Texas Utilities Code - Section 101.003. Definitions
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§ 101.003. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle:
(1) "Affected person" means:
(A) a gas utility affected by an action of a
regulatory authority;
(B) a person whose utility service or rates are
affected by a proceeding before a regulatory authority; or
(C) a person who:
(i) is a competitor of a gas utility with
respect to a service performed by the utility; or
(ii) wants to enter into competition with a
gas utility.
(2) "Affiliate" means:
(A) a person who directly or indirectly owns or
holds at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas
utility;
(B) a person in a chain of successive ownership
of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;
(C) a corporation that has at least five percent
of its voting securities owned or controlled, directly or
indirectly, by a gas utility;
(D) a corporation that has at least five percent
of its voting securities owned or controlled, directly or
indirectly, by:
(i) a person who directly or indirectly
owns or controls at least five percent of the voting securities of a
gas utility; or
(ii) a person in a chain of successive
ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas
utility;
(E) a person who is an officer or director of a
gas utility or of a corporation in a chain of successive ownership
of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;
or
(F) a person determined to be an affiliate under
Section 101.004.
(3) "Allocation" means the division among
municipalities or among municipalities and unincorporated areas of
the plant, revenues, expenses, taxes, and reserves of a gas utility
used to provide gas utility service in a municipality or for a
municipality and unincorporated areas.
(4) "Corporation" means a domestic or foreign
corporation, joint-stock company, or association, and each lessee,
assignee, trustee, receiver, or other successor in interest of the
corporation, company, or association, that has any of the powers or
privileges of a corporation not possessed by an individual or
partnership. The term does not include a municipal corporation,
except as expressly provided by this subtitle.
(5) "Counsellor" means the chief executive of the
Office of Public Utility Counsel.
(6) "Facilities" means all of the plant and equipment
of a gas utility and includes the tangible and intangible property,
without limitation, owned, operated, leased, licensed, used,
controlled, or supplied for, by, or in connection with the business
of the gas utility.
(7) "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority
that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or
facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon
natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner
not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. Section 717 et
seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas
utility. The term does not include:
(A) a municipal corporation;
(B) a person or river authority to the extent the
person or river authority:
(i) produces, gathers, transports, or sells
natural gas or synthetic natural gas under Section 121.004 or
121.005;
(ii) distributes or sells liquefied
petroleum gas; or
(iii) transports, delivers, or sells
natural gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other direct
agricultural use;
(C) a person to the extent the person:
(i) sells natural gas for use as vehicle
fuel;
(ii) sells natural gas to a person who later
sells the natural gas for use as vehicle fuel; or
(iii) owns or operates equipment or
facilities to sell or transport natural gas for ultimate use as
vehicle fuel; or
(D) a person not otherwise a gas utility who
furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its
tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas
service is not resold to or used by others.
(8) "Municipally owned utility" means a utility owned,
operated, and controlled by a municipality or by a nonprofit
corporation the directors of which are appointed by one or more
municipalities.
(9) "Order" means all or a part of a final disposition
by a regulatory authority in a matter other than rulemaking,
without regard to whether the disposition is affirmative or
negative or injunctive or declaratory. The term includes the
setting of a rate.
(10) "Person" includes an individual, a partnership of
two or more persons having a joint or common interest, a mutual or
cooperative association, a limited liability company, and a
corporation.
(11) "Proceeding" means a hearing, investigation,
inquiry, or other procedure for finding facts or making a decision
under this subtitle. The term includes a denial of relief or
dismissal of a complaint.
(12) "Rate" means:
(A) any compensation, tariff, charge, fare,
toll, rental, or classification that is directly or indirectly
demanded, observed, charged, or collected by a gas utility for a
service, product, or commodity described in the definition of gas
utility in this section; and
(B) a rule, regulation, practice, or contract
affecting the compensation, tariff, charge, fare, toll, rental, or
classification.
(13) "Regulatory authority" means either the railroad
commission or the governing body of a municipality, in accordance
with the context.
(14) "Service" has its broadest and most inclusive
meaning. The term includes any act performed, anything supplied,
and any facilities used or supplied by a gas utility in the
performance of the utility's duties under this subtitle to its
patrons, employees, other gas utilities, and the public. The term
also includes the interchange of facilities between two or more gas
utilities.
(15) "State agency" has the meaning assigned by
Section 572.002, Government Code, to the extent the state agency
must obtain the approval described by Section 31.401(a), Natural
Resources Code.
(16) "Test year" means the most recent 12 months,
beginning on the first day of a calendar or fiscal year quarter, for
which operating data for a gas utility are available.
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended
by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 11, § 1, eff. May 3, 1999.
Section: 66.013 66.014 66.015 66.016 66.017 101.001 101.002 101.003 101.004 101.005 101.006 101.007 101.008 101.051 101.052
Last modified: August 10, 2007
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