Or. Admin. R. 860-038-0005 - Definitions for Direct Access Regulation
As used in this Division:
(1) "Above-market costs of new renewable
energy resources" means the portion of the net present value cost of producing
power (including fixed and operating costs, delivery, overhead, and profit)
from a new renewable energy resource that exceeds the market value of an
equivalent quantity and distribution (across peak and off-peak periods and
seasonality) of power from a nondifferentiated source, with the same term of
contract.
(2) "Portfolio Options
Committee" means a group appointed by the Commission, consisting of
representatives from Commission Staff, the Oregon Department of Energy, and the
following:
(a) Local governments;
(b) Electric companies;
(c) Residential consumers;
(d) Public or regional interest groups; and
(e) Small nonresidential
consumers.
(3)
"Affiliate" means a corporation or person who has an affiliated interest, as
defined in ORS 757.015, with a public utility.
(4) "Aggregate" means combining
retail electricity consumers into a buying group for the purchase of
electricity and related services. "Aggregator" means an entity that aggregates.
(5) "Ancillary services" means
those services necessary or incidental to the transmission and delivery of
electricity from resources to retail electricity consumers, including but not
limited to scheduling, frequency regulation, load shaping, load following,
spinning reserves, supplemental reserves, reactive power, voltage control and
energy balancing services.
(6)
"Commission" means the Public Utility Commission of Oregon.
(7) "Common costs" means costs that cannot be
directly assigned to a particular function.
(8) "Competitive operations" means any
electric company's activities involving the sale or marketing of electricity
services or directly related products in an Oregon retail market. Competitive
operations include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Energy efficiency audits and programs;
(b) Sales, installation,
management, and maintenance of electrical equipment that is used to provide
generation, transmission, and distribution related services or enhances the
reliability of such services; and
(c) Energy management services, including
those services related to electricity metering and billing. Services or
products provided by the electric company as part of its electric service to
its non-direct access customers within its allocated service territory, or
transmission and distribution services to its direct access customers are not
competitive operations.
(9) "Constructing and operating," as used in
ORS 757.612(3)(b)(B),
means constructing, or operating, or both.
(a) As used in ORS
757.612(3)(b)(B),
"constructing" includes the following activities:
(A) Pre-development project studies,
activities or costs that are related to the planned development of a new
renewable energy resource that a developer or owner would reasonably expect to
incur; and
(B) Activities or costs
directly related to the building of a new renewable energy resource.
(b) As used in ORS
757.612(3)(b)(B),
"operating" includes the activities and costs necessary for a new renewable
energy resource to function and to be maintained in good working order.
(10) "Consumer-owned
utility" means a municipal electric utility, a people's utility district, or an
electric cooperative.
(11)
"Cost-of-service consumer" means a retail electricity consumer who is eligible
for a cost-of-service rate under ORS
757.603.
(12) "Default supplier" means an electric
company that has a legal obligation to provide electricity services to a
consumer, as determined by the Commission.
(13) "Direct access" means the ability of a
retail electricity consumer to purchase electricity and certain ancillary
services directly from an entity other than the distribution utility.
(14) "Direct service industrial
consumer" means an end-user of electricity that obtains electricity directly
from the transmission grid and not through a distribution utility.
(15) "Distribution" means the delivery of
electricity to retail electricity consumers through a distribution system
consisting of local area power poles, transformers, conductors, meters,
substations and other equipment.
(16) "Distribution utility" means an electric
utility that owns and operates a distribution system connecting the
transmission grid to the retail electricity consumer.
(17) "Divestiture" means the sale of all or a
portion of an electric company's ownership share of a generation asset to a
third party.
(18) "Economic
utility investment" means all Oregon allocated investments made by an electric
company that offers direct access under ORS
757.600 to
757.667, including plants and
equipment and contractual or other legal obligations, properly dedicated to
generation or conservation, that were prudent at the time the obligations were
assumed but the full benefits of which are no longer available to consumers as
a direct result of 757.600 to
757.667, absent transition
credits. "Economic utility investment" does not include costs or expenses
disallowed by the Commission in a prudence review or other proceeding, to the
extent of such disallowance, and does not include fines or penalties authorized
and imposed under state or federal law.
(19) "Electric company" means an entity
engaged in the business of distributing electricity to retail electricity
consumers in this state but does not include a consumer-owned utility.
(20) "Electric company operational
information" means information obtained by an electric company as part of its
provision of services or products, as long as such products or services are not
defined as "competitive operations." Such information includes, but is not
limited to, data relating to the interconnection of customers to an electric
company's transmission or distribution systems; trade secrets; competitive
information relating to internal processes; market analysis reports; market
forecasts; and information about an electric company's transmission or
distribution system, processes, operations, or plans or strategies for
expansion.
(21) "Electric
cooperative" means an electric cooperative corporation organized under ORS
Chapter 62 or under the laws of another state if the service territory of the
electric cooperative includes a portion of this state.
(22) "Electric utility" means an electric
company or consumer-owned utility that is engaged in the business of
distributing electricity to retail electricity consumers in this state.
(23) "Electricity" means electric
energy, measured in kilowatt-hours, or electric capacity, measured in
kilowatts, or both.
(24)
"Electricity services" means electricity distribution, transmission,
generation, or generation-related services.
(25) "Electricity service supplier" or "ESS"
means a person or entity that offers to sell electricity services available
pursuant to direct access to more than one retail electricity consumer.
"Electricity service supplier" does not include an electric utility selling
electricity to retail electricity consumers in its own service territory. An
ESS can also be an aggregator.
(26) "Emergency default service" means a
service option provided by an electric company to a nonresidential consumer
that requires less than five business days' notice by the consumer or its
electricity service supplier.
(27)
"Fully distributed cost" means the cost of an electric company good or service
calculated in accordance with the procedures set forth in OAR 860-038-0200.
(28) "Functional separation" means
separating the costs of the electric company's business functions and recording
the results within its accounting records, including allocation of common
costs.
(29) "Joint marketing"
means the offering (including marketing, promotion, or advertising) of retail
electric services by an electric company in conjunction with its competitive
operation to consumers either through contact initiated by the electric
company, its Oregon affiliate, or through contact initiated by the consumer.
(30) "Large nonresidential
consumer" means a nonresidential consumer whose kW demand at any point of
delivery is greater than 30 kW during any two months within a prior 13-month
period.
(31) "Load" means the
amount of electricity delivered to or required by a retail electricity consumer
at a specific point of delivery.
(32) "Local energy conservation" means
conservation measures, projects, or programs that are installed or implemented
within the service territory of an electric company.
(33) "Low-income weatherization" means
repairs, weatherization, and installation of energy efficient appliances and
fixtures for low-income residences for the purpose of enhancing energy
efficiency.
(34) "Market
transformation" means a lasting structural or behavioral change in the
marketplace that increases the adoption of energy efficient technologies and
practices.
(35) "Multi-state
electric company" means an electric company that provided regulated retail
electric service in a state in addition to Oregon prior to January 1, 2000.
(36) "Municipal electric utility"
means an electric distribution utility owned and operated by or on behalf of a
city.
(37) "New" as it refers to
energy conservation, market transformation, and low-income weatherization means
measures, projects or programs that are installed or implemented after the date
direct access is offered by an electric company.
(38) "New renewable energy resource," as used
in ORS 757.612(3)(b)(B),
has the meaning provided in
757.600(21) and
references a specifically identified project that has, or is planned to have
after construction, a nominal electric generating capacity, as defined in
469.300, of 20 megawatts or
less.
(39) "Non-energy attributes"
means the environmental, economic, and social benefits of generation from
renewable energy facilities. These attributes are normally transacted in the
form of Tradable Renewable Certificates.
(40) "Nonresidential consumer" means a retail
electricity consumer who is not a residential consumer.
(41) "Ongoing valuation" means the process of
determining transition costs or benefits for a generation asset by comparing
the value of the asset output at projected market prices for a defined period
to an estimate of the revenue requirement of the asset for the same time
period.
(42) "One-time
administrative valuation" means the process of determining the market value of
a generation asset over the life of the asset, or a period as established by
the Commission, using a process other than divestiture.
(43) "One average megawatt" means 8,760,000
kilowatt-hours (8,784,000 in a leap year) of electricity per twelve consecutive
month period.
(44) "Oregon
affiliate" means an affiliate engaged in the sale or marketing of electricity
services or directly related products in an Oregon retail market.
(45) "Oregon share" means, for a multi-state
electric company, an interstate allocation based upon a fixed allocation or
method of allocation established in a Resource Plan or, in the case of an
electric company that is not a multi-state electric company, 100 percent.
(46) "People's utility district"
has the meaning given that term in ORS
261.010.
(47) "Portfolio" means a set of product and
pricing options for electricity.
(48) "Proprietary consumer information" means
any information compiled by an electric company on a consumer in the normal
course of providing electric service that makes possible the identification of
any individual consumer by matching such information with the consumer'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 other information that the consumer has
expressly requested not be disclosed. Information that is redacted or organized
in such a way as to make it impossible to identify the consumer to whom the
information relates does not constitute proprietary consumer information.
(49) "Qualifying expenditures"
means those expenditures for energy conservation measures that have a simple
payback period of not less than one year and not more than 10 years and
expenditures for the above-market costs of new renewable energy resources,
provided that the Oregon Department of Energy may establish by rule a limit on
the maximum above-market cost for renewable energy that is allowed as a credit.
(50) "Registered dispute" means an
unresolved issue affecting a retail electricity consumer, an ESS, or an
electric company that is under investigation by the Commission's Consumer
Services Section but is not the subject of a formal complaint.
(51) "Regulated charges" means charges for
services subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission.
(52) "Regulatory assets" means assets that
result from rate actions of regulatory agencies.
(53) "Renewable energy resources" means:
(a) Electricity-generation facilities fueled
by wind, waste, solar or geothermal power, or by low-emission nontoxic biomass
based on solid organic fuels from wood, forest, and field residues;
(b) Dedicated energy crops available on a
renewable basis;
(c) Landfill gas
and digester gas; and
(d)
Hydroelectric facilities located outside protected areas as defined by federal
law in effect on July 23, 1999.
(54) "Residential consumer" means a retail
electricity consumer that resides at a dwelling primarily used for residential
purposes. "Residential consumer" does not include retail electricity consumers
in a dwelling typically used for residency periods of less than 30 days,
including hotels, motels, camps, lodges, and clubs. As used in this section,
"dwelling" includes but is not limited to single-family dwellings, separately
metered apartments, adult foster homes, manufactured dwellings, recreational
vehicles, and floating homes.
(55)
"Retail electricity consumer" means the end user of electricity for specific
purposes such as heating, lighting, or operating equipment and includes all end
users of electricity served through the distribution system of an electric
utility on or after July 23, 1999, whether or not each end user purchases the
electricity from the electric utility. For purposes of this definition, a new
retail electricity consumer means a retail electricity consumer that is
unaffiliated with the retail electricity consumer previously served after March
1, 2002, at the site.
(56)
"Self-directing consumer" means a retail electricity consumer that has used
more than one average megawatt of electricity at any one site in the prior
calendar year or an aluminum plant that averages more than 100 average
megawatts of electricity use in the prior calendar year, that has received
final certification from the Oregon Department of Energy for expenditures for
new energy conservation or new renewable energy resources and that has notified
the electric company that it will pay the public purpose charge, net of
credits, directly to the electric company in accordance with the terms of the
electric company's tariff regarding public purpose credits.
(57) "Serious injury to person" has the
meaning given in OAR 860-024-0050.
(58) "Serious injury to property" has the
meaning given in OAR 860-024-0050.
(59) "Site" means:
(a) Buildings and related structures that are
interconnected by facilities owned by a single retail electricity consumer and
that are served through a single electric meter; or
(b) A single contiguous area of land
containing buildings or other structures that are separated by not more than
1,000 feet, such that:
(A) Each building or
structure included in the site is no more than 1,000 feet from at least one
other building or structure in the site;
(B) Buildings and structures in the site, and
land containing and connecting buildings and structures in the site, are owned
by a single retail electricity consumer who is billed for electricity use at
the buildings and structures; and
(C) Land shall be considered to be contiguous
even if there is an intervening public or railroad right of way, provided that
rights of way land on which municipal infrastructure facilities exist (such as
street lighting, sewerage transmission, and roadway controls) shall not be
considered contiguous.
(60) "Small nonresidential consumer" means a
nonresidential consumer that is not a large nonresidential consumer.
(61) "Special contract" means a rate
agreement that is justified primarily by price competition or service
alternatives available to a retail electricity consumer, as authorized by the
Commission under ORS 757.230.
(62) "Structural separation" means separating
the electric company's assets by transferring assets to an affiliated interest
of the electric company.
(63)
"Total transition amount" means the sum of an electric company's transition
costs and transition benefits.
(64) "Traditional allocation methods" means,
in respect to a multi-state electric company, inter-jurisdictional cost and
revenue allocation methods relied upon in such electric company's last Oregon
rate proceeding completed prior to December 31, 2000.
(65) "Transition benefits" means the value of
the below-market costs of an economic utility investment.
(66) "Transition charge" means a charge or
fee that recovers all or a portion of an uneconomic utility investment.
(67) "Transition costs" means the
value of the above-market costs of an uneconomic utility investment.
(68) "Transition credit" means a credit that
returns to consumers all or a portion of the benefits from an economic utility
investment.
(69) "Transmission
grid" means the interconnected electrical system that transmits energy from
generating sources to distribution systems and direct service industries.
(70) "Unbundling" means the
process of assigning and allocating a utility's costs into functional
categories.
(71) "Uneconomic
utility investment" means all Oregon allocated investments made by an electric
company that offers direct access under ORS
757.600 to
757.667, including plants and
equipment and contractual or other legal obligations, properly dedicated to
generation, conservation and work-force commitments, that were prudent at the
time the obligations were assumed but the full costs of which are no longer
recoverable as a direct result of
757.600 to
757.667, absent transition
charges. "Uneconomic utility investment" does not include costs or expenses
disallowed by the Commission in a prudence review or other proceeding, to the
extent of such disallowance and does not include fines or penalties as
authorized by state or federal law.
(72) "Unspecified Market Purchase Mix" means
the mix of all power generation within the state or other region less all
specific purchases from generation facilities in the state or region, as
determined by the Oregon Department of Energy.
Notes
Stat. Auth.: ORS 183, 756 & 757
Stats. Implemented: ORS 756.040 & 757.600 - 757.667
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