2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-TWO - Public Works (§§ 1 — 1104) › Chapter 11 - Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (§§ 191 — 240) › § 192 - Definitions

The following terms, wherever used or referred to in §§ 191—217 of this title, shall have the meaning stated below, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) Creditors’ agreements.— Shall mean the agreement executed on January 27, 2016 (including annexes, exhibits, and schedules attached thereto), by and among the Authority and various of the principal creditors thereof, as amended or supplemented, whereby certain terms and conditions of the current debt are modified and the Authority commits to (i) implement certain administrative, operational, and governance reform measures; (ii) optimize electric power transmission and distribution; (iii) modernize electric power generation; and (iv) achieve operational savings. Neither the Agreement nor any future amendment thereto or supplement thereof shall be inconsistent with the provisions of the “Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Revitalization Act”. None of the provisions of the creditors” agreement executed prior to the approval of this act shall be understood to be binding upon or create obligations between the customers or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the creditors of the Corporation and the Authority.
(b) Federal agency.— Shall mean the United States of America, the President of the United States of America, any department thereof, or any corporation, agency, or instrumentality heretofore or hereafter created, designated, or established by the United States of America.
(c) Authority or PREPA.— Shall mean the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority created by §§ 191—217 of this title.
(d) Bonds.— Shall mean the bonds, term bonds, convertible bonds, obligations, notes, interim bonds, receipts, certificates, or other evidence of indebtedness or obligations that PREPA is authorized to issue, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 191—217 of this title.
(e) Commission.— Shall mean the Energy Commission created by §§ 191—217 of this title.
(f) Conservation.— Shall mean any reduction in electric power consumption resulting by changes in customer consumption patterns.
(g) Energy efficiency.— Shall mean changes in electric usage attributable to substituting appliances and equipment or the most efficient operation of materials or equipment.
(h) Undertaking.— Shall mean any one or a combination of two or more of the following for continuing the development of energy production, to wit: works, facilities, structures, irrigation, electricity, heating, lighting, power, or equipment with all parts and appurtenances thereof, and lands, rights thereon and privileges in connection therewith, and any and all other property or services which PREPA shall deem to be necessary, proper, incidental or convenient in connection with its activities including, but not limited to, irrigation and hydroelectric supply and distribution systems, plants for generating electricity by water power or by any other means, including steam, and energy renewable sources, and stations, reservoirs, dams, canals, tunnels, conduits, transmission and distribution lines, and other facilities and appurtenances necessary, useful, or customarily used and employed in the production, diversion, collection, storage, conservation, utilization, transportation, distribution, sale, exchange, delivery, or other disposition of electric power, electric equipment, supplies, services or other activities in which PREPA shall engage or wishes to engage pursuant to its purposes.
(i) Renewable energy.— Shall have the same meaning as the term “green energy”, defined in §§8121 et seq. of Title 12, or any successor law.
(j) Official or employee.— Officials, employees, or individuals working in the Electric Power Authority or any entity or subsidiary thereof.
(k) Essential public service facilities.— Shall mean health facilities, police and armed forces stations, fire stations, emergency management offices, prisons, waste water supply and treatment facilities, public educational institutions owned or used by the government and any other facility, whether owned or used by the government, designated by the Energy Commission as an “Essential Public Service Facility” by regulations.
(l) Board.— Shall mean the Governing Board of PREPA.
(m) Modernization.— Shall mean projects for the development of new generation plants or the replacement of existing plants that fail to comply with the Integrated Resource Plan of the Authority.
(n) Citizen participation.— Shall mean the various mechanisms that allow customers of PREPA and electric power generation and/or distribution companies certified in Puerto Rico to have a forum to express their concerns, make suggestions, and be included in the decision-making process. These mechanisms shall include, but not be limited to, the request and receipt of comments, photographs, and other documents from the public, administrative meetings of PREPA where customer focus groups participate, regional meetings open to PREPA’s customers in such region, public hearings, and the establishment of vehicles that enable participation by electronic means.
(o) Integrated resource plan or IRP.— Shall mean a plan that considers all reasonable resources to satisfy the demand of electric power services during a specific period of time, including those related to the offering of electric power, whether existing, traditional and/or new resources, and those related to energy demand, such as energy conservation and efficiency or demand response and localized energy generation by the customer. Every integrated resource plan shall be subject to the rules established by the Commission and shall be approved by the same. Every plan shall be devised with broad participation from citizens and any other interested groups.
(p) Independent producer.— Shall mean any natural or juridical person that owns an electric power generation facility in Puerto Rico for use primarily by such person and that may provide the electric power generated in excess to PREPA. This shall also include distributed generators.
(q) Demand response.— Shall mean programs to manage the electric power grid load in order to reduce or shift electricity usage during peak periods and/or grid reliability issues. Demand Response Programs may include direct load control (such as air conditioners and water heaters) rates to encourage a reduction in consumption during certain hours in which the reliability of the grids could be jeopardized, and any other designed program that may be implemented through smart meters and other technologies.
(r) Hydroelectric System of the Puerto Rico Irrigation Service, South Coast.— Shall mean the hydroelectric works, as well as transmission and distribution lines and all facilities forming the electrical system built or acquired pursuant to the provisions of the Public Irrigation Law, approved September 18, 1908, and laws amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.
(s) System of Utilization of the water resources.— Shall mean all the works and property forming the development of water resources and electrical system built or acquired, or in process of being built or acquired, or intended to be built or acquired by the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, together with the rights, water rights, and water-power rights, used, useful, or appropriate in connection with said development and system so far accomplished, or with the continuance and expansion of said development and system by means of revenue-producing undertakings, under the provisions of Act No. 60, approved July 28, 1925; Joint Resolution No. 36, approved April 29, 1927; Act No. 36, approved April 25, 1930; Act No. 93, approved May 6, 1938; Act No. 7, approved April 6, 1931; Joint Resolution No. 5, approved April 8, 1931; Act No. 8, approved July 12, 1932; Joint Resolution No. 7, approved March 29, 1935; Joint Resolution No. 27, approved April 17, 1935; Act No. 41, approved August 6, 1935; Act No. 1, approved September 22, 1936; Act No. 94, approved May 6, 1938; and Act No. 21, approved June 17, 1939, all of which are Acts and Joint Resolutions of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico.
(t) Solicitation of contributions.— It shall be understood as any request personally made by a member of the Board, official or employee while carrying out the duties of his/her office, for a contribution in cash or in kind to be made for the benefit of a political party, movement, or political action committee or candidate for any elective office.
(u) Bondholder or any similar term.— Shall mean any outstanding bond or bonds registered to bearer or unregistered, or the registered owner of any outstanding bond or bonds which, at the time are registered in the name of a person other than to bearer.
(v) Utilization of the water resources.— Shall mean the body established pursuant to law by the Commissioner of the Interior of Puerto Rico for the purpose of handling the activities provided for by Act No. 60, approved July 28, 1925; Joint Resolution No. 36, approved April 29, 1927; Act No. 36, approved April 25, 1930; Act No. 93, approved May 6, 1938, under which the Commissioner of the Interior of Puerto Rico, in accordance with the provisions of Act No. 58, approved April 30, 1928, included all matters relative to the operation, including surveys and technical direction of new constructions, extensions, and improvements, of the “Hydroelectric System of the Puerto Rico Irrigation Service, South Coast”.
Words importing the singular number shall include the plural number and vice versa, and words importing persons shall include firms, partnerships of all kinds, and corporations.
History —May 2, 1941, No. 83, p. 684, § 2; Apr. 8, 1942, No. 19, p. 330, § 1, eff. 90 days after Apr. 8, 1942; May 27, 2014, No. 57, § 2.1; Feb. 16, 2016, No. 4, § 4.