FortisBC applies to the BCUC for the Okanagan Capacity Mitigation Project

FortisBC applies to the BCUC for the Okanagan Capacity Mitigation Project

Jul 30, 2024

KELOWNA, B.C.-July 30, 2024: FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) filed an application today with its regulator, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), for the Okanagan Capacity Mitigation Project (OCMP). This project is FortisBC's proposed short-term solution to an expected shortfall of gas in the Okanagan by the winter of 2026/27, driven by increasing energy demand in the region from continued population growth, and is in response to the BCUC decision in December 2023 regarding the approximately 30-kilometre Okanagan Capacity Upgrade Project.

The OCMP will help meet customers' peak energy demands in the Okanagan starting in the winter of 2026/27 by developing a small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and send-out facility in Kelowna. The facility will be utilized on the coldest days of the year to ensure sufficient energy can be provided to customers who rely on gas to heat their homes and businesses.

Located next to an existing natural gas station on industrial zoned land owned by FortisBC off Spall Road, north of Harvey Avenue (Highway 97), the proposed small-scale facility will contain six horizontal storage tanks with a total capacity of approximately 1,140 cubic metres of LNG upon completion-approximately 1.5 per cent of the volume capacity of both tanks combined at our Tilbury facility in Delta, B.C.

All LNG stored at the Kelowna facility will be produced at FortisBC's Tilbury LNG facility in Delta, B.C. and loaded into tankers at the loading facility. No LNG production will take place at the Kelowna facility and the tanks are expected to be empty for much of the year.

In the first winter of operation in 2026/27, one mobile tank and three portable LNG tankers will be filled and staged on site in anticipation of extreme cold weather events. If the project is approved, FortisBC plans to begin construction in 2026.

FortisBC is committed to ongoing communication with all affected residents, municipalities, stakeholders, and Indigenous communities about the OCMP, and addressing any feedback or questions that may arise.

To learn more about the OCMP, and to stay up to date on the project, visit the project webpage at talkingenergy.ca/okanagan. Alternatively, interested parties can connect with us directly via email at [email protected]or reach us by phone at 1-888-592-7704.

Quotes:

The Okanagan Capacity Mitigation Project will help ensure we can provide energy to existing and new customers in the region over the short-term while we continue forecasting and planning towards a longer-term solution in the years ahead."

Doug Slater, vice president, Indigenous relations and regulatory affairs

Backgrounder

In December 2023, the British Columbia Utilities Commission directed FortisBC to examine potential short-term mitigation solutions for an expected energy shortfall in the Okanagan, following its decision regarding the Okanagan Capacity Upgrade Project. This included the development of a plan to provide sufficient peak demand to the Interior Transmission System in the event of a 1 in 20-year cold weather event occurring as early as winter of 2026/27. The plan was ordered to be filed for review no later than July 31, 2024.

Media contact

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.