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Our address is Room 202, J.G. O'Donoghue Building, 7000-113 Street, Edmonton Alberta, T6H 5T6.
The Rural Utilities Division is responsible for ensuring the safe and orderly development of natural gas distribution systems, conducting technical reviews, issuing approvals, development of policy issues respecting rural gas utility operations and business practices and regulation of gas co-ops. In addition, the Division administers a grant program to help reduce the high cost of providing natural gas service in rural Alberta.
Under the program, natural gas service has been provided to over 212,000 consumers through 74 participating utilities. Over 131,000 km of natural gas pipelines have been constructed making it the largest rural gas pipeline system in the world.
Regulatory
Gas Distribution Act-Standards
The Act provides for the Chief Officer (Terry Holmes) to set the standards for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of rural gas utilities and low pressure distribution systems. The department has adopted Canadian Standards Association code Z662 as the standard. This is a national standard set by CSA for utility distribution systems. The department is represented on the CSA committee responsible for developing this standard. It is important that we have representation on this committee. As Alberta's rural gas system is unique, the gas distribution industry in Alberta has proven to be innovative in developing new techniques and procedures, which are taken forward to the CSA committee for adoption in the code. Without this representation, the interests of Alberta distributors may not be considered.
Franchise Area Approvals
This Act also provides for the issuance of rural gas franchise areas that gives distributors, with very few exceptions, the exclusive right to provide natural gas service to all potential consumers. Issues relating to infringement on existing franchises, service rights to customers, and expansion of franchises are frequently brought forward to the department for resolution.
Rural Utilities Act, Rural Utilities Regulation & Standard By-Laws
The Division also administers the provisions of the Rural Utilities Act, including incorporations, amalgamations, supplemental by-laws of rural gas co-ops and the overseeing of the business affairs of rural gas co-ops.
Construction / Technical Review and Approval
Rural gas distributors are required to submit construction applications for new gas services to the Division prior to construction. These submissions are reviewed from a technical perspective to ensure orderly development of gas distribution systems, proper design, adequacy and quality of gas supply, and determine eligibility for grant assistance.
In each new construction year, a gas distributor should satisfy all tendering requirements with the Division before any field activity begins. Our Division has to accomplish our mandate that Government funded projects are appropriately tendered. Until this is done no approvals are in effect. If you or your consultant are submitting the first application, be aware that tender results must at some point, come together with this first application before any approvals can be issued.
All technical applications are now made and accepted on-line using the Rural Utilities Portal through the Department website. Access to this Portal for these applications is provided to each distributor. New single service line installations (infills) should be grouped as a project in an application by their various customer classification (rural, urban, commercial, etc) and each project should contain information on costs, length of pipe, consumer names and locations.
Any project that is not a single service line installation (upgrading or looping) will require a technical design report describing the purpose and including costs of the project.
Uncompleted projects from a previous year do not automatically have funds in place to cover carryover costs. Details of uncompleted projects and costs to complete projects should be identified and submitted as a revised construction application for the new budget year.
The Division does a comparison of construction approvals with as-built submissions in conjunction with the distributors year-end audit of costs. Discrepancies that are found must be reconciled and approved before costs for these can be included in the final grant calculation. Unreported construction activities are Non-Budget and do not qualify for grants.
Questions should be directed to Gary Lazaruk at (780) 427-1934or email Gary.Lazaruk@gov.ab.ca
Safety
The Rural Utilities Division is responsible for ensuring the safe construction, operation and maintenance of all gas distribution systems including urban areas such as cities, towns, & villages.
There are a number of initiatives that the Division undertakes to ensure the safety of the public and those involved in the distribution business.
| 1. | Incorporation of a Quality Management Plan (QMP) which requires all distributors to acknowledge and commit to designing, constructing, operating and maintaining the system in accordance with various standards and in a manner which ensures the safety of customers, employees or the general public.
Under the Gas Distribution Act, the Department has the ability to conduct audits of distributors' operations to ensure they are fulfilling their commitment under the QMP. These audits are being conducted through third parties and by department staff. |
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The department also administers a quality assurance program in which we have contracted inspectors located within the manufacturing plants to oversee the extrusion and manufacture of polyethylene pipe used extensively in the natural gas distribution industry. As part of their inspection process, they conduct tests on product samples to ensure the integrity and quality of the product. |
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Annually, distributors are required to submit digital as-built plans of their systems to the department. These plans are critical to the safety of workers in the energy sector, utility business and third party contractors involved in excavation. The Co-op and County-owned system plans are provided to the Energy Resources Conservation Board in PDF format for distribution to the public. All distributors' low-pressure pipelines are provided, in digital format, to companies that provide pipeline search services. |
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Before any construction can take place, distributors are required to obtain an easement from the landowner. Easements are also a safety measure as they indicate to the landowner and those conducting a title search that a buried facility is contained within the property. |
Rural Gas Program - Grants
Grants are provided to rural gas co-ops to help defray the cost of installing natural gas services. These grants can be related to the installation of individual gas services on existing infrastructure, upgrading of the infrastructure to maintain gas supply or for the securing of a new gas supply and related facilities - Regulating, Metering & Odourizing Station.
Manuals, Bulletins and Mapping
Manuals
Bulletins
Mapping
Forms
Business Services Forms
For Business Services Forms contact Gary Lazaruk.
Construction Forms
For Construction Forms contact Gary Lazaruk.
- Project Detail Report (See Bulletin 2011-01 for instructions on completion) (Word - .doc / .docx or PDF Format)
- Project Detail Report and supporting documentation to be submitted by mail or fax
- Construction Cost Estimate Form (Excel or PDF Format)
- Cost Estimate Form to accompany Project Detail Report
- All applications are to be submitted through the Rural Utilities Portal
Leak / Damage Form
Provides a form which is used to report information on leaks and third party damages in accordance with the Gas Distribution Act.
Templates
Additional Links:
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