Identifying and Structuring Values to Guide Integrated Resource Planning at BC Gas

Abstract

British Columbia Gas, a major utility, was required by the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) to develop an integrated resource plan that addressed multiple objectives and involved the participation of stakeholders. To assist BC Gas, we elicited values separately from most of the senior executives at BC Gas, members of the BCUC, and representatives of several stakeholder groups. Based on these values, we structured a set of objectives and associated performance measures for integrated resource planning (IRP) at BC Gas. A multistakeholder process then provided judgments about appropriate value tradeoffs among these objectives. This information was used in several ways in the IRP process. It fostered improved communication and served as a guide for designing more attractive plans and identifying future information needs. It also provided the basis for a quantitative evaluation of alternative plans and resources. Both the IRP process and the chosen integrated resource plan were reviewed by lawyers representing intervenors at a quasi-judicial hearing of the BCUC. Their concerns are informative in providing lessons for the use of the elicited values in the context of regulatory hearings.