Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 7 - GAS SERVICES › Subchapter B - SPECIAL PROCEDURAL RULES › Section 7.115 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
					 shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise.
(1) Affiliate--Any
				  affiliate as defined in Texas Utilities Code, §
										RSA
				  101.003.
(2) Allowance for funds used during
				  construction (AFUDC) --The net cost of borrowed funds for the period of
				  construction used for construction purposes and a reasonable rate on other
				  funds when so used until included in the rate base.
(3) Apartment house--A building or buildings
				  containing more than five dwelling units, all of which are rented or available
				  to be rented primarily for nontransient use, with rental paid at intervals of
				  one week or longer. The term "apartment house" shall include residential
				  condominiums, whether rented or owner occupied.
(4) Apartment unit--A room or rooms in an
				  apartment house suitable for occupancy as a residence containing kitchen and
				  bathroom facilities.
(5) Appellate
				  jurisdiction--Exclusive jurisdiction of the Commission in those cases in which
				  a utility perfects an appeal pursuant to Texas Utilities Code, §
										RSA
				  103.054, from the decision of a
				  municipality.
(6) Bulletin--A Gas
				  Services publication published twice monthly containing information such as
				  notices of hearings, final orders and decisions, rules, and other information
				  of general interest to the public. Gas Services shall publish the bulletin on
				  the Commission's web site and shall make a paper copy available for public
				  inspection and copying.
(7)
				  Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas, including its staff or
				  delegate.
(8) Common purchaser of
				  gas--Every common purchaser of gas as defined in Texas Natural Resources Code,
				  §
										RSA
				  111.081<subdiv>(a)(2)</subdiv>.
(9) Construction work in progress
				  (CWIP)--Funds expended by a gas utility which are irrevocably committed to
				  construction projects not yet completed or placed into service.
(10) Cost of service adjustment clause--Any
				  rate provision other than a purchased gas adjustment clause provided for in
				  §
										RSA
				  7.5519 of this title (relating to Gas Cost
				  Recovery), which operates to increase or decrease rates without prior consent
				  or authority of the appropriate regulatory authority.
(11) Director--The Director of the Oversight
				  and Safety Division or the Director's delegate.
(12) Discrimination--Any material difference
				  in rates, service, rules and regulations, or conditions of service for
				  transportation services which unreasonably disadvantages or prejudices
				  similarly-situated shippers.
(13)
				  Domestic use--The use of natural gas for cooking, clothes drying, space
				  heating, or water heating.
(14)
				  Environs rates--Residential and commercial rates for a gas utility applicable
				  to natural gas sales and service in unincorporated areas adjacent to or near
				  incorporated cities and towns, aside from special rates as defined in this
				  section.
(15) Gas-gathering
				  utility--For the purposes of determining which annual report to file, a gas
				  utility or public utility which employs a pipeline or pipelines and ancillary
				  facilities thereto in the first taking or the first retaining of possession of
				  gas produced by others which extends from any point where such gas is produced,
				  purchased, or received to the trunk line or main line of transportation where
				  such gas is sold or delivered, without regard to the size, the length, or the
				  amount of such gas carried through such pipeline or pipelines to the trunk line
				  or main line of transportation, thus having as its primary function the
				  collecting or collecting and processing of gas produced by others as a
				  preliminary incident to the transportation after it has been severed from the
				  earth by production.
(16) Gas
				  pipeline--Any gas pipeline under the provisions of Texas Utilities Code,
				  Chapters 121 and 122.
(17) Gas
				  Services --A department of the Oversight and Safety Division of the Commission
				  responsible for the regulation of the natural gas utility industry in
				  Texas.
(18) Gas utility
				  (utility)--Any gas utility or utility as defined in Texas Utilities Code, Title
				  3.
(19) Interim rate adjustment--A
				  tariff or rate schedule that provides for an interim adjustment in a gas
				  utility's monthly customer charge or initial block usage rate, made pursuant to
				  §
										RSA
				  7.7101 of this title (relating to Interim
				  Rate Adjustments), to recover the cost of changes in the utility's invested
				  capital and related expenses and revenues, for providing gas utility service.
				  An interim rate adjustment can be either an initial tariff or rate schedule or
				  an annual adjustment to an existing interim rate adjustment tariff or rate
				  schedule.
(20) Local distribution
				  company--An entity that operates a retail gas distribution system.
(21) Lost and unaccounted for gas--The
				  difference between the amount of gas metered into a distribution or
				  transmission system and the amount metered out.
(22) Lost gas--The amount of gas which
				  physically escapes into the ground or atmosphere from a distribution or
				  transmission system, except for that gas which escapes as a part of an
				  intentional testing procedure or purging operation performed during maintenance
				  or construction activities.
(23)
				  Master meter--A single large volume gas measurement device by which gas is
				  metered and sold to a single purchaser who distributes the gas to one or more
				  additional persons downstream from that meter.
(24) Mobile home--A structure, transportable
				  in one or more sections, which is eight body feet or more in width and is 32
				  body feet or more in length, and which is built on a permanent chassis and
				  designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when
				  connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air
				  conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein.
(25) Mobile home or apartment resident--An
				  occupant of a mobile home in a mobile home park or an occupant in an apartment
				  house or apartment unit who is responsible for rent payments and who receives
				  gas through a submeter.
(26)
				  Municipality--A city, incorporated village, or town, existing, created, or
				  organized under the general, home-rule, or special laws of the state.
(27) Person--Has the same meaning as the
				  definition in Texas Utilities Code, §
										RSA
				  101.003<subdiv>(10)</subdiv>.
(28) Preference--Any material difference in
				  rates, service, rules and regulations, conditions of service, or the
				  dissemination or providing of information concerning transportation services
				  which unreasonably advantages or favors similarly-situated shippers.
(29) Rate case--A statement of intent to
				  increase rates filed at the Commission pursuant to Texas Utilities Code, §
										RSA
				  104.102.
(30) Qualifying offer--An offer to convert
				  all of the residential or commercial customers' gas burning facilities to the
				  lowest cost available alternative energy source, including, at a minimum, a
				  single tank of normal size for the customer's premises filled once with any
				  liquid alternative energy source. At the customer's election, the qualifying
				  offer shall be the cash equivalent of the cost of conversion to the lowest cost
				  available alternative energy source.
(31) Shipper--Any person or corporation for
				  which a transporter is currently providing, has provided, or has pending a
				  written request to provide transportation services.
(32) Similarly-situated shipper--Any shipper
				  that seeks or receives transportation services under the same or substantially
				  the same, physical, regulatory, and economic conditions of service as any other
				  shipper of a transporter. In determining whether conditions of service are the
				  same or substantially the same, the Commission shall evaluate the significance
				  of relevant conditions, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) service requirements;
(B) location of facilities;
(C) receipt and delivery points;
(D) length of haul;
(E) quality of service (firm, interruptible,
				  etc.);
(F) quantity;
(G) swing requirements;
(H) credit worthiness;
(I) gas quality;
(J) pressure (including inlet or line
				  pressure);
(K) duration of
				  service;
(L) connect requirements;
				  and
(M) conditions and
				  circumstances existing at the time of agreement or negotiation.