Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 20 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INSURANCE › Division 4240 - Public Service Commission › Chapter 3 - Filing and Reporting Requirements › Section 20 CSR 4240-3.010 - General Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the definitions of
				  certain terms used in rules
				  4 CSR
				  240-3.015 through
				  4 CSR
				  240-3.030, and also includes the definitions of
				  general terms used within this chapter of the commission's rules. Definitions
				  of additional terms used in certain utility-specific rules are found in
				  4 CSR
				  240-3.100,
				  4 CSR
				  240-3.200,
				  4 CSR
				  240-3.300, and
				  4 CSR
				  240-3.500. All definitions found in this chapter
				  supplement those definitions found in Chapters 386, 392, and 393 of the
Missouri Revised Statutes
.
(1) Applicant means any person or public
				utility, as defined herein, on whose behalf an application is made.
(2) Bill means a written or electronic demand
				for payment for service or equipment and the taxes, assessments, and franchise
				fees related thereto.
(3)
				Commission means the Missouri Public Service Commission as created by Chapter
				386 of the
Missouri Revised Statutes
.
(4) Commission staff means all personnel
				employed by the commission whether on a permanent or contractual basis who are
				not attorneys in the general counsel's office, who are not members of the
				commission's research department, or who are not law judges.
(5) Complaint means an informal or formal
				complaint under 4 CSR 240-2.070.
(6) Corporation includes a corporation,
				company, association, or joint stock company or association, or any other
				entity created by statute which is allowed to conduct business in the state of
				Missouri.
(7) Customer means any
				person, firm, partnership, corporation, municipality, cooperative,
				organization, governmental agency, etc., that accepts financial and other
				responsibilities in exchange for services provided by one (1) or more public
				utilities.
(8) Delinquent charge
				means a charge remaining unpaid by a monthly billed customer at least
				twenty-one (21) days and for at least sixteen (16) days by a quarterly billed
				customer from the rendition of the bill by the utility or a charge remaining
				unpaid after the preferred payment date selected by the customer.
(9) Deposit means a money advance to a
				utility for the purpose of securing payment of delinquent charges which might
				accrue to the customer who made the advance.
(10) Electric utility means an electrical
				corporation as defined in section
				386.020(15),
				RSMo.
(11) Financing means
				acquisition of equity or debt interests, loans, guarantees of loans, advances,
				sale and repurchase agreements, sale and leaseback agreements, sales on open
				account, conditional or installment sales contracts, or other investments or
				extensions of credit.
(12) Gas
				utility means a gas corporation as defined in section
				386.020(18),
				RSMo.
(13) Guarantee means a
				written promise from a third party to assume liability up to a specified amount
				for delinquent charges which might accrue to a particular customer.
(14) Municipality means a city, village, or
				town.
(15) Person means any
				individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, county,
				state, municipality, political subdivision, cooperative association, or joint
				stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal
				representative of them.
(16)
				Pleading means any application, complaint, petition, answer, motion, staff
				recommendation, or other similar written document, which is not a tariff or
				correspondence, and which is filed in a case. A brief is not a pleading under
				this definition.
(17) Political
				subdivision means any township, city, town, village, and any school, road,
				drainage, sewer and levee district, or any other public subdivision, public
				corporation, or public quasi-corporation having the power to tax.
(18) Premises means a tract of land or real
				estate, including buildings and other appurtenances thereon, to which utility
				service is provided to a customer.
(19) Public counsel means the Office of the
				Public Counsel as created by the Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974, and
				includes the assistants who represent the public before the
				commission.
(20) Public utility
				means public utility as defined in section
				386.020(42),
				RSMo.
(21) Regulated electrical
				corporation means every electrical corporation as defined in section
				386.020, RSMo,
				subject to commission regulation pursuant to Chapter 393, RSMo.
(22) Regulated gas corporation means every
				gas corporation as defined in section
				386.020, RSMo,
				subject to commission regulation pursuant to Chapter 393, RSMo.
(23) Regulated heating company means every
				heating company as defined in section
				386.020, RSMo,
				subject to commission regulation pursuant to Chapter 393, RSMo.
(24) Rule means all of these rules as a whole
				or the individual rule in which the word appears, whichever interpretation is
				consistent with the rational application of this chapter.
(25) Service means service as defined in
				section
				386.020(47),
				RSMo.
(26) Sewer utility means a
				sewer corporation as defined in section
				386.020(48),
				RSMo.
(27) Steam heating utility
				means a heating company as defined in section
				386.020(20),
				RSMo.
(28) Tariff means a document
				published by a public utility, and approved by the commission, that sets forth
				the services offered by that utility and the rates, terms, and conditions for
				the use of those services.
(29)
				Telecommunications company means a telecommunications company as defined in
				section
				386.020(51),
				RSMo.
(30) Utility company means an
				electric utility, a gas utility, a sewer utility, a steam heating utility, a
				telecommunications company, or a water utility, either individually or
				collectively, as those terms are defined herein.
(31) Variance means an exemption granted by
				the commission from any applicable standard required pursuant to this
				chapter.
(32) Water utility means a
				water corporation as defined in section
				386.020,
				RSMo.
*Original authority: 386.250, RSMo 1939, amended 1963,
					 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995,
					 1996.