Code of Maine Rules › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › 407 - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › Chapter 395 - CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS, OWNERSHIP. COST ALLOCATION, AND CUSTOMER CHARGES RULES FOR ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION LINE EXTENSIONS AND SERVICE DROPS › Section 407-395-1 - Definitions

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
The following definitions apply to the provisions of this
				  Chapter:
A.
Contribution in Aid
				of Construction (CIAC)
. A "contribution in aid of construction" (or
				"CIAC") is a payment to a transmission and distribution (T&D) utility for
				the construction of an electric line extension that is taxed as income to the
				T&D utility.
B.
Consumer-Owned Transmission and Distribution Utility.
A
				"Consumer-owned transmission and distribution utility" has the same meaning as
				contained in Title 35-A, section 3201(6).
C.
Contribution of Facilities
. A
				"contribution of facilities" is the transfer of ownership of a line extension
				to a utility for which the utility does not pay the transferring owner, and
				that is taxed as income to the T&D utility.
D.
Development
. "Development"
				means property owned or under the control of a single person, entity or
				association when that single person, entity or association has offered two or
				more parcels within the property for sale or it is reasonable to expect that
				two or more parcels within the property will be offered for sale.
E.
Electric Distribution Line
				Extension
. "Electric distribution line extension" means any new
				single-phase or polyphase distribution facility that will be connected to a
				T&D utility's distribution system after the new facility's completion. An
				electric distribution line extension does not include a "service drop.". For
				the purpose of reallocation of the costs of a line extension pursuant to
				section
				9, a line extension shall be
				considered to last 20 years from the date that the line extension first
				provided service to a customer.
F.
Interconnection point
. "Interconnection point" means the point,
				located on a pole or other structure, that separates a line extension, or a
				portion thereof, that is privately-owned from electric distribution facilities
				(including a portion of the line extension) owned by the T&D
				utility.
G.
Licensing
				Authority
. "Licensing authority" means the "applicable licensing
				authority" defined in
				 35-A M.R.S.A.
				§2502(1) that must
				issue a location permit pursuant to
				35-A M.R.S.A.
				§2503 for a person to construct or own
				facilities in a public way.
H.
Line Extension
. "Line extension" means an "electric distribution
				line extension," as defined above.
I.
Make-Ready Work
. "Make-ready
				work" means work necessary to connect an electric distribution line extension
				to existing utility infrastructure.
J.
National Electric Safety Code
				(NESC)
. "National Electric Safety Code (NESC)" is a set of standards
				developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and
				approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) that is designed
				to ensure safe installation, operation and maintenance of electric supply and
				communication lines and associated equipment, and that T&D utilities in
				Maine must comply with pursuant to the provisions of
				35-A
				M.R.S.A. §2305-A.
K.
Person
. "Person" means an
				individual, corporation, or any other legal entity.
L.
Private Line Extension
				Contractor
. "Private line extension contractor" means a person who is
				not an employee of a T&D utility or otherwise acting on the utility's
				behalf and is constructing a line extension under a contract with a non-utility
				person.
M.
Private
				Way
. "Private way" means any location that is not a public
				way.
N.
Privately-Constructed
				Line Extension
. "Privately-constructed line extension" means an electric
				line extension constructed by a private line extension contractor.
O.
Privately-Owned Line
				Extension
. "Privately-owned line extension" means a line extension that
				is located on a public or private way and is owned by a person who is not a
				T&D utility.
P.
Public
				Way
. "Public way" means a street or public right-of-way that has been
				accepted and is owned or controlled by a municipal, county or state
				government.
Q.
Registered
				Professional Engineer
. "Registered professional engineer" means a
				registered professional engineer licensed by the Maine Board of Registration
				for Professional Engineers.
R.
Rural Utilities Service (RUS); RUS Standards
. The "Rural Utilities
				Service" is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that
				provides loans and other assistance to cooperatives and utility districts that
				provide electric service in rural areas. "RUS standards" are the "Electric
				Standards And Specifications For Materials And Construction" contained in the
				regulations of the RUS at 7 C.F.R. Part 1728. The RUS requires that any utility
				that borrows money through the USDA loan program must follow the RUS
				standards.
S.
Service
				Drop
. A "service drop" is the service cable or other conductor and
				associated equipment that provides secondary voltage to the customer's service
				entrance equipment from a transformer or from a secondary conductor located on
				the utility's distribution system or on a privately-owned line extension. A
				"service drop" does not include a transformer or poles.
T.
Standard
. "Standard" means a
				requirement that governs the design, construction and certification of an
				electric line extension that is approved and implemented pursuant to this
				Chapter. "Standards" include "utility line construction standards," the NESC,
				and the RUS, if applicable.
U.
Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Utility
. "Transmission and
				distribution utility" means a person, its lessees, trustees or receivers or
				trustees appointed by a court, owning, controlling, operating or managing a
				transmission and distribution plant for compensation within the
				State.
V.
Utility
.
				"Utility" means a transmission and distribution (T&D) utility.
W.
Utility Line Construction
				Standards
. "Utility line construction standards" means the requirements,
				other than those imposed by the National Electric Safety Code (NESC) or the
				Rural Utilities Service (RUS), of a T&D utility that apply to electric
				distribution line extensions and that a constructor of a line extension must
				meet before, during, or after the construction of a line extension prior to the
				energization of the line. Utility line construction standards may be contained
				in a utility's Terms and Conditions or in a separate document that is
				incorporated by reference in its Terms and Conditions. They include but are not
				limited to construction procedures and specifications for facilities and
				materials.