Arizona Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATIONS; CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS; SECURITIES REGULATION › Chapter 2 - CORPORATION COMMISSION - FIXED UTILITIES › Article 2 - ELECTRIC UTILITIES › Section R14-2-201 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
In this Article, unless the context otherwise requires, the
				  following definitions shall apply. In addition, the definitions contained in
				  Article 16, Retail Electric Competition, shall apply in this Article unless the
				  context otherwise requires.
1. "Advance in aid of construction." Funds provided to the
				  utility by the applicant under the terms of a line extension agreement the
				  value of which may be refundable.
2. "Applicant." A person requesting the utility to supply
				  electric service.
3. "Application." A request to the utility for electric
				  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. "Contributions in aid of construction." Funds provided to
				  the utility by the applicant under the terms of a line extension agreement or
				  service connection tariff the value of which is not refundable.
8. "Curtailment priority." The order in which electric
				  service is to be curtailed to various classifications of customers, as set
				  forth in the utility's filed tariffs.
9. "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.
10. "Customer charge." The amount the customers must pay the
				  utility for the availability of electric service, excluding any electricity
				  used, as specified in the utility's tariffs.
11. "Customer hours" means the product of the duration of the
				  utility outage and the number of customers affected by said outage.
12. "Day." Calendar
				  day.
13. "Demand." The
				  rate at which power is delivered during any specified period of time. Demand
				  may be expressed in kilowatts, kilovolt-amperes, or other suitable
				  units.
14. "Distribution
				  lines." The utility lines operated at distribution voltage which are
				  constructed along public roadways or other bona fide rights-of-way, including
				  easements on customer's property.
15. "Electric Service Provider" or "ESP" means an entity
				  supplying, marketing, or brokering at retail any competitive services pursuant
				  to a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity.
16. "Energy."
				  Electric energy, expressed in kilowatt-hours.
17. "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
.
18. "Heat-vulnerable populations" means persons who are more
				  vulnerable to hot weather mortality and morbidity.
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
				  electric 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 electric service to a
				  customer at the point of delivery.
21. "Kilowatt (kw)."
				  A unit of power equal to 1,000 watts.
22. "Kilowatt-hour
				  (kwh)." Electric energy equivalent to the amount of electric energy delivered
				  in one hour when delivery is at a constant rate of 1 kilowatt.
23. "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.
24. "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 an electric utility in a Commission-approved tariff.
25. "Line extension."
				  The lines and equipment necessary to extend the electric distribution system of
				  the utility to provide service to additional customers.
26. "Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program" or "LIHEAP"
				  means the federally funded program that provides low-income residential
				  customers energy bill assistance.
27. "Master meter." A
				  meter for measuring or recording the flow of electricity that has passed
				  through it at a single location where said electricity is distributed to
				  tenants or occupants for their individual usage.
28. "Megawatt (Mw)."
				  A unit of power equal to 1,000,000 watts.
29. "Meter." The
				  instrument for measuring and indicating or recording the flow of electricity
				  that has passed through it.
30. "Meter
				  tampering." A situation where a meter has been illegally altered. Common
				  examples are meter bypassing, use of magnets to slow the meter recording, and
				  broken meter seals.
31. "Minimum charge."
				  The amount the customer must pay for the availability of electric service,
				  including an amount of usage, as specified in the utility's tariffs.
32. "Permanent
				  customer." A customer who is a tenant or owner of a service location who
				  applies for and receives permanent electric service.
33. "Permanent
				  service." Service which, in the opinion of the utility, is of a permanent and
				  established character. The use of electricity may be continuous, intermittent,
				  or seasonal in nature.
34. "Person." Any
				  individual, partnership, corporation, governmental agency, or other
				  organization operating as a single entity.
35. "Point of
				  delivery." The point where facilities owned, leased, or under license by a
				  customer connects to the utility's facilities.
36. "Power." The rate
				  of generating, transferring, or using electric energy, usually expressed in
				  kilowatts.
37. "Preferred method of communication" means the
				  communication method that complies with
				  R14-2-212(K).
38. "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.
39. "Residential
				  subdivision development." Any tract of land which has been divided into four or
				  more contiguous lots with an average size of one acre or less for use for the
				  construction of residential buildings or permanent mobile homes for either
				  single or multiple occupancy.
40. "Residential
				  use." Service to customers using electricity 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.
41. "Service address" means the physical location at which a
				  utility provides service to a customer.
42. "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
				  electric service.
43. "Service
				  establishment charge." The charge as specified in the utility's tariffs which
				  covers the cost of establishing a new account.
44. "Service line."
				  The line extending from a distribution line or transformer to the customer's
				  premises or point of delivery.
45. "Service
				  reconnect charge" means the charge specified in a utility's tariffs that must
				  be paid by a customer prior to restarting electric service each time the
				  customer's electric service is terminated for nonpayment or for failure to
				  comply with the utility's tariffs.
46. "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.
47. "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.
48. "Tariffs." The
				  documents filed with the Commission which list the services and products
				  offered by the utility and which set forth the terms and conditions and a
				  schedule of the rates and charges, for those services and products.
49. "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.
50. "Terminate" or "Termination" means to discontinue or a
				  discontinuance of electric 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.
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 the customer's electric
				  service.
52. "Utility." The
				  public service corporation providing electric service to the public in
				  compliance with state law, except in those instances set forth in
				  R14-2-1612(A)
				  and (B).
53. "Utility Distribution Company" or "UDC" means the utility
				  that operates, constructs, and maintains the distribution system for the
				  delivery of power to a point of delivery on the distribution system.
The following
				  Section was amended under an exemption from the Attorney General approval
				  provisions of the Arizona Administrative Procedure Act (State ex. rel. Corbin
				  v. Arizona Corporation Commission, 174 Ariz. 216 848 P.2d 301 (App. 1992)), as
				  determined by the Corporation Commission. This exemption means that the rules
				  as amended were not approved by the Attorney
				  General.