Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 165 - Corporation Commission › Chapter 70 - Minimum Standard Filing Requirements in Support of a Request by a Public Utility Doing Business in Oklahoma for a Proposed General Rate Change › Subchapter 1 - General Provisions › Section 165:70-1-2 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this Chapter,
				  shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Accounting method"
means the accounting method
				  prescribed by the applicable uniform system of accounts for Class A and B
				  utilities or as published by the National Association of Regulatory Utility
				  Commissioners for Class C and D utilities or other accounting methods approved
				  by the Commission.
"Annual operating revenues"
means those revenues
				  which are recorded as revenue in the accounts of the utility, resulting from
				  all sales of commodities or services or from other uses of the utility
				  property.
"Application package"
means the required
				  schedules and testimony filed by a Class A or B utility to initiate a general
				  rate change. See
				  165:70-3-1
				  and
				  165:70-5-4.
"Attorney General"
means the Attorney General of
				  the State of Oklahoma.
"Combination utility"
means a utility which
				  provides more than one commodity or service (e.g. electric and water, gas and
				  water, etc.). For combination utilities, departmental operating revenues shall
				  be used for classification purposes.
"Commission"
means the Oklahoma Corporation
				  Commission.
"Confidentiality agreement"
means the formal
				  agreement executed by the utility, the Staff, and other parties when necessary
				  to protect information provided pursuant to this Chapter.
"Cost of service"
means the cost of providing
				  service to a defined segment of customers, class of service or service
				  category.
"DSC"
means the commonly-used acronym for debt
				  service coverage which is a financial ratio computed as: (Net Margins +
				  Interest on Long-term Debt + Depreciation) divided by (Interest on Long-term
				  Debt + Principal payments on Long-term Debt).
"Days"
mean calendar days unless specifically
				  defined otherwise; this applies to #-day periods (e.g. 45-day period) as
				  well.
"Deficient filing"
means a filing which does not
				  substantially comply with the formal or procedural requirements of this
				  Chapter.
"Department"
means a responsibility center
				  within a combination utility where revenues and costs are accumulated by a
				  commodity or service rendered.
"Depreciated original cost"
means the cost of
				  property when first devoted to public service, less the depreciation reserve,
				  which shall include accrued depreciation and amortization. Depreciated original
				  cost shall not include any goodwill, going concern value or payments in excess
				  of the actual cost of the property.
"Director"
means the Director of the Public
				  Utilities Division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
"Exhibit"
means one or more schedules and/or
				  testimony which supports a rate filing in a rate proceeding.
"Filing"
means the required appropriate
				  application package filed by a utility to initiate a general rate change. See
				  165:70-1-1,
				  165:70-3-1,
				  165:70-5-1
				  and
				  165:70-7-1.
"General rate change"
means a change in rates
				  and charges which exceeds three percent (3%) based on the previous twelve (12)
				  months revenue generated by the existing rates for an association or electric
				  cooperative subject to the Commission's jurisdiction pursuant to 17 O.S.
				  Section
				  158.27
				  et seq; or a change in rates resulting in more than a one percent (1%) increase
				  in a utility's jurisdictional annual gross operating revenues unless otherwise
				  allowed by law. A change mandated by regulation or legislation, a change in the
				  terms and conditions of service, a request for a special contract, or a request
				  for a new and/or optional service does not constitute a general rate
				  change.
"Last test year(-end)"
means the test period
				  used in the utility's last general rate change before the Commission.
"NARUC"
means the National Association of
				  Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
"Notes payable"
means an interest-bearing
				  certificate of debt containing a formal written promise to pay a specified sum
				  at a fixed future date and to pay interest periodically with a maturity
				  exceeding one year.
"Notice of intent"
means the formal notification
				  provided by a utility of its intent to make an application for a general rate
				  change. See
				  165:70-3-7.
"OCC"
means the Oklahoma Corporation
				  Commission.
"Original cost"
means the actual cost of the
				  property at the time when it was first dedicated to public service whether by
				  the utility or by its predecessors in title.
"Outstanding obligation"
means any delinquent
				  payment due for a utility's fee assessment in Oklahoma or unpaid OCC
				  fines.
"Preceding or prior year"
means the normal
				  reporting period, fiscal, or calendar year, or a twelve-month period preceding
				  the test year utilized in the filing.
"Pro forma adjustments"
means adjustments made
				  to test year results and balances for known and measurable changes to obtain a
				  normal or representative relationship between revenues, expenses, and rate
				  base.
"Pro forma income statement"
means a utility
				  income statement after pro forma adjustments that reflects the results of
				  adjusted and normalized revenues and expenses, for the test year and the
				  annualized income effect of the proposed rate adjustment(s).
"Pro forma rate base"
means rate base after pro
				  forma adjustments.
"REC"
means rural electric cooperative.
"Rate class"
means a service or group of
				  customers as defined in the utility's tariffs.
"Rate schedule"
means a schedule of rates,
				  charges, and conditions for a specific classification of customer or for other
				  specific services.
"Staff"
means the Staff of the Commission or its
				  designated representatives.
"Staff response"
means the formal declaration by
				  the Commission Staff that a utility's application either satisfies the
				  Commission requirements or is deficient. See
				  165:70-3-1.
"Subsequent event"
means any occurrence
				  transpiring after the end of the test year utilized in a utility's
				  application.
"Supplemental package"
means the set of
				  schedules, exhibits or other documentation which supports the application
				  package. See
				  165:70-5-20
				  and following.
"TIER"
means the commonly-used acronym for times
				  interest earned ratio which is a financial ratio computed as: (Margins +
				  Interest on Long-term Debt) divided by Interest on Long-term Debt.
"Tariff symbols"
means the following tariff
				  symbols to be used for all proposed rate schedules:
(A) "AT" - Addition to text
(B) "C" - Correction
(C) "CP" - Change in practice
(D) "CR" - Change in rate
(E) "CT - Change in text
(F) "DR" - Discontinued rate
(G) "FC" - Change in format lettering or numbering
(H) "MT" - Moved text
(I) "NR" - New rate
(J) "RT" - Removal of text
"Test year"
means the twelve (12) month period
				  used in determining rate base, operating income and rate of return.
"13-month balances"
means the end of the month
				  balance in an account for each of the twelve (12) months of the test year plus
				  the month immediately preceding the beginning of the test year.
"Uniform System Of Accounts (USOA)"
means the
				  system of accounts as currently prescribed by the Federal Energy Regulatory
				  Commission (FERC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Rural
				  Electrification Administration (REA), those systems as published by the
				  National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) or other
				  accounting methods approved by the Commission.
"Utilities"
means companies which are subject to
				  OCC regulation under the following statutes: Title 17, Sections
				  131
				  et seq, 151, 152, 158.27 et seq, 160.1 et seq, and 181, Oklahoma Statutes, as
				  amended, and shall, for purposes of this Chapter, include public service and
				  transmission companies, rural telephone cooperatives, and all other entities
				  which now or in the future are placed within the jurisdiction of the Commission
				  for the purpose of regulation of their rates and charges for public
				  service.
"Working capital"
means the average investment
				  required to fund daily operating expenditures and a variety of nonplant assets
				  that are necessary to sustain ongoing operations of the utility.
Amended at 11 Ok Reg
				  3753, eff 7-11-94