| (65) Low-income customer--An electric customer, whose household income is not more than 125% of the federal poverty guidelines, or who receives food stamps from the Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS) or medical assistance from a state agency administering a part of the medical assistance program. (66) Low-Income Discount Administrator (LIDA)--A third-party administrator contracted by the commission to administer aspects of the rate reduction program established under Public Utility Regulatory Act §39.903. (67) Market power mitigation plan--A written proposal by an electric utility or a power generation company for reducing its ownership and control of installed generation capacity as required by the Public Utility Regulatory Act §39.154. (68) Market value--For nonnuclear assets and certain nuclear assets, the value the assets would have if bought and sold in a bona fide third-party transaction or transactions on the open market under the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §39.262(h) or, for certain nuclear assets, as described by PURA §39.262(i), the value determined under the method provided by that subsection. (69) Master meter--A meter used to measure, for billing purposes, all electric usage of an apartment house or mobile home park, including common areas, common facilities, and dwelling units. (70) Municipality--A city, incorporated village, or town, existing, created, or organized under the general, home rule, or special laws of the state. (71) Municipally-owned utility (MOU)--Any utility owned, operated, and controlled by a municipality or by a nonprofit corporation whose directors are appointed by one or more municipalities. (72) Nameplate rating--The full-load continuous rating of a generator under specified conditions as designated by the manufacturer. (73) Native load customer--A wholesale or retail customer on whose behalf an electric utility, electric cooperative, or municipally-owned utility, by statute, franchise, regulatory requirement, or contract, has an obligation to construct and operate its system to meet in a reliable manner the electric needs of the customer. (74) Natural gas energy credit (NGEC)--A tradable instrument representing each megawatt of new generating capacity fueled by natural gas, as authorized by the Public Utility Regulatory Act §39.9044 and implemented under §25.172 of this title (relating to Goal for Natural Gas). (75) Net book value--The original cost of an asset less accumulated depreciation. (76) Net dependable capability--The maximum load in megawatts, net of station use, which a generating unit or generating station can carry under specified conditions for a given period of time, without exceeding approved limits of temperature and stress. (77) New on-site generation--Electric generation capacity greater than ten megawatts capable of being lawfully delivered to the site without use of utility distribution or transmission facilities, which was not, on or before December 31, 1999, either: (A) A fully operational facility, or (B) A project supported by substantially complete filings for all necessary site-specific environmental permits under the rules of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) in effect at the time of filing. (78) Off-grid renewable generation--The generation of renewable energy in an application that is not interconnected to a utility transmission or distribution system. (79) Other generation sources--A competitive retailer's or affiliated retail electric provider's supply of generated electricity that is not accounted for by a direct supply contract with an owner of generation assets. (80) Person--Includes an individual, a partnership of two or more persons having a joint or common interest, a mutual or cooperative association, and a corporation, but does not include an electric cooperative. (81) Power cost recovery factor (PCRF)--A charge or credit that reflects an increase or decrease in purchased power costs not in base rates. (82) Power generation company (PGC)--A person that: (A) generates electricity that is intended to be sold at wholesale, including the owner or operator of electric energy storage equipment or facilities to which the Public Utility Regulatory Act, Chapter 35, Subchapter E applies; (B) does not own a transmission or distribution facility in this state, other than an essential interconnecting facility, a facility not dedicated to public use, or a facility otherwise excluded from the definition of "electric utility" under this section; and (C) does not have a certificated service area, although its affiliated electric utility or transmission and distribution utility may have a certificated service area. (83) Power marketer--A person who becomes an owner of electric energy in this state for the purpose of selling the electric energy at wholesale; does not own generation, transmission, or distribution facilities in this state; does not have a certificated service area; and who is in compliance with the registration requirements of §25.105 of this title (relating to Registration and Reporting by Power Marketers). (84) Power region--A contiguous geographical area which is a distinct region of the North American Electric Reliability Council. (85) Pre-interconnection study--A study or studies that may be undertaken by a utility in response to its receipt of a completed application for interconnection and parallel operation with the utility system at distribution voltage. Pre-interconnection studies may include, but are not limited to, service studies, coordination studies and utility system impact studies. (86) Premises--A tract of land or real estate or related commonly used tracts including buildings and other appurtenances thereon. (87) Price to beat (PTB)--A price for electricity, as determined pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Act §39.202, charged by an affiliated retail electric provider to eligible residential and small commercial customers in its service area. (88) Proceeding--A hearing, investigation, inquiry, or other procedure for finding facts or making a decision. The term includes a denial of relief or dismissal of a complaint. It may be rulemaking or nonrulemaking; rate setting or non-rate setting. (89) Proprietary customer information--Any information compiled by a retail electric provider, an electric utility, a transmission and distribution business unit as defined in §25.275(c)(16) of this title (relating to Code of Conduct for Municipally Owned Utilities and Electric Cooperatives Engaged in Competitive Activities) on a customer in the course of providing electric service or by an aggregator on a customer in the course of aggregating electric service that makes possible the identification of any individual customer by matching such information with the customer's name, address, account number, type or classification of service, historical electricity usage, expected patterns of use, types of facilities used in providing service, individual contract terms and conditions, price, current charges, billing records, or any information that the customer has expressly requested not be disclosed. Information that is redacted or organized in such a way as to make it impossible to identify the customer to whom the information relates does not constitute proprietary customer information. (90) Provider of last resort (POLR)--A retail electric provider (REP) certified in Texas that has been designated by the commission to provide a basic, standard retail service package in accordance with §25.43 of this title (relating to Provider of Last Resort (POLR)). (91) Public retail customer--A retail customer that is an agency of this state, a state institution of higher education, a public school district, or a political subdivision of this state. (92) Public utility or utility--An electric utility as that term is defined in this section, or a public utility or utility as those terms are defined in the Public Utility Regulatory Act §51.002. (93) Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA)--The enabling statute for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, located in the Texas Utilities Code Annotated, §§11.001 et. seq. (94) Purchased power market value--The value of demand and energy bought and sold in a bona fide third-party transaction or transactions on the open market and determined by using the weighted average costs of the highest three offers from the market for purchase of the demand and energy available under the existing purchased power contracts. (95) Qualified scheduling entity--A market participant that is qualified by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in accordance with Section 16, Registration and Qualification of Market Participants of ERCOT's Protocols, to submit balanced schedules and ancillary services bids and settle payments with ERCOT. Cont'd... |
