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) filed a needs
identification document with the Commission pursuant to Section 34 of the Electric Utilities Act
requesting approval of the need to provide GPG with system access by connecting GPG’s
Harmattan Energy Centre power plant and the Harmattan 187S substation to the
Alberta Interconnected Electric System.
5.
In accordance with Section 35 of the Electric Utilities Act, the AESO directed
AltaLink Management Ltd. (AltaLink) to submit a facility application to the Commission for
approval to construct and operate facilities proposed to connect GPG’s Harmattan Energy Centre
power plant and Harmattan 187S substation to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System as
identified in the AESO’s needs identification document application.
6.
On January 8, 2013, AltaLink filed a facility application with the AUC pursuant to
sections 14, 15, 18 and 21 of the Hydro and Electric Energy Act, (the AltaLink facility
1
2
Decision 2013-283: Grande Prairie Generation Inc., Harmattan Energy Centre Power Plant,
Application 1608498, Proceeding 1918, July 30, 2013.
Power Plant Approval U2013-351, Application 1608498, Proceeding 1918, July 30, 2013.
AUC Decision 2341-D03-2015 (January 30, 2015) • 1
Harmattan 187S Substation Facility Application
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
application) seeking approval to construct and operate the facilities which AltaLink proposed to
satisfy the need for system access service. Pursuant to Section 15.4 of the Hydro and Electric
Energy Act, the AESO and AltaLink also requested that the Commission consider the AESO’s
needs identification document application and the AltaLink facility application jointly. On
February 27, 2013, the AESO applied seeking an exception pursuant to Section 15(2) of the
Transmission Regulation. The Commission agreed to combine and consider the AESO’s
applications, the AltaLink facility application, and the GPG application jointly as
Proceeding 2341.
7.
On March 6, 2013, the Commission issued a letter to the AESO and to AltaLink
informing them that a decision would be deferred on the AESO’s needs identification document
application and AltaLink facility application, pending the outcome of GPG’s application for the
construction and operation of its Harmattan Energy Centre power plant.
8.
During the period from March through May 2013, information requests were issued and
answered.
9.
On October 29, 2013, the Commission issued a letter advising that the AESO’s needs
identification document application and AltaLink’s facility application would be placed in
abeyance until an application for the Harmattan 187S substation was filed by GPG. As described
above, this application was filed with the Commission on February 26, 2014.
10.
On May 30, 2014, the Commission issued a notice of applications for Proceeding 2341,
which notified anyone who wished to express objections to, concerns about or support for, one or
more of the applications must file such submissions with the Commission by June 19, 2014. The
notice was sent directly to landowners, occupants, agencies and other interested parties identified
by AltaLink and GPG. GPG identified stakeholders within 2,000 metres of its proposed
Harmattan 187S substation. The notice was also sent to companies identified by the AESO as
having the potential to be affected. The notice was distributed electronically to market
participants and registered parties and was published on the AUC website. The notice of
applications was also published in the Carstairs Courier on June 10, 2014.
11.
Two of the mailed notices were returned by Canada Post. The notices were returned to
GPG to obtain updated contact information. GPG provided updated contact information for one
of the stakeholders, whose property was more than 800 metres from its substation, and informed
the Commission that one contact, a company, no longer existed.
12.
In response to the notice of applications, objections were received from ATCO Power
Canada Ltd., TransCanada Energy Ltd., TransAlta Corporation and ENMAX Energy
Corporation regarding the AESO’s needs identification document application. They requested
that the proceeding be held in abeyance pending the Commission’s decision regarding a system
access issue, then under consideration, in Proceeding 2718.
13.
On July 8, 2014, this proceeding was placed in abeyance as requested. The proceeding
was taken out of abeyance effective August 21, 2014, following issuance of the other decision in
Proceeding 2718. On September 23, 2014, the Commission issued a notification of process for
Proceeding 2341, which included direction that the Commission would consider the GPG
application separately from the other applications in the proceeding and that the Commission
would not issue a decision within 180 days of receiving a complete application, as set out in
Section 15.2 of the Hydro and Electric Energy Act.
2 • AUC Decision 2341-D03-2015 (January 30, 2015)
Harmattan 187S Substation Facility Application
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
14.
Several further steps subsequently occurred which relate to process of the applications
other than the GPG application. Of relevance is that on November 21, 2014, the Commission
approved the AESO’s withdrawal of its needs identification document application and on
January 27, 2015, the Commission approved AltaLink’s withdrawal of its facility application.
There is now no application filed with the Commission by the AESO for approval of the need to
provide GPG’s Harmattan Energy Centre power plant and the Harmattan 187S substation with
system access to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System, and also no application before it for
approval to construct and operate the transmission facilities needed for this purpose – as required
by sections 34 and 35 the Electric Utilities Act.
2
Discussion
15.
GPG submitted a noise impact assessment in the GPG application. The noise impact
assessment provided an updated model from the one submitted on November 29, 2012 in GPG’s
application for approval to construct and operate the Harmattan Energy Centre power plant.3 The
updates in the submitted noise impact assessment included the addition of an auxiliary
transformer and three service transformers. The noise impact assessment stated that the updates
did not affect the conclusions of the 2012 noise impact assessment and that the proposed
Harmattan 187S substation is not expected to significantly affect the noise levels in the area.
16.
The existing noise environment in the area is largely dominated by the operations of the
Taylor Processing Inc. facilities, which have a deferred status for noise for its facilities
constructed and in operation before October 1988.4
17.
GPG committed to installing noise control measures when constructing its power plant to
limit the sound level contribution of its facilities to no more than 30 dBA in order for the
proposed facility to have no perceptible increase in sound levels at the most impacted receptor
location.
18.
GPG concluded that the noise emissions from its facilities are not expected to
significantly affect the ability of energy industry operators to achieve the permissible sound
level. The deferred status for Taylor Processing Inc. is expected to end in 2018 at which time the
Alberta Energy Regulator is expected to require the facility to comply with the applicable
permissible sound level, should a noise complaint from the community occur or should
Taylor Processing Inc. want to add, change or amend its license for the facility.
19.
GPG also stated that it had completed a Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site
Assessment which included consideration of soil and groundwater monitoring events as part of
the Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development approval process.
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development approval for the power plant was
granted on August 9, 2013, and was assigned Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act
Approval No. 311030. GPG stated that activities and/or components associated with the
3
4
Exhibit 23.01 in Proceeding 1918 - Noise Impact Assessment Revision 4 - Harmattan Energy Centre, prepared
for Grande Prairie Generation Inc., prepared by Patching Associates Acoustical Engineering Ltd.,
November 29, 2012.
As per AUC Rule 012: Noise Control, a facility constructed and in operation before October 17, 1988, is
considered to be a deferred facility, meaning that it does not have to demonstrate compliance with the
permissible sound level established under Section 2.1 of AUC Rule 012: Noise Control, in the absence of a noise
complaint.
AUC Decision 2341-D03-2015 (January 30, 2015) • 3
Harmattan 187S Substation Facility Application
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
proposed Harmattan 187S substation were not predicted to adversely affect groundwater and soil
resources.
20.
GPG said that its participant involvement program had begun in 2011 for the
Harmattan Energy Centre power plant and the associated Harmattan 187S substation. GPG stated
that through its participant involvement program all stakeholders within 2,000 metres of the
proposed Harmattan 187S substation were notified and that stakeholders within 800 metres were
consulted. GPG stated that a project update letter was sent to landowners within 2,000 metres in
January 2014. At the time of the application, GPG stated that it was not aware of any concerns
relating to the Harmattan 187S substation.
21.
The cost of the Harmattan 187S substation work proposed by GPG was estimated to be
$6,771,571 with a range of plus 20 per cent and minus 10 per cent. No costs were designated as
system costs.
3
Findings
The Commission has considered the GPG application pursuant to sections 14, 15 and 19
of the Hydro and Electric Energy Act. The Commission also considered the GPG application
pursuant to Section 17 of the Alberta Utilities Commission Act.
22.
23.
The Commission finds that GPG conducted a participant involvement program in
accordance with AUC Rule 007: Applications for Power Plants, Substations, Transmission
Lines, Industrial System Designations and Hydro Developments (AUC Rule 007), and notes that
no objections to the GPG application were filed.
24.
In Decision 2013-283, the Commission found that, because of deferred facilities in the
area, the permissible sound levels applicable to the receptor locations affected by the
Harmattan Energy Centre power plant were the same as those for the deferred facilities. The
Commission finds that there is no substantial change from the noise impact assessment provided
for the Harmattan Energy Centre power plant application. The impact of the major noise
producing equipment, including the substation main transformers, was previously included
therein, therefore the noise impact assessment and the conclusions for the Harmattan 187S
substation remain unchanged.
25.
As a result, the Commission findings regarding noise impacts for the Harmattan Energy
Centre power plant in Decision 2013-283 are applicable to the Harmattan 187S substation. These
findings include that the Commission will rely on the nearby energy facility owner’s commitments
to the Alberta Energy Regulator to reduce noise emissions so as to come within approved deferred
nighttime sound levels. GPG committed to install noise control measures to limit the sound level
contribution of its power plant, including the Harmattan 187S substation, to 30 dBA at the most
impacted receptor. GPG stated that this results in an expected increase in total cumulative sound
level at the most impacted receptor of less than one dBA and that such a low increase in sound
level will be imperceptible at the most impacted receptor location. The Commission finds that the
Harmattan 187S substation will meet the permissible sound level at the most impacted residence
and comply with the requirements of AUC Rule 012: Noise Control.
26.
The Commission considers that each of the technical, siting, environmental and noise
aspects of AUC Rule 007 has been met for the GPG application.
4 • AUC Decision 2341-D03-2015 (January 30, 2015)
Harmattan 187S Substation Facility Application
Grande Prairie Generation, Inc.
27.
The Commission further finds that the GPG application complies with the requirements
of sections 14 and 19 of the Hydro and Electric Energy Act and that construction of the
Harmattan 187S substation is in the public interest pursuant to Section 17 of the Alberta Utilities
Commission Act.
28.
The Commission will only grant GPG approval to construct its Harmattan 187S
substation. This will enable GPG to proceed at its sole risk if GPG decides to do so. The
Commission emphasizes that Commission approval is still required for connection of the
Harmattan Energy Centre power plant and the Harmattan 187S substation to the
Alberta Interconnected Electric System. There is no assurance whatsoever that other required
steps and approvals will materialize or not be delayed for however long. This approval must not
be taken or construed as providing assurance of favourable Commission consideration respecting
any subsequent approvals required from it. Therefore, GPG will bear the uncertainty, associated
risks and potential costs of it deciding to proceed with construction at this stage.
29.
Given the considerations discussed above, the Commission also finds the construction of
the substation to be in the public interest pursuant to Section 17 of the Alberta Utilities
Commission Act.
4
Decision
30.
The Commission grants the GPG application in part pursuant to sections 14 and 19 of the
Hydro and Electric Energy Act, and grants GPG Permit 2341-D04-2015 to construct Harmattan
187S substation as set out in Appendix 1 (Appendix 1 will be distributed separately). GPG’s
application for approval to operate the Harmattan 187S substation is adjourned with permission
to renew it upon approval of an AESO needs application to connect the substation to the
Alberta Interconnected Electric System.
Dated on January 30, 2015.
Alberta Utilities Commission
(original signed by)
Willie Grieve, QC
Chair
(original signed by)
Anne Michaud
Commission Member
(original signed by)
Bohdan (Don) Romaniuk
Acting Commission Member
AUC Decision 2341-D03-2015 (January 30, 2015) • 5

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