Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 165 - Corporation Commission › Chapter 65 - Water Service Utilities › Subchapter 1 - General Provisions › Section 165:65-1-2 - 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:
"Affiliate"
means any person, entity, or
				  business section, or division that directly or through one or more
				  intermediaries controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the
				  entity in question. Control includes but is not limited to, the possession,
				  directly or indirectly and whether acting alone or in conjunction with others,
				  of the authority to direct a direction of the management or policies of a
				  person or entity. Control may be exercised through management, ownership of
				  voting securities or other right to vote, by contract or otherwise. A voting
				  interest or ownership of five percent (5%) or more creates a presumption of
				  control.
"Attorney General"
means the Oklahoma Attorney
				  General.
"Business day"
means Monday through Friday,
				  excluding all legal holidays which have been declared legal holidays by law or
				  proclamation of the Governor of Oklahoma, or those days on which mail is not
				  delivered.
"Commission"
means the Oklahoma Corporation
				  Commission.
"Complaint"
means an oral, electronic or written
				  communication by an interested party requesting an investigation or corrective
				  action regarding the provision of water services.
"CSD"
means the Consumer Services Division of
				  the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
"Consumer"
means any person, firm, corporation,
				  municipality, or agency, other political subdivision of the United States or
				  the State of Oklahoma receiving any type of water service. Any reference to a
				  "customer" or "end-user" contained in a tariff, or in this Chapter, shall be
				  deemed to mean a "consumer," unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"DEQ"
means the Oklahoma Department of
				  Environmental Quality.
"Distribution"
or
"Distribution
				  service"
means the transportation of water services through a utility's
				  distribution facilities bundled with any one or more of the services of
				  billing, metering, customer service and similar services.
"Distribution main"
means a distribution line
				  that serves as a common source of supply to service lines.
"Distribution system"
means any pipeline, meter,
				  metering station, valve, regulator, regulating station and/or delivery station
				  which receives water from any water supply source for service to one or more
				  consumers.
"Electronic notification"
means any automated
				  communication received by e-mail, phone, text message or fax.
"Gallon"
means one U.S. Standard gallon,
				  containing 231 cubic inches and weighing 8.333 pounds.
"Interested party"
means any individual or
				  entity with appropriate authority to act on behalf of a particular consumer or
				  group of consumers or any other party involved in, or affected by, the
				  provision of water services.
"Legal holiday"
means only those days declared
				  legal holidays by law or proclamation of the Governor of Oklahoma, or those
				  days on which mail is not delivered or banks are closed, such as Columbus Day.
"Local forecast"
means a statement of what the
				  weather is predicted to be, that is issued by the National Weather Service for
				  a specific county, city, and/or zip-code area.
"Meter"
means any device that measures the
				  quantity of water transferred from one party to another.
"NWS"
means the National Weather Service.
"Pipe"
means any tubing used in the gathering,
				  transmission or distribution of water which meets the specifications of the
				  DEQ.
"Premises"
means any piece of land or real
				  estate, or any building or other structure or portion thereof, or any facility
				  where water service is furnished to a consumer.
"Prudency review"
means, for purposes of this
				  Chapter, a comprehensive review that examines as fair, just and reasonable, a
				  utility's practices and policies and judgment regarding an investment or
				  expense at the time the investment was made or expense was incurred; including
				  direct or indirect maximization of its positive impacts and mitigation of
				  adverse impact upon its ratepayers, without consideration of its ultimate used
				  and useful nature.
"P.s.i.g."
means pounds per square inch gauge.
"PUD"
means the Public Utility Division of the
				  Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
"Regulator"
means a device used to reduce the
				  water pressure.
"Residence"
means any dwelling unit containing
				  kitchen appliances, permanent sewer or septic facilities and water service. A
				  weekend cabin and a mobile home are residences when used as such. An individual
				  room in a hotel or motel is not a residence.
"Service line"
means a line that branches off a
				  distribution main or distribution line in order to transport water from the
				  common source of supply to utility meters or to a consumer's piping, whichever
				  is farther downstream, or the connection to a consumer's piping if there is no
				  utility meter.
"Subdivision"
means any land, wherever located,
				  whether improved or unimproved, contiguous or not, which is divided into lots
				  or proposed to be divided, for the purpose of disposition pursuant to a common
				  promotional scheme or plan of advertising.
"Tariff"
means every rate schedule, or provision
				  thereof, and all terms, conditions, rules and regulations for furnishing water
				  service filed with the Commission and approved by the Director of the Public
				  Utility Division.
"Temporary service"
means every rate schedule,
				  or provision thereof, and all terms, conditions, rules and regulations for
				  furnishing water service filed with the Commission and approved by the Director
				  of the Public Utility Division.
"Uniform System of Accounts (USOA)"
applicable
				  to water utilities published by the National Association of Regulatory Utility
				  Commissioners (NARUC) or other uniform system acceptable to the Commission may
				  be adopted by a utility.
"Utility"
means and includes any corporation,
				  association, company, individual, and the trustees, lessees, or receivers,
				  successors or assigns of any of them, (but shall not include a city, town or
				  other body politic) that now or hereafter may own, operate, or manage any plant
				  or equipment, or any part thereof, directly or indirectly, for public use, for
				  the transmission and distribution of water by pipeline.
Amended at 16 Ok Reg
				  2380, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2322, eff
				  7-15-03