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Electricity purchase agreements

Electricity Purchase Agreement (EPA) Renewal Program

As proposed in our 2021 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), we have developed an electricity purchase agreement (EPA) renewal program for independent power producers (IPPs) who have EPAs for clean or renewable projects set to expire before April 1, 2026 (see list below). These projects will be offered EPA renewals at market-based prices.

Important notes about the EPA renewal program:

  • The program itself does not create any legally binding obligations, rights or liabilities between the parties;
  • The program may be discontinued at any time;
  • Terms and conditions may be updated from time to time;
  • No agreement will exist between the parties until both parties have signed and delivered the final agreements; and
  • Where there are differences between the Specimen EPA and other documents issued by BC Hydro, the Specimen EPA shall prevail.

Qualifying IPPs

Project Name
 		 Resource Type
 		 Location
 		 Capacity
(MW)		 Energy
(GWh/yr)
Brandywine Creek Small Hydro  Non-Storage Hydro Whistler 7.6 34.1
Brown Lake 2 Storage Hydro Prince Rupert 7.2 57
China Creek Small Hydroelectric  Non-Storage Hydro Port Alberni 6.3 24.7
Coats IPP 2  Non-Storage Hydro Gabriola Island <1 0.4
Eagle Lake C2 Micro Hydro Non-Storage Hydro West Vancouver <1 1.2
Furry Creek  Non-Storage Hydro Lions Bay 10.4 39.5
Hartland Landfill Gas Utilization  Biogas Saanich 1.8 14.5
Marion 3 Creek Non-Storage Hydro Port Alberni 4.6 17.5
McNair Creek Hydro Non-Storage Hydro Sechelt 9.8 38
Mears Creek Non-Storage Hydro Gold River 3.8 19.5
Miller Creek Power Non-Storage Hydro Pemberton 29.5 118
Pingston Creek Non-Storage Hydro Revelstoke 45 193
Robson Valley (Ptarmigan Creek) Non-Storage Hydro McBride 3.6 19.2
Rutherford Creek Hydro Non-Storage Hydro Pemberton 50 172
Sechelt Creek 2 Non-Storage Hydro Sechelt 16.6 84.6
South Sutton Creek Non-Storage Hydro Port Alberni 4.9 26
Upper Mamquam Hydro Non-Storage Hydro Squamish 25 108
Vancouver Landfill Gas Utilization - Ph 1 Biogas Delta 5.5 40
Walden North Non-Storage Hydro Lillooet 16 54


Program updates

The EPA Renewal Program was finalized in October 2022. The key components of the program are outlined in the documents listed below. Minor amendments to both the Final Term Sheet and Specimen EPA were made in January 2023.

October 26, 2022

Qualifying IPPs provided written feedback regarding the draft term sheet and specimen EPA by September 16th. We subsequently finalized the terms of the EPA Renewal Program and on October 26 provided the final documents to qualifying IPPs.

September 1, 2022

Following the July information session, we held clarification meetings with individual IPPs to address their questions and to receive feedback about the EPA Renewal Program. On September 1, the qualifying IPPs were provided with a draft standard form of contract (i.e., specimen EPA) for the EPA Renewal Program which was aligned with the final draft term sheet.

July 19, 2022

We held a second information session with qualifying IPPs on July 19, providing a summary of the feedback received through the engagement process and presenting the resulting, updated draft commercial terms for the EPA Renewal Program. The presentation and final draft term sheet from the meeting are listed below.

February 16, 2022

In February 2022, we started engaging with the qualifying IPPs and First Nations regarding the development of an EPA renewal program. On February 16, we held an initial information session for qualifying IPPs that have EPAs expiring within the next five years. The presentation and draft term sheet from the meeting are listed below.

December 21, 2021

We filed our 2021 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) [PDF, 2.8 MB] with the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) in December 2021. The plan outlines our approach to continuing to meet the electricity needs of the province for the next 20 years. The IRP identifies the EPA renewals for clean or renewable projects expiring prior to April 1, 2026 as one of the Near-Term Actions needed to implement the elements of the Base Resource Plan.
 

Frequently asked questions: EPA renewals

Why are these EPAs being renewed at a time when BC Hydro is forecasting an energy surplus?

While BC Hydro expects to have sufficient energy and capacity until the early 2030s, there is a potential benefit to BC Hydro if these facilities continue to be available for a situation in which their generation is required to meet domestic need.

Renewing these agreements now, even for shorter-term periods, provides us with greater certainty that these IPP facilities will continue to be available when needed to displace new greenfield supply.

In order to maintain flexibility for the future and to limit cost-risk to ratepayers we have chosen to offer market-based pricing agreements to the IPP holders of all 19 clean or renewable electricity purchase agreements expiring in the next five years.

How many EPAs are up for renewal?

There are 19 EPAs for clean or renewable projects that are set to expire before April 2026. These EPAs are identified in the EPA Renewal Program Rules document.

The 19 clean/renewable projects range in size from 0.2 MW to 50 MW in nameplate capacity, and total over 200 MW in nameplate capacity and over 900 GWh annual generation. The projects are comprised of 16 run-of-river projects, one storage hydro and two biogas.

The Island Generation and SEEGEN EPAs are also expiring. As these projects are not from 100% clean or renewable resources, the potential renewal of their EPAs will be managed through separate processes.

Why are you only focusing on projects expiring before April 2026?

Renewing EPAs expiring in the next five-years is a Near-Term Action in the 2021 IRP. Near-Term Actions are those actions BC Hydro is taking over the next five years to the implement the Base Resource Plan as set out in the IRP.