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, §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, §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, §111.081(a)(2).
(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 §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 §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, §101.003(10).
(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, §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.
(33) Special rates--Residential and commercial rates
for a gas utility applicable to natural gas sales and service established
pursuant to Commission orders applicable only to service by a given
utility within a specified area and not specifically keyed to the
rates charged in any incorporated area.
(34) Submeter--A single gas measurement device by which
gas is metered to a mobile home unit, apartment house, or apartment
unit downstream of a master meter.
(35) Transportation service--The receipt of a shipper's
gas at a point or points on the facilities of a transporter, and redelivery
of a shipper's gas by the transporter at another point or points on
the facilities of the transporter, including exchange, backhaul, displacement,
and other methods of transportation, provided, however, that the term
"transportation service" shall not include processing services or
the movement of gas to which the transporter has title.
(36) Transporter--Any common purchaser of gas, gas
utility, or gas pipeline that provides gas gathering and/or transmission
transportation service for a fee.
(37) Unaccounted for gas--Lost and unaccounted for
gas less lost gas.
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