FortisBC is British Columbia’s largest natural gas distribution utility, serving approximately 1.2 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across the province through a network spanning more than 49,000 kilometres of transmission and distribution pipeline. As a regulated subsidiary of Fortis Inc — Canada’s largest investor-owned gas and electric utility holding company — FortisBC operates the full natural gas value chain in BC, from transmission and storage through to end-customer distribution, with LNG storage at the Tilbury facility in Delta forming the critical peak-shaving and energy security backbone of the provincial gas system.
FortisBC LNG Utility: Tilbury LNG Storage Facility
The Tilbury LNG facility in Delta, British Columbia, is FortisBC’s primary liquefied natural gas storage asset and one of the most strategically important pieces of energy infrastructure on Canada’s West Coast. Tilbury stores natural gas in liquefied form at cryogenic temperatures, providing peak-shaving capacity that allows FortisBC to meet winter demand spikes without relying solely on pipeline deliveries from the TCPL and Westcoast transmission systems.
The facility has operated since 1971 and has undergone multiple capacity expansions over its operational life. The most recent and most significant expansion — approved by the BC Utilities Commission in a landmark regulatory decision — will bring total Tilbury storage capacity to approximately 13 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, a substantial increase from the pre-expansion position and one of the largest LNG storage expansions undertaken at a North American utility-scale facility in recent years.
Beyond peak-shaving, Tilbury serves a second commercial function: supplying small-scale LNG to heavy transport and marine customers across British Columbia. FortisBC operates an LNG fuelling network for long-haul trucking fleets and has supplied LNG to BC Ferries for the province’s dual-fuel ferry fleet — one of the most visible applications of LNG as a marine transport fuel in Canada. The dual-use model — grid peak-shaving and transport fuel supply from the same facility — improves Tilbury’s asset utilisation and revenue profile beyond a conventional utility storage operation.
Pipeline Network and Distribution Infrastructure
FortisBC’s gas distribution network covers the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Interior, and the Whistler corridor — a geographic spread that encompasses the majority of BC’s population centres and a significant share of the province’s industrial base. The 49,000-kilometre pipeline system includes both high-pressure transmission lines and the lower-pressure distribution mains that deliver gas to individual customer premises.
Vancouver Island infrastructure is a distinctive element of the FortisBC network. The island is connected to the mainland gas system via the Vancouver Island Gas Pipeline — a subsea crossing that represents a single point of dependency for island gas supply. Tilbury’s LNG storage provides a supply buffer for Vancouver Island customers during periods when the subsea pipeline is constrained by maintenance or unplanned outages, making LNG storage a direct reliability input for the island’s gas system rather than purely a demand management tool.
Industrial customers across BC’s forest products, mining, and food processing sectors are significant FortisBC gas consumers. The utility’s industrial tariff structure and large-volume delivery capability make it a key energy supplier to operations that cannot economically switch to electricity for high-temperature process heat applications — a customer segment that FortisBC has actively retained through compressed natural gas and LNG delivery programmes where pipeline access is limited.
FortisBC LNG Utility in the North American Context
Among the largest LNG storage and handling facilities globally, Tilbury occupies a distinct position as a utility-scale peak-shaving facility rather than an export terminal — its function is demand management and supply security rather than commodity export. This regulatory and commercial distinction shapes FortisBC’s investment case and rate-setting framework under BC Utilities Commission oversight.
Sempra’s LNG infrastructure in North America — spanning Cameron LNG in Louisiana, Port Arthur LNG in Texas, and ECA LNG in Mexico — represents the export-oriented end of the North American LNG spectrum that FortisBC does not occupy. The comparison illustrates the breadth of LNG infrastructure models operating under the same broad technology framework: Tilbury is peak-shaving utility storage; Sempra’s facilities are large-scale liquefaction and export assets serving global commodity markets.
Among the top natural gas storage companies in North America, FortisBC’s regulated utility model provides rate-base certainty and approved return on equity that privately held or merchant storage operators cannot access. Capital investment in Tilbury expansion is recoverable through regulated tariffs — a fundamentally different risk profile from merchant LNG storage where returns depend on commodity spread and utilisation.
Energy Transition and RNG Strategy
FortisBC has developed one of Canada’s most advanced renewable natural gas programmes, with commitments to blend increasing volumes of RNG into the distribution network over time. RNG — produced from agricultural waste, landfill gas, and wastewater treatment — is chemically identical to fossil natural gas and can be transported and stored through existing FortisBC infrastructure without modification, including at Tilbury.
The utility has signed long-term RNG supply agreements with producers across BC and Alberta, with blending targets that scale progressively through the late 2020s. RNG integration allows FortisBC to reduce the carbon intensity of gas delivered to customers without requiring them to change appliances or heating systems — a pragmatic decarbonisation pathway for a regulated utility serving a customer base that cannot uniformly electrify on a short timeline.
Hydrogen blending is a further research-stage initiative. FortisBC has conducted hydrogen blending trials in isolated sections of the distribution network, assessing the technical and regulatory parameters for low-concentration hydrogen blending in conventional gas pipelines. Full-network hydrogen blending remains a longer-term option dependent on hydrogen production cost trajectories and federal regulatory frameworks that are still under development in Canada.
Regulatory Framework and Fortis Inc Ownership
FortisBC operates under the regulatory jurisdiction of the BC Utilities Commission, which sets allowed rates of return, approves capital expenditure programmes, and determines customer tariff levels through periodic general rate applications. The regulated framework provides revenue certainty but constrains the pace and scope of capital investment to what the BCUC approves as necessary and prudent for customer service.
Fortis Inc — the St. John’s, Newfoundland-headquartered holding company — owns FortisBC alongside regulated utilities in Alberta, Ontario, New York, Arizona, and the Caribbean. Fortis Inc trades on the TSX and NYSE under the ticker FTS and carries an investment-grade credit rating that supports FortisBC’s access to capital markets at utility-appropriate borrowing costs. The parent’s diversified utility portfolio provides financial stability that underpins FortisBC’s multi-decade infrastructure investment programme.
FortisBC — Company Snapshot
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | FortisBC Energy Inc |
| Parent company | Fortis Inc (TSX/NYSE: FTS) |
| Headquarters | Surrey, British Columbia, Canada |
| Customers served | ~1.2 million |
| Pipeline network | 49,000+ km transmission and distribution |
| Primary LNG facility | Tilbury LNG, Delta, BC |
| Tilbury storage capacity | ~13 bcf (post-expansion) |
| Regulator | BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) |
| Key services | Gas distribution, LNG storage, small-scale LNG, RNG blending |
| Geographic coverage | Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, BC Interior, Whistler corridor |
What does FortisBC do and who owns it?
FortisBC is British Columbia’s largest natural gas distribution utility, serving approximately 1.2 million customers through more than 49,000 kilometres of pipeline infrastructure. It is owned by Fortis Inc, Canada’s largest investor-owned gas and electric utility holding company, headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland. FortisBC operates under the regulatory oversight of the BC Utilities Commission.
What is the Tilbury LNG facility and what is it used for?
The Tilbury LNG facility in Delta, British Columbia, is FortisBC’s primary liquefied natural gas storage asset. It provides peak-shaving capacity to balance winter demand spikes on the BC gas system and supplies small-scale LNG to heavy transport and marine customers including BC Ferries. Following regulatory approval from the BC Utilities Commission, Tilbury’s storage capacity is expanding to approximately 13 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent.
How large is FortisBC’s pipeline network?
FortisBC operates more than 49,000 kilometres of natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline across British Columbia, covering the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the BC Interior, and the Whistler corridor. Vancouver Island gas supply is dependent on the subsea Vancouver Island Gas Pipeline crossing from the mainland, with Tilbury LNG providing a supply buffer during pipeline maintenance or outages.
What is FortisBC’s renewable natural gas strategy?
FortisBC has developed one of Canada’s most advanced RNG programmes, signing long-term supply agreements with producers across BC and Alberta to blend increasing volumes of renewable natural gas — produced from agricultural waste, landfill gas, and wastewater treatment — into the distribution network. RNG is chemically identical to fossil natural gas and can be transported through existing FortisBC infrastructure without modification, including storage at Tilbury.
How does FortisBC’s LNG storage model differ from LNG export terminals?
FortisBC’s Tilbury facility is a utility-scale peak-shaving and small-scale LNG supply asset, not an export terminal. Its function is demand management and supply security for BC gas customers under a regulated tariff framework approved by the BC Utilities Commission. LNG export terminals such as those operated by Sempra in Louisiana and Texas are large-scale liquefaction facilities serving global commodity markets — a fundamentally different commercial and regulatory model.