| (40) Electric service identifier (ESI ID)--The basic identifier assigned to each point of delivery used in the registration system and settlement system managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) or another independent organization. (41) Electric utility--Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, an electric utility is: A person or river authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit, distribute, sell, or furnish electricity in this state. The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of an electric utility and a recreational vehicle park owner who does not comply with Texas Utilities Code, Subchapter C, Chapter 184, with regard to the metered sale of electricity at the recreational vehicle park. The term does not include: (A) a municipal corporation; (B) a qualifying facility; (C) a power generation company; (D) an exempt wholesale generator; (E) a power marketer; (F) a corporation described by Public Utility Regulatory Act §32.053 to the extent the corporation sells electricity exclusively at wholesale and not to the ultimate consumer; (G) an electric cooperative; (H) a retail electric provider; (I) the state of Texas or an agency of the state; or (J) a person not otherwise an electric utility who: (i) furnishes an electric service or commodity only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if that service or commodity is not resold to or used by others; (ii) owns or operates in this state equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit, distribute, sell or furnish electric energy to an electric utility, if the equipment or facilities are used primarily to produce and generate electric energy for consumption by that person; or (iii) owns or operates in this state a recreational vehicle park that provides metered electric service in accordance with Texas Utilities Code, Subchapter C, Chapter 184. (42) Energy efficiency--Programs that are aimed at reducing the rate at which electric energy is used by equipment and/or processes. Reduction in the rate of energy used may be obtained by substituting technically more advanced equipment to produce the same level of end-use services with less electricity; adoption of technologies and processes that reduce heat or other energy losses; or reorganization of processes to make use of waste heat. Efficient use of energy by customer-owned end-use devices implies that existing comfort levels, convenience, and productivity are maintained or improved at a lower customer cost. (43) Energy efficiency measures--Equipment, materials, and practices that when installed and used at a customer site result in a measurable and verifiable reduction in either purchased electric energy consumption, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), or peak demand, measured in kW, or both. (44) Energy efficiency project--An energy efficiency measure or combination of measures installed under a standard offer contract or a market transformation contract that results in both a reduction in customers' electric energy consumption and peak demand, and energy costs. (45) Energy efficiency service provider (EESP)--A person who installs energy efficiency measures or performs other energy efficiency services. An energy efficiency service provider may be a retail electric provider or large commercial customer, if the person has executed a standard offer contract. (46) Energy savings--A quantifiable reduction in a customer's consumption of energy. (47) ERCOT protocols--Body of procedures developed by ERCOT to maintain the reliability of the regional electric network and account for the production and delivery of electricity among resources and market participants. The procedures, initially approved by the commission, include a revisions process that may be appealed to the commission, and are subject to the oversight and review of the commission. (48) ERCOT region--The geographic area under the jurisdiction of the commission that is served by transmission service providers that are not synchronously interconnected with transmission service providers outside of the state of Texas. (49) Exempt wholesale generator--A person who is engaged directly or indirectly through one or more affiliates exclusively in the business of owning or operating all or part of a facility for generating electric energy and selling electric energy at wholesale who does not own a facility for the transmission of electricity, other than an essential interconnecting transmission facility necessary to effect a sale of electric energy at wholesale, and who is in compliance with the registration requirements of §25.105 of this title (relating to Registration and Reporting by Power Marketers). (50) Existing purchased power contract--A purchased power contract in effect on January 1, 1999, including any amendments and revisions to that contract resulting from litigation initiated before January 1, 1999. (51) Facilities--All the plant and equipment of an electric utility, including all tangible and intangible property, without limitation, owned, operated, leased, licensed, used, controlled, or supplied for, by, or in connection with the business of an electric utility. (52) Financing order--An order of the commission adopted under the Public Utility Regulatory Act §39.201 or §39.262 approving the issuance of transition bonds and the creation of transition charges for the recovery of qualified costs. (53) Freeze period--The period beginning on January 1, 1999, and ending on December 31, 2001. (54) Generation assets--All assets associated with the production of electricity, including generation plants, electrical interconnections of the generation plant to the transmission system, fuel contracts, fuel transportation contracts, water contracts, lands, surface or subsurface water rights, emissions-related allowances, and gas pipeline interconnections. (55) Generation service--The production and purchase of electricity for retail customers and the production, purchase and sale of electricity in the wholesale power market. (56) Good utility practice--Any of the practices, methods, and acts engaged in or approved by a significant portion of the electric utility industry during the relevant time period, or any of the practices, methods, and acts that, in the exercise of reasonable judgment in light of the facts known at the time the decision was made, could have been expected to accomplish the desired result at a reasonable cost consistent with good business practices, reliability, safety, and expedition. Good utility practice is not intended to be limited to the optimum practice, method, or act, to the exclusion of all others, but rather is intended to include acceptable practices, methods, and acts generally accepted in the region. (57) Hearing--Any proceeding at which evidence is taken on the merits of the matters at issue, not including prehearing conferences. (58) Independent organization--An independent system operator or other person that is sufficiently independent of any producer or seller of electricity that its decisions will not be unduly influenced by any producer or seller. (59) Independent system operator--An entity supervising the collective transmission facilities of a power region that is charged with non-discriminatory coordination of market transactions, systemwide transmission planning, and network reliability. (60) Installed generation capacity--All potentially marketable electric generation capacity, including the capacity of: (A) generating facilities that are connected with a transmission or distribution system; (B) generating facilities used to generate electricity for consumption by the person owning or controlling the facility; and (C) generating facilities that will be connected with a transmission or distribution system and operating within 12 months. (61) Interconnection agreement--The standard form of agreement, which has been approved by the commission. The interconnection agreement sets forth the contractual conditions under which a company and a customer agree that one or more facilities may be interconnected with the company's utility system. (62) License--The whole or part of any commission permit, certificate, approval, registration, or similar form of permission required by law. (63) Licensing--The commission process for granting, denial, renewal, revocation, suspension, annulment, withdrawal, or amendment of a license. (64) Load factor--The ratio of average load to peak load during a specific period of time, expressed as a percent. The load factor indicates to what degree energy has been consumed compared to maximum demand or utilization of units relative to total system capability. Cont'd... |
