Willis Energy Services Ltd. assists utilities and independent power producers with regulatory and policy procedures, including assisting with applications submitted to regulators such as the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC), working with intervenors and stakeholders, and responding to information requests and other regulatory undertakings as they arise. We understand the complexity of not only regulatory filings and proceedings, but also of the internal information exchange and communication that must happen to ensure an efficient and precise application is presented to the regulator and intervenors. We understand the current regulatory environment, and we track proposed changes and can analyze how they will affect a utility’s or an independent power producer’s operating procedures.
Our regulatory and policy services include the following:
Application Assistance
Intervenor Services
Stakeholder Services
Information Requests
Resource Plans
Rate Design
Watching Briefs
Application Assistance
We assist utilities and independent power producers with regulatory application preparation, assembly and filing.
Intervenor Services
We will act as an intervenor on behalf of a utility, independent power producer, or large energy consumer during the review process of an application.
Stakeholder Services
We facilitate and convene stakeholder group meetings as part of the regulatory process. We have successfully represented a number of clients in working group meetings and facilitated meaningful dialogue between clients and their suppliers. We have prepared, recruited, evaluated, and reported on the following topics during stakeholder workshops:
- Technical training
- Policy development
- Resource planning
- Rate design
- Contract negotiations
- Customer forums
- Costumer focus groups
- Municipal utility planning
- Utility advisory group
Information Requests
We will respond to regulatory application information requests (IRs) on behalf of a utility, independent power producer, or large energy consumer.
Resource Plans
We assist utilities develop multi-year resource plans for submission to regulators. Our planning assistance includes determining load and resource requirements based on historical demand and energy use combined with projected changes. We then model different planning scenarios, forecasting peak electricity demand, electricity energy requirements, costs of different peak supply resources, costs of different energy supply resources, and optimum match of supply and demand. Projects
Rate Design
We assist utilities during the rate design process. Our design assistance includes determing the revenue requirements of a utility prior to it applying for a rate change. We also provide assistance in the following areas:
- Developing strategies for customer communication and stakeholder processes
- Interviewing customers, individually or in groups, to gather their ideas and concerns
- Facilitating stakeholder sessions
- Preparing summary results and reports from all customer/stakeholder contacts suitable for regulatory filing
Watching Briefs
We monitor utility applications before a regulator in which a customer has an interest, and provide watching briefs with interpretative comments and identification of issues likely to affect the customer. We provide application and calendar notifications, issue identification, management, and intervention as required. We are also available to prepare for and participate in negotiated settlements. Our services include the following:
- Reviewing and providing briefs of application filings, information requests and responses, filed evidence, transcripts, and arguments
- Attending pre-hearing conferences, workshops, settlement proceedings, and oral hearing proceedings
- Providing issue identification, impact assessment, and intervention recommendations
- Preparing information requests, workshop presentations, hearing evidence, cross-examination questions, participant panel presentations, and argument positions for submission to the regulator
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