New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 17 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND UTILITY SERVICES › Chapter 10 - GAS SERVICES › Part 660 - NATURAL GAS TRANSPORTATION › Section 17.10.660.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
When used in the Natural Gas Transportation Rule unless
				  otherwise specified the following definitions will apply.
A. "Affiliate," unless otherwise defined in
				NMSA 1978, Section 62-3-3(A), or a successor statute means: a person that
				directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is
				controlled by, or is under common control with, a public utility. Control
				includes instances where a person is an officer, director, partner, trustee or
				person of similar status or function, or who owns directly or indirectly, or
				has a beneficial interest in, ten percent or more of any class of securities of
				a person.
B. "Available Capacity"
				means the ability of the utility to provide Transportation of natural gas
				through its existing pipeline and facilities in excess of that required to
				serve its Current Sales and Transportation Customers. This shall be determined
				pursuant to NMPUC Rule 660.6 [Subsection B of 17.10.660.10 NMAC].
C. "Broker" means any person engaged in
				brokering.
D. "Brokering" means the
				activity of arranging for the purchase and/or sale of natural gas without
				taking title for delivery within the State of New Mexico under the Public
				Utility Act as a commodity separate from Transportation which Transportation is
				subject to the Natural Gas Transportation Rule.
E. "Capacity" means the total maximum volume
				of natural gas that can flow through a facility over a given period of
				time.
F. "Capacity Allocation"
				means the process of assigning Capacity among Transportation Customers and the
				utility as described in the utility's Commission-authorized rules and
				tariffs.
G. "Commission" means the
				New Mexico Public Utility Commission [New Mexico Public Regulation
				Commission].
H. "Current ...
				Customer" of a utility means a person who at the specified point in time is a
				customer or had paid a fee to the utility in preparation for becoming a
				customer.
I. "Curtailment" means
				the failure of natural gas to reach the end-user at the burner tip due to a
				shortage of gas supply. An allocation of Capacity that limits a Transportation
				Customer's throughput is not a Curtailment.
J. "End-user" means any person that consumes
				natural gas in New Mexico who uses the Transporting Utility's facilities to
				obtain the gas for consumption and who, at its current location, is, was, or
				could become a Sales Customer of the utility.
K. "Firm Transportation Service" means
				service offered to customers (regardless of class of service) under schedules
				or contracts which anticipate no Interruptions except as provided in Section
				660.9(a) [Paragraph 1 of Subsection E of 17.10.660.10 NMAC].
L. "Interruptible Transportation Service"
				means low priority service offered to customers under schedules or contracts
				which anticipate and permit reduction or cessation of service on short notice,
				by reason of the claim of firm Transportation Customers and higher priority
				end-users.
M. "Interruption" means
				the failure of natural gas to reach the end-user at the burner tip due to
				conditions with the utility's transmission, processing, distribution, storage,
				or gathering system when such conditions are not caused by failure of gas
				supply. An allocation of Capacity that limits a Transportation Customer's
				throughput is not an Interruption.
N. "Marketer" means any person engaged in
				Marketing.
O. "Marketing" means the
				activity of buying or selling natural gas for delivery within the State of New
				Mexico under the Public Utility Act as a commodity separate from Transportation
				which Transportation is subject to the Natural Gas Transportation Rule. This
				does not include a utility conducting its own local distribution company sales
				functions.
P. "Off-peak Period"
				means all days other than the Peak Period.
Q. "Peak Period," for purposes of determining
				Available Capacity, means the twenty-four (24) hour period during the past
				twelve (12) months of greatest total gas throughput. For ratemaking purposes
				the peak period shall be determined on a utility-by-utility basis.
R. "Pipeline Quality" means natural gas which
				conforms with industry standards and otherwise meets any other reasonable
				quality standard filed with the Commission under NMPUC Rule 660.6(f) [Paragraph
				5 of Subsection B of 17.10.660.10 NMAC] by the Transporting Utility for the
				system in which the Transportation is being provided.
S. "Processing" means the removal of any
				undesired impurities or natural gas liquids at a natural gas processing
				facility in order to produce Pipeline Quality gas.
T. "Public Utility" or "Utility" means every
				person subject to the Commission's jurisdiction under NMSA 1978, Section
				62-3-3(G)(2) or a successor statute.
U. "Purchaser" means any person, as defined
				in NMSA 1978 Section 62-3-3(E), or a successor statute, or a municipality who
				has taken title to natural gas (or otherwise has legal authority to purchase
				the natural gas from a Seller) which natural gas is destined for ultimate
				end-use in New Mexico or is produced in New Mexico.
V. "Released Gas" means a quantity of gas
				that has been released from its purchase contract obligations either
				temporarily or permanently.
W.
				"Sales Customer" means a New Mexico customer of a utility who purchases both
				natural gas and Transportation as a bundled service from the utility.
X. "Seller" means any person, as defined in
				NMSA 1978 Section 62-3-3(E), or a successor statute, or a municipality which
				conveys title to natural gas (or otherwise has the legal authority to sell the
				natural gas to a Purchaser) which natural gas is destined for ultimate end-use
				in New Mexico or is produced in New Mexico.
Y. "System Emergency" means an unplanned
				situation in which a utility's system or a segment of its system is in imminent
				danger of failure and implementation of normal curtailment or interruption
				procedures would not rectify the condition.
Z. "Transportation" is the provision of
				contract carriage apart from the procurement of natural gas and includes
				exchange, fronthaul, backhaul, displacement or any other means of transporting
				natural gas including gathering, processing or storage.
AA. "Transportation Customer" means a Seller
				or Purchaser of natural gas, or a broker or marketer for such Seller or
				Purchaser who contracts for Transportation services for that natural gas from a
				utility.
BB. "Transporting Utility"
				means the utility which provides, or is being asked to provide, Transportation
				of natural gas for a Transportation Customer.
CC. "Variable Cost" means the cost that
				varies in the short run with the amount of natural gas transported through the
				Transportation facilities.