16 Tex. Admin. Code § 7.115 - Definitions
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.
Notes
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