British Columbia Order in Council — Amendment to Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Clean Energy) Regulation (O.C. 308/2023)

O.C. 308/2023

British Columbia — Orders in Council

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ORDER OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL Order in Council No. , Approved and Ordered Lieutenant Governor Executive Council Chambers, Victoria page 1 of 7 On the recommendation of the undersigne d, the Lieutenant Governor, by and wi th the advice and consent of the Executive Council, orders that, effective May 22, 2023, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Cle an Energy) Regulation, B.C. Reg. 102/2012, is amended as set out in the attached Schedule. Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Presiding Member of the Executive Council (This

part is for administrative purposes only and is not part of the Order.) Authority under which Order is made: Act and section: Clean Energy Act, S.B.C. 2010, c. 22, s. 35 Other: OIC 295/2012 R10637177 308 May 19, 2023

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SCHEDULE 1

Section 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Redu ction (Clean Energy) Regulation, B.C. Reg. 102/2012, is amended (

a) by repealing the

definitions of “eligible vehicle or machine” , “heavy-duty vehicle”, “medium-duty vehicle”, “specified vehicle” and “undertaking period”, and (

b) by adding the following

definitions: “implement of husbandry” has the same meaning as in

section 1 of the Motor Vehicle Act; “industrial ut ility vehicle” has the same meaning as in

section 1 of the Motor Vehicle Act; “farm tractor” has the same meaning as in

section 1 of the Motor Vehicle Act; “former regulation” means the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Clean Energy) Regulation as it read immediately before May 22, 2023; “logging truck” has the same meaning as in

section 1 of the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations. 2

Section 2 is repealed an d the following substituted: Prescribed undertaking – marine vehicles using liquefied natural gas 2

(1) In this section: “natural gas marine vehicle” means a marine vehicle that uses, as a fuel source, liquefied natural gas; “undertaking period” means the period ending on March 31, 2024.

(2) A public utility’s undertaking that is in the class defined as follows is a prescribed undertaking for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act: (

a) the public utility provides, on or before March 31, 2024, through an open and competitive application process, (

i) grants or zero-interest loans to persons in British Columbia for the purchase of a natural gas marine vehicle to be operated in British Columbia, or (ii) grants to persons in British Columbia (

A) to implement safety practices, or (

B) to improve maintenance facilities to meet safety guidelines for operating and maintaining a natural gas marine vehicle; (

b) an expenditure on a grant or loan fo r a natural gas marine vehicle does not exceed 50% of the difference between the cost of the natural gas marine vehicle and the cost of a comparable vehicle that uses gasoline or diesel;

page 3 of 7 (

c) During the undertaking period, (

i) total expenditures on the undertak ing in this section, including expenditures on administration, ma rketing, training and education, do not exceed $60 million in total, (ii) expenditures on administration, marketing, training and education related to the prescribed undertak ing in this

section do not exceed $9 million in total, including a ny expenditures on administration, marketing, training and educa tion related to the prescribed undertakings described in secti on 2 (1) and (3.2) of the former regulation, and (iii) expenditures on the undertaking on grants referred to in subsection (2) (a) (ii) do not exceed $6 million. Prescribed undertaking – liquefied natural gas distribution and storage 2.1

(1) In this section: “expenditures” includes, except with respect to expenditures on administration and marketing, binding commitments to incur expenditures in the future; “undertaking period” means the period ending on March 31, 2024.

(2) A public utility’s undertaking that is in the class defined as follows is a prescribed undertaking for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act: (

a) the public utility, before March 31, 2024, enters into a binding commitment to (

i) construct and operate, or (ii) purchase and operate liquefied natural gas distribution an d storage infrastructure, other than liquefied natural gas fu elling stations, in British Columbia, including liquefied natural gas rail tank cars, ISO containers and shore-side assets, for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; (

b) total expenditures on the undertaki ng during the undertaking period do not exceed $40 million, including (

i) any expenditures related to the prescribed undertaking described in

section 2 (3.4) of the former regulation, and (ii) expenditures on administration, marketing, training and education; (

c) at least (i) 80% of the forecast total opera ting costs of the distribution and storage infrastructure for the fi rst 5 years of the operation are recovered from one or more pers ons under a take-or-pay agreement with a minimum term of 5 years, or (ii) 60% of the forecast total opera ting costs of the distribution and storage infrastructure for the fi rst 7 years of the operation are recovered from one or more pers ons under a take-or-pay agreement with a minimum term of 7 years.

page 4 of 7 Prescribed undertaking – acquiring renewable natural gas 2.2

(1) A public utility’s undertaki ng that is in the class defined in subsection (3) is a prescribed undertaking for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (3), “acquires renewable natural gas” includes producing renewable natural gas by pr oducing or purchasing biogas and upgrading it to renewable natural gas.

(3) The public utility acqui res renewable natural gas (

a) at costs that meet the following criteria, as applicable: (

i) if the public utility acquires rene wable natural gas by purchasing it, the price of the renewable natural gas does not exceed the maximum amount, determined in accordance with

section 9, in effect in the fiscal year in which the contract for purchase is signed; (ii) if the public utility acquires re newable natural gas by producing it, the levelized cost of production reasonably expected by the public utility does not exceed the maximum amount, determined in accordance with

section 9, in effect in the fiscal year in which the public utility decides to construct or purchase the production facility, and (

b) that, in a calendar year, does not ex ceed 15% of the total amount, in GJ, of natural gas provided by the public u tility to its non-bypass customers in 2019, subject to subsection (4) and

section 10.

(4) The amount referred to in subsection (3 ) (

b) does not include renewable natural gas acquired by the public utility that the public utility provides to a customer in accordance with a rate under which the full cost of the following is recovered from the customer: (

a) the acquisition of the renewable natural gas; (

b) the service related to the provi sion of the renewable natural gas. 3

Section 5 is amended (

a) in subsection (1) by repealing the definition of “eligible charging station” and substituting the following: “eligible fast charging station” means a fast charging station that (

a) is available for use by any member of the public during the site’s hours of operation, (

b) does not require users to be me mbers of a charging network, and (

c) is capable of charging electric vehicles of more than one make; , (

b) in subsection (1) by add ing the following definition: “eligible level 2 charging station” means a charging station that (

a) is a fixed device capable of char ging an electric vehicle using 240V,

page 5 of 7 (

b) shares a site with an eligible fast charging station or is on a site owned by any of the follow entities: (

i) a public utility; (ii) the government; (iii) the government of Canada; (iv) an agency of the government or government of Canada; (

v) a government body, as defined in

section 1 of the Financial Administration Act; (vi) a local authority, as defined in

section 1 of the

Schedule to the Community Charter; (

c) is available for use by any member of the public during the site’s hours of operation, (

d) does not require users to be me mbers of a charging network, and (

e) is capable of charging electric vehicles of more than one make. , (

c) in subsection (2) (

i) by striking out “ eligible charging station” wherever it occurs and substituting “eligible fast charging station”, and (ii) in paragraph (b) (

i) by striking out “ December 31, 2025 ” and substituting “December 31, 2030”, and (

d) by adding the following subsection:

(3) A public utility’s undertaking that is in a class defined as follows is a prescribed undertaking for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act: (

a) the public utility cons tructs and operates, or purchases and operates, an eligible level 2 charging station; (

b) the eligible level 2 charging station conforms or will confirm to the Open Charge Point protocol; (

c) the public utility reasona bly expects, on the date the public utility decides to construct or purchase the eligible level 2 charging station, that the station will come into operation by December 31, 2030. 4 The following

section is added: Prescribed undertaking – zero-emission vehicles, machines and charging infrastructure 5.1

(1) In this section, “commercial zero-emission charging infrastructure” means (

a) a device or battery capable of char ging a zero-emission vehicle or machine using 240V or direct current, or (

b) battery-based storage installed for the purposes of charging a zero-emission vehicle or machine;

page 6 of 7 “eligible zero-emission vehicle or machine” means (

a) a vehicle or machine that is pr opelled by electricity or hydrogen from an external source and emits no greenhouse gases at least some of the time while the vehicle or device is being operated, and (

b) the vehicle or machine is one of the following: (

i) a vehicle with a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of more than 4 536 kg; (ii) a school bus; (iii) a transit bus; (iv) a marine vehicle; (

v) a mine haul truck; (vi) a locomotive; (vii) an implement of husbandry; (viii) a farm tractor; (ix) a logging truck; (

x) an industrial utility vehicle; “expenditures” includes, except with respect to expenditures on administration and marketing, binding commitments to incur expenditures in the future.

(2) A public utility’s undertaking that is in a class defined as follows is a prescribed undertaking for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act: (

a) the public utility provides, on or before March 31, 2030, through an open and competitive application process: (

i) grants or zero-interest loans to persons in British Columbia for the purchase of an eligible zero-e mission vehicle or machine to be operated in British Columbia, or (ii) grants to persons in British Columbia (

A) to implement safety practices, or (

B) to improve maintenance facilities to meet safety guidelines for ope rating and maintaining an eligible zero-emission vehicle or machine; (

b) subject to paragraph (

c) and subs ection (4), total expenditures on the undertaking during the period endi ng on March 31, 2030 do not exceed $100 million; (

c) total expenditures on grants to pe rsons in British Columbia during the period ending on March 31, 2030 in relation to subsection (2) (a) (ii) do not exceed $6 million; (

d) an expenditure on a grant or zero-intere st loan for an eligible zero-emission vehicle or machine does not, in any year of the undertaking, exceed 50% of the difference between the cost of an eligible zero-emission vehicle or machine and the cost of comparable vehicle or machine that uses gasoline or diesel.

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(3) A public utility’s undertaking that is in a class defined as follows is a prescribed undertaking for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act: (

a) the public utility, before March 31, 2030, enters into a binding commitment to construct or purchase, for the pur poses of charging and fuelling eligible zero-emission vehicles or machines, commercial zero-emission charging infrastructure or hydr ogen fuelling infrastructure and operate the infrastructure; (

b) subject to subsection (4), total expe nditures on the undertaking during the period ending on March 31, 2030 do not exceed $100 million.

(4) The undertakings referred to in subsections (2) and (3) are prescribed undertakings for the purposes of

section 18 of the Act only if (

a) the total combined expenditures of the undertakings in this

section on administration and marketing during the period ending on March 31, 2030 do not exceed $6 million, and (

b) the total combined expenditures of the undertakings in this

section on training, education, st udies, pilot projects a nd standards development during the period ending on March 31, 2030 do not exceed $8 million. 5

Section 9 is amended by striking out “ sections 2 (3.8) (a)” and substituting “sections 2 (3.3) (a)”. 6

Section 10 (

a) is amended by striking out “

section 2 (3.8)” and substituting “section 2 (3.3)”.

Document details

Collection	British Columbia — Orders in Council
Citation	O.C. 308/2023
Type	order_in_council
Volume / chapter	arc oic 0308 2023
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	c064b9033b24d315f15b8e011ec33c85c7cdf836

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