VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, by Order G-242-20, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) established an open and transparent public hearing process for the review of Parkland Corporation’s application seeking an advanced ruling on fuel price reporting data confidentiality for certain commercial information that the company is required to submit under the Fuel Price Transparency Act (FPT Act).

As the Administrator of the FPT Act, the BCUC is responsible for collecting fuel data in accordance with the FPT Act in an effort to promote market competitiveness and public confidence in the competitiveness of the market. The BCUC encourages participation from affected parties, reporting entities under the FPT Act and other stakeholders, as this application may have implications for other entities. There are several ways to participate in the BCUC’s hearing process:

• Request intervener status: Persons who are directly or sufficiently affected by the BCUC’s decision or have relevant information or expertise, and who wish to actively participate in the proceeding, can request intervener status by submitting a completed Request to Intervene Form online by Thursday, October 8, 2020.
• Submit a letter of comment: Members of the public can submit a letter of comment online by Thursday, October 15, 2020. Letters of comment are intended to provide an opportunity for any member of the public to contribute views, opinions, and impact or potential impact, with respect to a matter before the BCUC, to the public record.
• Register as an interested party: Interested parties can register online to receive updates on the proceeding.
  

For more information on the scope, timing and details of the hearing process, please see the proceeding page on our website.

Background

On November 18, 2019, Bill 42 – The Fuel Price Transparency Act (FTP Act) was introduced in the BC Legislature by Minister Bruce Ralston. The FPT Act requires companies to report information and data on their activities in the gasoline and diesel fuel market in BC. Bill 42 received Royal Assent and became law on November 27, 2019. On March 9, 2020, the BC government announced the BCUC as the Administrator of the FPT Act.

As a first step in providing the public with more information about how gasoline and diesel prices are set in BC, the BCUC launched GasPricesBC.ca on April 7, 2020. Through a series of dashboards, GasPricesBC.ca displays publicly available data, which visitors can customize to view information based on geography or price components.

On August 14, 2020, the BC government announced FPT Regulations per Order in Council (OIC) No. 474 requiring those in the wholesale industry to submit regular reports to the BCUC, and Special Direction to Section 4 of the FPT Act (Special Direction) requiring retail dealers to submit fuel data to the BCUC in a retail data collection pilot. Per OIC No. 474 and the Special Direction, wholesale and retail reporting to the BCUC will begin November 1, 2020.

Section 9 of the FPT Act provides that the BCUC may publish fuel pricing data, or other information or records, it acquires under the FPT Act, if it is satisfied that protected information will not be disclosed, or that the public interest outweighs any potential harm of releasing protected information. In addition, the BCUC Rules of Practice and Procedure apply to all requests for confidentiality and confidential documents filed with the BCUC in regard to any and all matters, including the data collected through the FPT Act.

About the BCUC

The BCUC is a regulatory agency responsible for the oversight of energy utilities and compulsory auto insurance in British Columbia. It is the BCUC’s role to balance the interests of customers with the interests of the businesses it regulates. The BCUC carries out fair and transparent reviews of matters within its jurisdiction and considers public input where public interest is impacted.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Krissy Van Loon
Manager, Communications
Phone: 604.660.4727
Email: Krissy.VanLoon@bcuc.com