BILL 25 – 2006
SAFETY STANDARDS AMENDMENT ACT, 2006

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Part 4 of the Safety Standards Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 39, is amended by adding the following Division:

Division 3 -- Residential Electricity Information

Definitions

19.1 In this Division:

"account information" means

(a) the name of the account holder with respect to,

(b) the service address of and billing address for, and

(c) the electricity consumption data with respect to,

a residence to which an electricity distributor distributes electricity;

"electricity consumption data" means available electricity consumption data

(a) for the most recently completed billing period at the time a request is made under section 19.2 (1), and

(b) for the previous 24-month billing period;

"electricity distributor" means

(a) the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority continued under the Hydro and Power Authority Act,

(b) a public utility, within the meaning of the Utilities Commission Act, that owns or operates electricity equipment or facilities, and

(c) a municipality that owns or operates electricity equipment or facilities and that would be a public utility within the meaning of the Utilities Commission Act, but for paragraph (c) of the definition of "public utility" in that Act;

"residence" means premises designed for use as a private dwelling, and any other building or structure adjacent to those premises that is intended for the private use of the owner or occupier of those premises;

"residential electricity information" means the available account information for all of the residences that

(a) are within the jurisdictional boundaries of a local government that makes a request under section 19.2 (1), and

(b) according to the current records of the electricity distributor distributing electricity to the residences, are consuming electricity at a level within a range prescribed by regulation.

Residential electricity information

19.2 (1) A local government may request, in writing, from an electricity distributor the residential electricity information with respect to the residences within its jurisdictional boundaries.

(2) If an electricity distributor receives a request under subsection (1), the electricity distributor must provide that residential electricity information to the local government within a reasonable time.

(3) A local government that receives residential electricity information from an electricity distributor under this section may disclose account information derived from that residential electricity information, or a portion of that account information, to

(a) an authority to which the administration of the Act has been delegated under Part 2 or Part 12, and

(b) a provincial police force or a municipal police department, as those terms are defined in the Police Act.

Notice of inspection

19.3 (1) If, after receiving account information under section 19.2 (3), a safety officer intends on the basis of that information to exercise the power granted under section 18 (1) (c) and (d) with respect to a residence identified in the account information, the safety officer must give a notice to the owner or occupier of that residence.

(2) The notice under subsection (1) must

(a) be in writing,

(b) state the safety officer's intention to enter the residence and conduct an inspection, and the reasons for the intended entry and inspection,

(c) set out the date by which the owner or occupier must reply to the notice to arrange a date and time for the safety officer to enter the residence and conduct an inspection,

(d) set out how to reply to the notice, and

(e) state that the safety officer may issue a compliance order if the owner or occupier does not

(i) reply to the notice within 2 days of the date on which it was received,

(ii) within a reasonable time complete arrangements to the satisfaction of the safety officer for the safety officer to enter the residence and conduct an inspection, or

(iii) allow the safety officer to enter the residence at the arranged date and time.

Compliance with notice

19.4 An owner or occupier who receives a notice under section 19.3 (1) must

(a) reply to the notice within 2 days of the date on which it was received,

(b) within a reasonable time complete arrangements to the satisfaction of the safety officer for the safety officer to enter the residence and conduct an inspection, and

(c) allow the safety officer to enter the residence at the arranged date and time.

2 Section 80 (1) (b) is amended by adding "or to an address obtained under section 19.2" after "for that purpose".

3 Section 88 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(x) prescribing one or more ranges of levels of electricity consumption for the purposes of the definition of "residential electricity information" in section 19.1.

 
Hydro and Power Authority Act

4 Section 32 (7) of the Hydro and Power Authority Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 212, is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(w.2) section 19.2 of the Safety Standards Act; .

Commencement

5 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.