OEB Remand Process – Bill 44 (Schedule G)

Schedule G of the Budget Measures and Interim Appropriation Act, 2008 [Bill 44] provides the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) with the necessary legislative authority to review electricity transmission system reliability standards that are approved by inter-jurisdictional standards authorities such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Northeast Power Coordinating Council Inc. (NPCC).

The Bill amends the Electricity Act, 1998 (section 36.2) to provide a process for the OEB review of a reliability standard and would authorize the OEB to make orders preventing the operation of a standard in Ontario and referring (otherwise known as remanding) the standard back to the standards authority.  In addition, the OEB could stay or refer a standard back to the standards authority in the interest of coordination with other jurisdictions. The Act would also enable the IESO to appeal to the OEB a non-compliance finding made by an inter-jurisdictional standards authority in relation to a violation of a reliability standard in Ontario (section 36.3).

The entire bill can be viewed at: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&BillID=1951&detailPage=bills_detail_about

• The IESO posts a new reliability standard on the website and emails participants. This must be done by the IESO within seven days of it being notified by the standards authority.
• There would be a 21 day window for any market participant, including the IESO, to apply to the OEB for review of the standard.  The OEB would also be able to initiate its own review within 120 days as prescribed by regulation.
• If there is no review, the standard would go into effect under the Market Rules upon the effective date of the reliability standard.
• If reviewed, the OEB would determine if:
• the standard is inconsistent with the purposes of the Electricity Act, 1998; or
• the standard unjustly discriminates against an Ontario entity or entities.
• If any of these conditions apply, the OEB would be required to stop the standard from applying in Ontario and to refer it back to the standards authority.
• If reviewed, the OEB would also determine if there is an issue of coordination with other jurisdictions.
• If this condition is satisfied, the OEB has the discretion to stop the standard from applying in Ontario and refer it back to the standards authority.

The Registration and Compliance Support (R&CS) group of the IESO is responsible for communicating all standards and criteria, which are applicable for the OEB remand process, to the market participants. The standards and criteria are provided in the table below:

¹ Last Date to Request an OEB Review is 21 days after the IESO posts the approved standards or criteria from NERC or NPCC to this website. Please note that the OEB has 120 days for its review period from the posted date.
² The mandatory enforcement dates of NERC reliability standards and NPCC criteria are governed by Chapter 5, sections 1.2.6 and 1.2.7 of the Market Rules.
³ Applicability includes the IESO and Ontario Entities including T – Transmitters, G – Generators, W – Connected Wholesale Customers, PSE – Purchasing-Selling Entities, D – Distributors, and the OPA (Ontario Power Authority)
⁴ An interpretation is offered by a designated Standard Drafting Team (SDT) in response to an industry request. It provides clarification of the intent of a requirement but may not expand or redefine it. If approved by the industry ballot pool and the NERC Board of Trustees (BOT), these interpretations are appended to the standard and filed with the OEB. When the affected Reliability Standard is next revised using the Reliability Standards Development Process, the interpretation will then be incorporated into the Reliability Standard.

For all inquiries contact IESO Customer Relations at:
Toll Free: 1-888-448-7777
Tel: 905-403-6900
Fax: 905-403-6921
E-mail: customer.relations@ieso.ca