Ariz. Admin. Code § R14-2-201 - Definitions

In this Article, unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall apply. In addition, the definitions contained in Article 16, Retail Electric Competition, shall apply in this Article unless the context otherwise requires.

1. "Advance in aid of construction." Funds provided to the utility by the applicant under the terms of a line extension agreement the value of which may be refundable.

2. "Applicant." A person requesting the utility to supply electric service.

3. "Application." A request to the utility for electric service, as distinguished from an inquiry as to the availability or charges for such service.

4. "Arizona Corporation Commission." The regulatory authority of the state of Arizona having jurisdiction over public service corporations operating in Arizona.

5. "Billing month." The period between any two regular readings of the utility's meters at approximately 30 day intervals.

6. "Billing period." The time interval between two consecutive meter readings that are taken for billing purposes.

7. "Contributions in aid of construction." Funds provided to the utility by the applicant under the terms of a line extension agreement or service connection tariff the value of which is not refundable.

8. "Curtailment priority." The order in which electric service is to be curtailed to various classifications of customers, as set forth in the utility's filed tariffs.

9. "Customer." The person or entity in whose name service is rendered, as evidenced by the signature on the application or contract for that service, or by the receipt and/or payment of bills regularly issued in his name regardless of the identity of the actual user of the service.

10. "Customer charge." The amount the customers must pay the utility for the availability of electric service, excluding any electricity used, as specified in the utility's tariffs.

11. "Customer hours" means the product of the duration of the utility outage and the number of customers affected by said outage.

11. 12. "Day." Calendar day.

12. 13. "Demand." The rate at which power is delivered during any specified period of time. Demand may be expressed in kilowatts, kilovolt-amperes, or other suitable units.

13. 14. "Distribution lines." The utility lines operated at distribution voltage which are constructed along public roadways or other bona fide rights-of-way, including easements on customer's property.

14. "Elderly." A person who is 62 years of age or older.

15. "Electric Service Provider" or "ESP" means an entity supplying, marketing, or brokering at retail any competitive services pursuant to a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity.

15. 16. "Energy." Electric energy, expressed in kilowatt-hours.

16. "Handicapped." A person with a physical or mental condition which substantially contributes to the person's inability to manage his or her own resources, carry out activities of daily living, or protect oneself from neglect or hazardous situations without assistance from others.

17. "Illness." A medical ailment or sickness for which a residential customer obtains a verified document from a licensed medical physician stating the nature of the illness and that discontinuance of service would be especially dangerous to the customer's health.

17. "Federal poverty level" means the U.S. federal poverty guideline for the pertinent household size published annually in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and available at https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines.

18. "Heat-vulnerable populations" means persons who are more vulnerable to hot weather mortality and morbidity.

18. 19. "Inability to pay" means a circumstance under which a residential customer either:

a. Cannot pay the full balance of the customer's monthly bill and has attested to and, if requested, has provided documentation issued by an Arizona or U.S. governmental agency or a licensed medical practitioner verifying that the customer meets one of the following:

i. Is at least 62 years of age;

ii. Has a physical or mental condition that substantially limits the customer's ability to manage resources, carry out activities of daily living, or secure protection from neglect or hazardous situations without assistance from others; or

iii. Has a medical condition that makes termination of electric service especially dangerous to the customer's health; or

b. Cannot pay the full balance of the customer's monthly bill and meets one of the following as attested to by the residential customer:

a. i. Is not gainfully employed;

b. ii. Qualifies for monetary government welfare assistance but has not yet begun to receive assistance; or

c. iii. Has an annual income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

d. Signs a declaration verifying that the customer meets one of the above criteria and is either elderly, handicapped, or suffers from illness.

19. 20. "Interrupt" or "Interruption" means to cease or the cessation of electric service to a customer at the point of delivery.

20. 21. "Kilowatt (kw)." A unit of power equal to 1,000 watts.

21. 22. "Kilowatt-hour (kwh)." Electric energy equivalent to the amount of electric energy delivered in one hour when delivery is at a constant rate of 1 kilowatt.

23. "Licensed medical practitioner" means one of the following types of health care providers, actively licensed to practice in Arizona:

a. An allopathic or osteopathic physician,

b. A registered nurse practitioner, or

c. A physician assistant.

24. "Limited income" means:

a. A residential customer with annual household income at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level; or

b. A residential customer with annual household income at or below a percentage of the federal poverty level higher than 250 percent, as established by an electric utility in a Commission-approved tariff.

22. 25. "Line extension." The lines and equipment necessary to extend the electric distribution system of the utility to provide service to additional customers.

26. "Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program" or "LIHEAP" means the federally funded program that provides low-income residential customers energy bill assistance.

23. 27. "Master meter." A meter for measuring or recording the flow of electricity that has passed through it at a single location where said electricity is distributed to tenants or occupants for their individual usage.

24. 28. "Megawatt (Mw)." A unit of power equal to 1,000,000 watts.

25. 29. "Meter." The instrument for measuring and indicating or recording the flow of electricity that has passed through it.

26. 30. "Meter tampering." A situation where a meter has been illegally altered. Common examples are meter bypassing, use of magnets to slow the meter recording, and broken meter seals.

27. 31. "Minimum charge." The amount the customer must pay for the availability of electric service, including an amount of usage, as specified in the utility's tariffs.

28. 32. "Permanent customer." A customer who is a tenant or owner of a service location who applies for and receives permanent electric service.

29. 33. "Permanent service." Service which, in the opinion of the utility, is of a permanent and established character. The use of electricity may be continuous, intermittent, or seasonal in nature.

30. 34. "Person." Any individual, partnership, corporation, governmental agency, or other organization operating as a single entity.

31. 35. "Point of delivery." The point where facilities owned, leased, or under license by a customer connects to the utility's facilities.

32. 36. "Power." The rate of generating, transferring, or using electric energy, usually expressed in kilowatts.

37. "Preferred method of communication" means the communication method that complies with R14-2-212(K).

33. 38. "Premises." All of the real property and apparatus employed in a single enterprise on an integral parcel of land undivided by public streets, alleys or railways.

34. 39. "Residential subdivision development." Any tract of land which has been divided into four or more contiguous lots with an average size of one acre or less for use for the construction of residential buildings or permanent mobile homes for either single or multiple occupancy.

35. 40. "Residential use." Service to customers using electricity for domestic purposes such as space heating, air conditioning, water heating, cooking, clothes drying, and other residential uses and includes use in apartment buildings, mobile home parks, and other multiunit residential buildings.

41. "Service address" means the physical location at which a utility provides service to a customer.

36. 42. "Service area." The territory in which the utility has been granted a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity and is authorized by the Commission to provide electric service.

37. 43. "Service establishment charge." The charge as specified in the utility's tariffs which covers the cost of establishing a new account.

38. 44. "Service line." The line extending from a distribution line or transformer to the customer's premises or point of delivery.

39. 45. "Service reconnect charge" means the charge specified in a utility's tariffs that must be paid by a customer prior to restarting electric service each time the customer's electric service is terminated for nonpayment or for failure to comply with the utility's tariffs.

40. 46. "Service reestablishment charge" means the charge specified in a utility's tariffs that must be paid to reinitiate service at the same location where the same customer ordered a service termination within the preceding 12-month period.

41. 47. "Single family dwelling." A house, an apartment, a mobile home permanently affixed to a lot, or any other permanent residential unit which is used as a permanent home.

42. 48. "Tariffs." The documents filed with the Commission which list the services and products offered by the utility and which set forth the terms and conditions and a schedule of the rates and charges, for those services and products.

43. 49. "Temporary service." Service to premises or enterprises which are temporary in character, or where it is known in advance that the service will be of limited duration. Service which, in the opinion of the utility, is for operations of a speculative character is also considered temporary service.

50. "Terminate" or "Termination" means to discontinue or a discontinuance of electric service to a customer's service address, by intentional action of the utility, and is synonymous with "disconnect" or "disconnection" as used in this Article.

44. 51. "Third party" means an entity or a person authorized by a customer and willing to receive notification of the customer's pending termination of service and to communicate with the utility on behalf of the customer for the purpose of making arrangements to prevent termination of the customer's electric service.

45. 52. "Utility." The public service corporation providing electric service to the public in compliance with state law, except in those instances set forth in R14-2-1612(A) and (B).

53. "Utility Distribution Company" or "UDC" means the utility that operates, constructs, and maintains the distribution system for the delivery of power to a point of delivery on the distribution system.

46. "Weather especially dangerous to health." That period of time commencing with the scheduled termination date when the local weather forecast, as predicted by the National Oceanographic and Administration Service, indicates that the temperature will not exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit for the next day's forecast. The Commission may determine that other weather conditions are especially dangerous to health as the need arises.

Notes

Ariz. Admin. Code § R14-2-201

Adopted effective March 2, 1982 (Supp. 82-2). Amended by exempt rulemaking at 5 A.A.R. 3933, effective September 24, 1999 (Supp. 99-3). Amended by exempt rulemaking at 6 A.A.R. 4180, effective October 13, 2000 (Supp. 00-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 28 A.A.R. 564, effective 4/18/2022.

The following Section was amended under an exemption from the Attorney General approval provisions of the Arizona Administrative Procedure Act (State ex. rel. Corbin v. Arizona Corporation Commission, 174 Ariz. 216 848 P.2d 301 (App. 1992)), as determined by the Corporation Commission. This exemption means that the rules as amended were not approved by the Attorney General.