Arizona Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATIONS; CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS; SECURITIES REGULATION › Chapter 2 - CORPORATION COMMISSION - FIXED UTILITIES › Article 3 - GAS UTILITIES › Section R14-2-301 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
In this Article, unless the context otherwise requires, the
				  following definitions shall apply:
1. "Advance in aid of construction." Funds provided to the
				  utility by the applicant under the terms of a main extension agreement the
				  value of which may be refundable.
2. "Applicant." A person requesting the utility to supply gas
				  service.
3. "Application." A request to the utility for gas service,
				  as distinguished from an inquiry as to the availability or charges for such
				  service.
4. "Arizona Corporation Commission." The regulatory authority
				  of the state of Arizona having jurisdiction over public service corporations
				  operating in Arizona.
5. "Billing month." The period between any two regular
				  readings of the utility's meters at approximately 30 day intervals.
6. "Billing period." The time interval between two
				  consecutive meter readings that are taken for billing purposes.
7. "British Thermal Unit." The amount of heat required to
				  raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit (1° F) at
				  standard conditions.
8. "Btu." British thermal unit.
9. "Commodity charge." The unit of cost per billed usage, as
				  set forth in the utility's tariffs.
10. "Contributions in aid of construction." Funds provided to
				  the utility by the applicant under the terms of a main extension agreement
				  and/or service connection tariff the value of which are not refundable.
11. "Cubic foot"
a. In cases where gas is supplied and metered to customers at
				  the standard delivery pressure, a cubic foot of gas is the volume of gas which,
				  at the temperature and pressure existing in the meter, occupies one cubic
				  foot.
b. Regardless of the pressure supplied to the customer, the
				  volume of gas metered will be converted to the volume which the gas would
				  occupy at standard conditions of 14.73 pounds per square inch absolute at
				  60° F.
c. The standard cubic foot of gas for testing the gas itself
				  for heating value shall be that volume of gas which, when saturated with water
				  vapor and at a temperature of 60° F and under a pressure equivalent to that
				  of 30 inches of mercury (mercury at 32° F and under standard gravity),
				  occupies one cubic foot.
12. "Ccf." 100 cubic feet.
13. "Curtailment priority." The order in which gas service is
				  to be curtailed to various classifications of customers, as set forth in the
				  utility's tariffs.
14. "Customer." The person or entity in whose name service is
				  rendered, as evidenced by the signature on the application or contract for that
				  service, or by the receipt and/or payment of bills regularly issued in his name
				  regardless of the identity of the actual user of the service.
15. "Customer charge." The amount the customer must pay the
				  utility for the availability of gas service, excluding any gas used, as
				  specified in the utility's tariffs.
16. "Day." Calendar day.
17. "Distribution main." A gas line of the utility from which
				  service lines may be extended to customers.
18. "Federal poverty level" means the U.S. federal poverty
				  guideline for the pertinent household size published annually in the Federal
				  Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the
				  Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and available at
https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines
.
19. "Inability to
				  pay" means a circumstance under which a residential customer either:
a. Cannot pay the full balance of the customer's monthly bill
				  and has attested to and, if requested, has provided documentation issued by an
				  Arizona or U.S. governmental agency or a licensed medical practitioner
				  verifying that the customer meets one of the following:
i. Is at least 62 years of age;
ii. Has a physical or mental condition that substantially
				  limits the customer's ability to manage resources, carry out activities of
				  daily living, or secure protection from neglect or hazardous situations without
				  assistance from others; or
iii. Has a medical condition that makes termination of gas
				  service especially dangerous to the customer's health; or b. Cannot pay the
				  full balance of the customer's monthly bill and meets one of the following as
				  attested to by the residential customer:
i. Is not gainfully
				  employed;
ii. Qualifies for
				  monetary government welfare assistance but has not yet begun to receive
				  assistance; or
iii. Has an annual
				  income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
20. "Interrupt" or
				  "Interruption" means to cease or the cessation of gas service to a customer at
				  the point of delivery.
21. " Licensed medical practitioner" means one of the
				  following types of health care providers, actively licensed to practice in
				  Arizona:
a. An allopathic or osteopathic physician,
b. A registered nurse practitioner, or
c. A physician assistant.
22. " Limited income" means:
a. A residential customer with annual household income at or
				  below 250 percent of the federal poverty level; or
b. A residential customer with annual household income at or
				  below a percentage of the federal poverty level higher than 250 percent, as
				  established by a gas utility in a Commission-approved tariff.
23. "Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program" or "LIHEAP"
				  means the federally funded program that provides low-income residential
				  customers energy bill assistance.
24. "Main extension."
				  The lines and equipment necessary to extend the existing gas distribution
				  system to provide service to additional customers.
25. "Master meter."
				  An instrument for measuring or recording the flow of gas at a single location
				  where said gas is transported through an underground piping system to tenants
				  or occupants for their individual consumption.
26. "Mcf." 1,000
				  cubic feet.
27. "Meter." The
				  instrument for measuring and indicating or recording the volume of gas or flow
				  that has passed through it.
28. "Meter
				  tampering." A situation where a meter has been illegally altered. Common
				  examples are meter bypassing and other unauthorized connections.
29. "Minimum charge."
				  The amount the customer must pay for the availability of gas service, including
				  an amount of usage, as specified in the utility's tariffs.
30. "Permanent
				  customer." A customer who is a tenant or owner of a service location who
				  applies for and receives gas service.
31. "Permanent
				  service." Service which, in the opinion of the utility, is of a permanent and
				  established character. The use of gas may be continuous, intermittent, or
				  seasonal in nature.
32. "Person." Any
				  individual, partnership, corporation, governmental agency, or other
				  organization operating as a single entity.
33. "Point of
				  delivery." The point where pipes owned, leased, or under license by a customer
				  connect to the utility's pipes or at the outlet side of the meter.
34. "Preferred method of communication" means the
				  communication method that complies with
				  R14-2-312(K).
35. "Premises." All
				  of the real property and apparatus employed in a single enterprise on an
				  integral parcel of land undivided by public streets, alleys or railways.
36. "Residential
				  subdivision." Any tract of land which has been divided into four or more
				  contiguous lots for use for the construction of residential buildings or
				  permanent mobile homes for either single or multiple occupancy.
37. "Residential
				  use." Service to customers using gas for domestic purposes such as space
				  heating, air conditioning, water heating, cooking, clothes drying, and other
				  residential uses and includes use in apartment buildings, mobile home parks,
				  and other multiunit residential buildings.
38. "Restricted
				  apparatus." Apparatus prohibited by the Commission or other governmental
				  agency.
39. "Service address" means the physical location at which a
				  utility provides service to a customer.
40. "Service area."
				  The territory in which the utility has been granted a Certificate of
				  Convenience and Necessity and is authorized by the Commission to provide gas
				  service.
41. "Service
				  establishment charge." A charge as specified in the utility's tariffs which
				  covers the cost of establishing a new account.
42. "Service line." A
				  gas pipe that transports gas from a common source of supply (normally a
				  distribution main) to the customer's point of delivery.
43. "Service
				  reconnect charge" means the charge specified in a utility's tariffs that must
				  be paid by a customer prior to restarting gas service each time the customer's
				  gas service is terminated for nonpayment or for failure to comply with the
				  utility's tariffs.
44. "Service
				  reestablishment charge" means the charge specified in a utility's tariffs that
				  must be paid to reinitiate service at the same location where the same customer
				  ordered a service termination within the preceding 12-month period.
45. "Single family
				  dwelling." A house, an apartment, a mobile home permanently affixed to a lot,
				  or any other permanent residential unit which is used as a permanent
				  home.
46. "Standard
				  delivery pressure." 0.25 pounds per square inch gauge at the meter or point of
				  delivery.
47. "Tariffs." The
				  documents filed with the Commission which list the services and products
				  offered by the gas company and which set forth the terms and conditions and a
				  schedule of the rates and charges for those services and products.
48. "Temporary
				  service." Service to premises or enterprises which are temporary in character,
				  or where it is known in advance that the service will be of limited duration.
				  Service which, in the opinion of the utility, is for operations of a
				  speculative character is also considered temporary service.
49. "Terminate" or "Termination" means to discontinue or a
				  discontinuance of gas service to a customer's service address, by intentional
				  action of the utility, and is synonymous with "disconnect" or "disconnection"
				  as used in this Article.
50. "Therm." A unit
				  of heating value, equivalent to 100,000 British thermal units (Btu's).
51. "Third party"
				  means an entity or a person authorized by a customer and willing to receive
				  notification of the customer's pending termination of service and to
				  communicate with the utility on behalf of the customer for the purpose of
				  making arrangements to prevent termination of gas service.
52. "Utility." The
				  public service corporation providing gas service to the public in compliance
				  with state law.