Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-90 - Gas companies-Operations › Part I - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 480-90-023 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
"Account and usage information"
means customer
				  information contained in the records a utility keeps for each customer to
				  provide and bill for utility service including, but not limited to, the
				  customer's name, account number, address where service is provided, customer
				  contact information, services the utility is providing or has provided to the
				  customer, energy usage, customer financial information, bills the utility has
				  issued, payment history, and medical or low-income status.
"Affiliated interest"
means a person or
				  corporation as defined in
				  RCW
				  80.16.010.
"Aggregate data"
means any collection of
				  customer data by a utility from which identifiable customer information has
				  been removed or modified so that the information cannot be attributed to any
				  individual customer.
"Applicant"
means any person, corporation,
				  partnership, government agency, or other entity that applies, or is named in an
				  application as a person having joint responsibility, for service with a gas
				  utility or who reapplies for service at a new or existing location after
				  service has been disconnected if the utility requires the person to reapply for
				  service.
"British thermal unit"
(Btu) means the quantity
				  of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water at 60°
				  Fahrenheit and standard pressure, one degree Fahrenheit.
"Business day"
means Monday through Friday, 8:00
				  a.m. until 5:00 p.m., except for official state holidays.
"Commission"
means the Washington utilities and
				  transportation commission.
"Control"
means the possession, direct or
				  indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and
				  policies of a company, whether through the ownership of voting shares, by
				  contract, or otherwise.
"Cubic foot of gas"
means a volumetric unit of
				  measure used in sales and testing.
"Customer"
means any person, corporation,
				  partnership, government agency, or other entity that applied, or is named as a
				  person having joint responsibility, for service and that has been accepted for,
				  and is currently receiving or is entitled to receive such service. "Customer"
				  for purposes of this chapter may also include a person or other entity whose
				  service has been involuntarily disconnected and that person or entity then
				  seeks to have the utility reconnect service.
"Customer information"
means private customer
				  information and proprietary customer information as defined in
				  RCW
				  19.29A.010 and personal information as
				  defined in chapter 19.255 RCW.
"Gas"
means any fuel or process gas, whether
				  liquid petroleum gas, manufactured gas, natural gas, or any mixture of
				  these.
"Gas utility (utility)"
means any business
				  entity (e.g., corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or
				  partnership) or person, including a lessee, trustee, or court appointed
				  receiver, that is subject to the commission's jurisdiction and that owns,
				  controls, operates, or manages any gas plant in Washington and manufactures,
				  transmits, distributes, sells, or furnishes gas to the public for
				  compensation.
"Liquefied petroleum gas"
means a gas consisting
				  of vapors of one or more of the paraffin hydrocarbons, or a combination of one
				  or more of these vapors with air.
"Manufactured gas"
means any gas produced
				  artificially by any process.
"Natural gas"
means a mixture of gaseous
				  hydrocarbons (chiefly methane) and nonhydrocarbons that occur naturally in the
				  earth.
"Primary purpose"
means a business need to
				  provide regulated utility services as required by state or federal law, or as
				  specifically authorized in the utility's effective tariff or by the
				  commission.
"Sales volume"
means a cubic foot of gas for
				  billing purposes is the amount of gas that occupies a volume of one cubic foot
				  under the temperature and pressure conditions existing in the customer's meter.
				  Temperature and/or pressure recording or compensating devices may be used to
				  reflect temperature or pressure base conditions for computing the volume sold.
				  Temperature and/or pressure compensation factors may be used to compute the
				  volume of gas sold as provided in the utility's tariff.
"Subsidiary"
means any company in which the gas
				  utility owns directly or indirectly five percent or more of the voting
				  securities, unless the utility demonstrates it does not have control.
"Testing volume"
means a cubic foot of gas for
				  testing purposes is the amount that occupies a volume of one cubic foot at a
				  temperature of 60° Fahrenheit and pressure of 14.73 pounds per square inch
				  absolute.
"Therm"
means a unit of heat equal to 100,000
				  Btus.
"Written consent"
means permission or
				  authorization in writing, whether electronic or paper.
Other terms.
Terms used in this chapter and
				  defined in the public service laws of Washington state (i.e., principally Title
				  80 RCW) have the same meaning here as in the statutes. Terms not defined in
				  these rules or the applicable statutes have the meaning generally accepted in
				  the gas industry, or their ordinary meaning if there is no meaning generally
				  accepted in the gas industry.
Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 80.01.040,
					 80.04.160,
					 81.04.160 and
					 34.05.353. 05-06-051 (Docket No.
					 A-021178 and TO-030288, General Order No. R-518), § 480-90-023, filed
					 2/28/05, effective 3/31/05. Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 80.01.040 and
					 80.04.160. 01-11-003 (Docket No.
					 UG-990294, General Order No. R-484), § 480-90-023, filed 5/3/01, effective
					 6/3/01.