Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 126 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION › Division 03 - Utilities Section › Rule 126.03.13-002 - Rules of Practice and Procedure

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SECTION
			 1.
PURPOSE, APPLICABILITY, AND GENERAL MATTERS
Rule 1.01
Definitions
The following definitions shall apply throughout the
Rules of Practice and Procedure
(RPPs) except as otherwise
				required by the context and any references to the RPPs shall include these
				definitions:
(a) "Applicant" or
			 "Petitioner." A Person who files a Formal Application.
(b) "Ark. R. Civ. P." The
Arkansas
			 Rules of Civil Procedure
.
(c) "Class A Telecommunications Provider."
			 Any LEC providing more than 25,000 access lines in Arkansas.
(d) "Commission." Commissioners of the
			 Arkansas Public Service Commission as defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-2-101 or a
			 Presiding Officer designated to act on behalf of the Commission.
(e) "Commission Business Hours." The
			 Commission's normal business hours as posted on its website.
(f) "Commissioner." A member of the
			 Commission, as defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-2-101.
(g) "Commissioners' Staff." Employees of the
			 Commission who provide technical and legal support to the Commissioners. The
			 Commissioners' Staff is not a Party in any Docket.
(h) "Complainant." A Person who files a
			 Formal Complaint.
(i) "Competing
			 Local Exchange Carrier" or "CLEC." As defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-17-403(8).
(j) "Cost of Service." The total cost of
			 providing service to each customer class which considers all reasonable
			 expenses, including taxes and depreciation, and a fair rate of return on assets
			 devoted to utility service. The assignment of costs among the customer classes
			 should be made using the criterion that each customer class will bear those
			 costs the utility incurs in providing utility service to customers.
(k) "Day." When used to establish a deadline,
			 a calendar day, unless a specific Rule explicitly uses the term "business
			 day."
(l) "Docket." A formal
			 proceeding in which the Secretary has assigned a Docket number.
(m) "Electronic Filing System" or "EFS." The
			 Commission's online filing system used to make filings in docketed Commission
			 proceedings.
(n) "
Ex
			 Parte
Communication." Written or oral communication by a Person to a
			 Commissioner or Presiding Officer outside of a public hearing. A written
			 document filed with the Secretary or sent to the Commission and served on other
			 Parties shall not be considered an
Ex Parte
Communication.
(o) "Formal
			 Application." A written pleading which is filed and seeks to invoke the
			 authority of the Commission to perform an act or to approve an act to be
			 performed by the Applicant.
(p)
			 "Formal Complaint." A Formal Application in the form of a complaint, initiated
			 by the Commission, Staff, or a Person authorized to complain pursuant to Ark.
			 Code Ann. §
										23-3-119.
(q) "General Rate Change Application." A
			 Formal Application for a rate change pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§
										23-4-401,
et seq.
(r)
			 "Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier" or "ILEC." As defined in Ark. Code Ann.
			 §
										23-17-403(16).
(s) "Informal Complaint." A complaint in oral
			 or letter form, which is not part of a Docket, received by the Commission or
			 Staff from Persons having a complaint about a utility's service, rates, or
			 actions.
(t) "Interexchange
			 Carrier" or "IXC." Any Person not a Local Exchange Carrier that provides
			 interexchange communications services to the public for compensation in
			 Arkansas.
(u) "Intervenor." A
			 Person who has been granted permission to intervene in a Docket pursuant to
			 Rule 4.02.
(v) "Legal Holiday." A
			 day designated as a holiday by Arkansas laws or executive
			 proclamation.
(w) "Local Exchange
			 Carrier" or "LEC." As defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-17-403(19).
(x) "Major Electric Utilities." As defined in
			 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Electric
Uniform System of
			 Accounts
.
(y) "Major
			 Natural Gas Utilities." As defined in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
			 Gas
Uniform System of Accounts
.
(z) "Non-electing ILEC." An ILEC that is not
			 regulated pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§
										23-17-406
			 through -408 or
			 23-17-412.
(aa) "Official Service List." A list
			 maintained by the Secretary in each Docket of the names, addresses, and other
			 information listed in Rule 3.04 for the individual(s) designated by each Party
			 to whom pleadings, notices, and correspondence are to be addressed.
(bb) "Party."
(1) Any Person who:
(A) initiates a Docket before the Commission
			 by filing a Formal Application consistent with the RPPs;
(B) is named as a respondent in a Formal
			 Complaint filed pursuant to Rule 9.02;
(C) is an Intervenor;
(D) is otherwise specifically designated by
			 Commission order as an official Party to any Docket.
(2) The Attorney General of Arkansas, acting
			 pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§
											23-4-301,
et seq.,
upon filing a "notice of intent" to participate as a
			 Party in any Docket.
(3) The Staff
			 where Staff is participating as a Party in any Docket pursuant to Rule
			 1.04.
(cc) "Person." As
			 defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-1-101.
(dd) "Presiding Officer." The chair of the
			 Commission; in the absence of the chair, another Commissioner; or a
			 representative the Commission designated to preside over a
			 proceeding.
(ee) "Pro Forma
			 Adjustments." Consistent with Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-4-406,
			 adjustments to any test year so utilized to reflect the effects on an
			 annualized basis of any and all changes in circumstances which may occur within
			 twelve (12) months after the end of the test year where such changes are both
			 reasonably known and measurable.
(ff) "Pro Forma Year." Consistent with Ark.
			 Code Ann. §
										23-4-406,
			 the twelve (12) month period immediately following the test year.
(gg) "Rate Schedule." A schedule of rates and
			 conditions of service for a specific classification of customer or for other
			 specific services.
(hh) "RPPs." The
			 Commission's
Rules of Practice and Procedure
, which include
			 all Appendices.
(ii) "Rule." Any
			 Commission statement of general applicability and future effect that
			 implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy, or describes the
			 organization, procedure, or practice of the Commission, issued following notice
			 and hearing as required by statute.
(jj) "Rulemaking." The Commission process for
			 the formulation, amendment, or repeal of a Rule pursuant to statute.
(kk) "Rural Telephone Company." As defined in
			 Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-17-403(22).
(ll) "Secretary." The Secretary of the
			 Commission, an Assistant Secretary, or such other person the Commission may
			 assign.
(mm) "Section 6 Electing
			 Company." An ILEC regulated pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§
										23-17-406
			 through -408.
(nn) "Section 12
			 Electing Company." An ILEC regulated pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-17-412.
(oo) "Staff." Commission employees who may
			 collectively participate in and appear as a Party in investigations at and
			 Dockets before the Commission. Staff includes the Executive Director and the
			 Tax Division Director of the Commission and employees who report to those
			 directors. Staff does not include Commissioners' Staff.
(pp) "Telecommunications Provider." Any
			 Person that offers Telecommunications Services to the public for
			 compensation.
(qq)
			 "Telecommunications Services." The offering to the public for compensation the
			 transmission of voice, data, or other electronic information at any frequency
			 over any part of the electromagnetic spectrum, notwithstanding any other use of
			 the associated facilities. Such term does not include radio and television
			 broadcast or distribution services, or providing or publishing yellow pages,
			 regardless of the entity providing such services, or services to the extent
			 that such services are used in connection with operating a government-owned
			 electric utility system.
(rr) "Test
			 Year." As defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
										23-4-406,
			 a historical test period of twelve (12) consecutive calendar months or a
			 forward-looking test period of twelve (12) consecutive calendar months
			 consisting of six (6) months actual historical data derived from the books and
			 records of the utility and six (6) months of projected data.
(ss) "Tier One Company." Any ILEC that,
			 together with its Arkansas affiliates that are also ILECs, provided basic local
			 exchange services to greater than one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) access
			 lines in Arkansas on February 4, 1997.
(tt) "Uniform System of Accounts" or "USOA."
			 The basic account descriptions, instructions, and accounting definitions to
			 which jurisdictional utilities are required to adhere in maintaining their
			 books and records. The required USOA for each utility is listed as follows and
			 shall include any future updates, revisions, or interpretations made to the
			 referenced USOA:
(1) Electric Investor Owned
			 Utilities - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) USOA prescribed
			 by 18 C.F.R. § 101. In addition, 18 C.F.R. § 125 prescribes the rules
			 regarding the preservation of records.
(2) Gas Investor Owned Utilities - The FERC's
			 USOA prescribed by 18 C.F.R. § 201. In addition, 18 C.F.R. § 225
			 prescribes the rules regarding the preservation of records.
(3) Electric Cooperatives - The Rural
			 Utilities Service's (RUS) USOA prescribed by 7 C.F.R. § 1767.
(4) Water and Sewer Utilities - The National
			 Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' (NARUC) USOA. In addition,
			 NARUC's rules and regulations govern the preservation of records.
(5) Telecommunications Utilities - The
			 Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) USOA prescribed by 47 C.F.R. §
			 32.
Where the otherwise applicable USOA has been modified by
				Arkansas statute or Commission order, the modification shall control for
				ratemaking purposes.
(uu) "Workpapers." Workpapers shall include
			 information sufficient to verify all inputs and replicate all calculations and
			 analyses specifically relied upon to support all recommendations made,
			 positions taken, or conclusions reached in testimony, exhibits, Appendix
			 schedules, or any other document that are filed or provided.