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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFND-006-18Clarington Finance Department Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: General Government Committee Date of Meeting: April 16, 2018 Report Number: FND-006-18 Resolution: GG -209-18 File Number: By-law Number: Report Subject: Annual Commodity Hedging - 2017 Recommendation: 1. That Report FND-006-18 be received for information; Municipality of Clarington Page 2 Report FND-006-18 Report Overview This report complies with the annual reporting requirement to report to Council the status of existing commodity hedging agreements for 2017. 1. Background 1.1 Under Ontario Regulation 635105, the Treasurer is required to report annually to Council the status of existing commodity hedging agreements, including a comparison of the expected results to actual of using the agreements and confirmation that they comply with the Municipality's policies and goals. 1.2 As required by the Municipal Act, 2001, Council adopted a Commodity Price Hedging Agreements Statement of Policies and Goals in report COD -054-08, on Monday October 6, 2008. In this statement of policies and goals, the responsibilities are delegated as follows. The Director of Finance/Treasurer or designate is responsible for the financial administrative matters pertaining to commodity price hedging. The Director of Corporate Services or designate is responsible for the procurement and contractual administrative matters pertaining to commodity price hedging. 2. Comments 2.1 The Municipality's energy consumption trends have been studied since 2008. Detailed budget estimates are made based on these consumption trends and pricing projections of the various utilities including natural gas for the Municipality's operating departments. This information together with the procurement strategy aimed at reducing risk and stabilizing cost continues to focus on the need for a stable natural gas supply contract. The Municipality has an energy consulting agreement with Blackstone Energy Consulting. The term was for November 1, 2014 to October 31, 2017 with an option to extend for two additional one year terms. The Municipality has extended the agreement to October 31, 2018. This agreement covers many services related to the Municipality's supply of natural gas including the supply of information relevant to decision making; arranging contracts for the continuous supply; analysis and reconciliation of usage; and forecasting of natural gas pricing pressures. 2.2 Blackstone Energy Services Inc. working on the Municipality's behalf is authorized to enter into fixed priced natural gas agreements as per the procurement strategies and to the agreed indicative prices. The Municipality is supplied natural gas from three pools — Empress (western Canada), Central Delivery Area (CDA) and Dawn. The Dawn hub Municipality of Clarington Page 3 Report FND-006-18 is a new natural gas hub available in November 2015 and is located in southwestern Ontario. As of November 2017, the Municipality switched the gas delivered from the CDA pool from Western Canada to the Dawn pool. 2.3 In January 2017, in consultation with Blackstone, the Municipality entered into the hedging agreements as shown below in the chart. From January 2017 to October 2017 79% of the gas supply is hedged. From November 2017 to October 2019, 85% of the gas supply is hedged. Date Range Pool Price % of Comments ($/GJ) Portfolio January 1, 2017 to Dawn TCPL 3.28 29% Excludes October 31, 2017 transportation cost January 1, 2017 to CDA 4.98 21% Includes October 31, 2017 transportation cost January 1, 2017 to Empress 4.75 29% Excludes October 31, 2019 transportation cost November 1, 2017 Dawn 4.24 28% Includes to October 31, 2019 transportation cost November 1, 2017 Empress 3.21 28% Excludes to October 31, 2019 transportation cost Municipality of Clarington Page 4 Report FND-006-18 2.4 A component of the natural gas pools is the setting of the Minimum Daily Volume (MDV). The MDV amounts were changed as shown in the chart below based on past natural gas consumption, climate change projections for the next year and the reallocation of individual accounts contained in each pool. 2.5 Another element of the natural gas purchasing is that the Municipality sets the price on bill (POB). The price on bill is set to estimate the average cost of the gas factoring in transportation costs. Setting the price on bill reduces the fluctuations over the year. Blackstone does provide recommendations for the price on bill and the Municipality can change the price on bill at any time. Since October 2016, the price on bill has been set at $0.141m3. This price has been used for 2017 and 2018 budget projections. 2.6 The natural gas year is from November 1 to October 31. During this period the Municipality may use more gas than estimated during the heating season and use less during the cooling season. These differences are settled in the Municipality's account at Blackstone with the various gas pool/suppliers (Empress, Dawn and GDA). As of October 31, there may be a balance of gas owing or a surplus of gas to be sold in the market based on the gas supply obligation calculated from the estimate required versus actual usage. Blackstone provides advice on the best time to settle the gas account for the best price (or hedge price if applicable) and is settled in the account. 2.7 In 2017 the combination of these factors along with weather factors have created a surplus in CIarington's account of approximately $100,000. In 2016, Clarington received a payment of $50,000 from Blackstone to reduce the financial surplus in the hedging account. This payment was applied to the repayment of the Energy Master Plan Phase 1 project costs. Similar to 2016 another lump sum payment could be taken from the November 2015 to October 2017 November 2017 to October 2018 CDA Pool 29 0 Empress Pool 52 53 Dawn Pool 53 88 2.5 Another element of the natural gas purchasing is that the Municipality sets the price on bill (POB). The price on bill is set to estimate the average cost of the gas factoring in transportation costs. Setting the price on bill reduces the fluctuations over the year. Blackstone does provide recommendations for the price on bill and the Municipality can change the price on bill at any time. Since October 2016, the price on bill has been set at $0.141m3. This price has been used for 2017 and 2018 budget projections. 2.6 The natural gas year is from November 1 to October 31. During this period the Municipality may use more gas than estimated during the heating season and use less during the cooling season. These differences are settled in the Municipality's account at Blackstone with the various gas pool/suppliers (Empress, Dawn and GDA). As of October 31, there may be a balance of gas owing or a surplus of gas to be sold in the market based on the gas supply obligation calculated from the estimate required versus actual usage. Blackstone provides advice on the best time to settle the gas account for the best price (or hedge price if applicable) and is settled in the account. 2.7 In 2017 the combination of these factors along with weather factors have created a surplus in CIarington's account of approximately $100,000. In 2016, Clarington received a payment of $50,000 from Blackstone to reduce the financial surplus in the hedging account. This payment was applied to the repayment of the Energy Master Plan Phase 1 project costs. Similar to 2016 another lump sum payment could be taken from the Municipality of Clarington Page 5 Report FND-006-18 hedging account to be use as in 2016 to repay the Energy Master Plan Phase 1 project or to be used for future energy conservation projects. Alternatively, based on projections from Blackstone, Clarington may choose to reduce the price on bill to realize the savings in the current operating costs. Clarington will be consulting with Blackstone in April to evaluate the best course of action for the balance in the hedging account. 2.8 These contracts met the procurement goal of both reducing the risk and stabilizing the cost, as we have a fixed source of supply for the majority of the estimated requirement up to October 2019 at a fixed price with a reasonable consumption estimate. 2.9 To date, the Municipality has not hedged for electricity. The structure of electricity hedging is different from natural gas. A significant component of electricity bills on the larger accounts such as the recreation facilities and street lights is the Global Adjustment. Electricity hedging could be used to mitigate the cost of the electricity but would not affect the Global Adjustment cost. In the future, the Municipality could investigate electricity hedging. 3. Concurrence This report has been reviewed by the Director of Corporate Services who concurs with the recommendation. 4. Conclusion 4.1 The Municipality of Clarington has natural gas commodity hedging agreements in place up to October 2019. These agreements are consistent with the Municipality's statement of policies and goals relating to the use of financial agreements to address commodity pricing and costs. The natural gas market and the account balance of the Municipality's hedging account is monitored on a regular basis. 4.2 It is respectfully recommended that this annual commodity hedging report be received for information in compliance with Ontario Regulation 635105 of the Municipal Act, 2001. 5. Strategic Plan Application The recommendations contained in this report conform to the Strategic Plan. Municipality of Clarington Resort FND-006-18 Page 6 Submitted by. Reviewed by: Nancy Tay or,B A, CPA, CA, Andrew C. Allison, B. Comm, LLB Director of Finance/Treasurer CAO Staff Contact: Catherine Carr, Manager of Internal Audit, 905-623-3379 ext 2606 or ccarr@clarington.net There are no interested parties to be notified of Council's decision.