Code of Maine Rules › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › 407 - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › Chapter 820 - UTILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-CORE ACTIVITIES AND TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN AFFILIATES › Section 407-820-2 - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A. Aggregate Customer Information (ACI).
				"Aggregate customer information" is information about a population of utility
				customers that does not identify any individual customer and is available to a
				utility solely by virtue of the utility-customer relationship.
B. Capitalization. "Capitalization" means the
				sum of the utility's debt and equity.
C. Core Utility Service. "Core utility
				service" means the generation, transmission or distribution of electricity or
				gas, services necessary to perform those functions, services for which the
				utility is the provider of last resort or services the Commission requires the
				utility to provide, except that any service that a utility provides outside its
				service territory is not a core service.
D. Customer Specific Information (CSI).
				"Customer specific information" is information that describes the usage,
				technical configuration or type of utility service subscribed to by a
				particular customer of a public utility and is available to the utility solely
				by virtue of the utility-customer relationship.
E.
De minimis
Service.
				"
De minimis
service" is a service for which the investment
				does not exceed 0.1% of the utility's capitalization and total gross revenues
				received from providing that service do not exceed 0.1% of the utility's annual
				gross revenues. If the total revenues received from providing all
de
				minimis
services exceeds 2% of the utility's gross annual revenues, or
				if the utility's total investment for all
de minimis
services
				exceeds 2% of the utility's capitalization, the utility shall report that fact
				and the associated details to the Commission, which may, at its discretion,
				investigate and dispose of the matter as appropriate, including a determination
				that one or more of the services is no longer
de minimis
. If
				the utility continues a service thus determined not to be
de
				minimis
, it must be established as a non-core service consistent with
				the appropriate sections of this rule. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence,
				the utility may, at any time, provide
de minimis
services up
				to the above-stated individual and aggregate limits.
F. Good Will. "Good will" is a benefit or
				advantage to the utility of having an established reputation and established
				customer relationships, and includes the use of the name and reputation of the
				utility. The use of the good will of the utility by an affiliate is
				conclusively established where 1) the affiliate uses the name of the utility;
				or 2) the affiliate engages in joint marketing or joint advertising with the
				utility.
G. Intangibles.
				"Intangibles" are assets or property that have no material existence, and
				include (without limitation) company name, customer relationships, reputation,
				good will, rights of way, copyrights, patent rights, trade secrets, trademarks,
				trade names, royalty interests, licenses, franchises, leases, and
				mortgages.
H. Investment Grade Bond
				Rating. "Investment grade bond rating" is a rating for senior secured debt of
				above BB+ for Standard and Poor's, Duff and Phelps Credit Rating Company or
				Fitch Investors Service or above Ba1 for Moody's Investor Service. If a utility
				is not publicly rated, investment grade bond rating may be determined by a
				private letter rating.
I. Local
				Exchange Carrier. A "local exchange carrier" (LEC) is a telephone utility, as
				defined by
				 35-A M.R.S.A.
				§102(19), that provides
				telephone exchange service or interexchange access service within a telephone
				exchange or interexchange access service within a telephone exchange pursuant
				to authority granted by or under Private and Special Law of the State of Maine;
				or Public Law 1895, ch. 103, §103 or subsequent codifications or 35-A
				§2102; LECs include incumbent local exchange carriers and competitive
				local exchange carriers, and local resellers, all as defined in Chapter 280 of
				the Commission's Rules. A local exchange carrier does not include a provider of
				commercial mobile radio service.
J.
				Mutual Aid Service. "Mutual aid service" means service that meets the
				definition of core service when provided within a utility's own service
				territory but that is provided temporarily outside the utility's service
				territory for the sole purpose of assisting another utility in meeting its
				service obligations.
K. Non-Core
				Service. "Non-core service" is any service provided by an electric or gas
				utility, or any affiliate of an electric or gas utility, that does not meet the
				definition of core utility service,
de minimis
service or
				mutual aid service.
L. Service
				Territory. "Service territory" means the geographic area in which the utility
				has been authorized to serve, as of the effective date of this rule, by:
(1) an order issued by the Commission
				pursuant to
				 35-A M.R.S.A.
				§2102(1) or §
										2104;
(2) private and special law preserved by
				 35-A M.R.S.A.
				§2102(2); or otherwise
				authorized by law.