Utah Admin. Code R746-312-2 - Definitions

(1) "Adverse system impact" means the negative effects due to technical or operational limits on conductors or equipment being exceeded that may compromise the safety and reliability of the electric distribution system.

(2) "Affected system" means an electric system other than a public utility's electric distribution system that may be affected by the proposed interconnection.

(3) "Building code official" means the city or local official whose responsibility includes inspecting facilities for compliance with the city or local jurisdiction electrical code requirements.

(4) "Business day" means Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

(5) "Confidential information" means any confidential or proprietary information provided by one party to the other party that is clearly marked or otherwise designated "Confidential." For this rule, the design, operating specification, and metering data provided by the interconnection customer shall be considered confidential information regardless of whether it is clearly marked or otherwise designated as confidential information. Confidential information does not include information previously in the public domain, required to be publicly submitted or divulged by governmental authorities, or necessary to be divulged in an action to enforce these procedures.

(6) "Electric distribution system" means that portion of an electric system that delivers electricity from transformation points on the transmission system to the point or points of connection at a customer's premises.

(7) "Equipment package" means, for certification purposes, a group of components connecting a generating facility's device for the production of electricity, in other words, a generator, with an electric distribution system, and includes any interface equipment including switchgear, inverters, or other interface devices. An equipment package may include an integrated generator or electric production source. An equipment package does not include equipment provided by the utility.

(8) "Fault current" means electrical current that flows through a circuit and is produced by an electrical fault, for example, to ground, double-phase to ground, three-phase to ground, phase-to-phase, and three-phase. A fault current is several times larger in magnitude than the current that normally flows through a circuit.

(9) "Facilities study" means a study conducted to determine the additional or upgraded distribution system facilities necessary to interconnect a generating facility with a public utility, the cost of those facilities, and the time schedule required to interconnect the generating facility to the public utility's distribution system.

(10) "Feasibility study" means a preliminary evaluation of the system impact and the cost of interconnecting a generating facility to the public utility's electric distribution system.

(11) "Generating facility" means the interconnection customer's device for the production of electricity and each associated component up to the point of common coupling identified in the interconnection request but may not include the interconnection customer's interconnection facilities.

(12) "Generation capacity" means the nameplate capacity of the power generating device of a generating facility. Generation capacity does not include the effects caused by inefficiencies of power conversion or plant parasitic loads.

(13) "Good utility practice" means 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 when the decision was made, could have been expected to accomplish the desired result of the lowest 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 any others, but rather to be acceptable practices, methods, or acts generally accepted in the region and consistently adhered to by the public utility.

(14) "Governing authority" means:

(a) for a distribution electrical cooperative, its board of directors; and

(b) for each other electrical corporation, the Public Service Commission, otherwise referred to as the commission.

(15) "IEEE standards" means the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems -- IEEE 1547 Series referenced in Section 54-15-102.

(16) "Interconnection agreement" means a standard form agreement between an interconnection customer and a public utility that governs the connection of a generating facility to the electric distribution system and the ongoing operation of the generating facility after it is connected to the system.

(17) "Interconnection customer" means any entity including a public utility that proposes to interconnect its generating facility with the public utility's distribution system.

(18) "Interconnection facilities" means the facilities and equipment required by a public utility to accommodate the interconnection of a generating facility to the public utility's electric distribution system and used exclusively for that interconnection. Interconnection Facilities do not include upgrades.

(19) "Interconnection request" means the interconnection customer's request to interconnect a new generating facility, or to increase the capacity of, or make a material modification to the operating characteristics of an existing generating facility that is interconnected with the public utility. The interconnection request includes the required applications, forms, processing fees, and deposits required by the public utility.

(20) "Inverter" has the same meaning as in Section 54-15-102.

(21) "Level 1 interconnection review" means an interconnection review process applicable to an inverter-based facility having a generation capacity of 25 kilowatts or less.

(22) "Level 2 interconnection review" means an interconnection review process applicable to a facility having a generation capacity of 2 megawatts or less and that does not qualify for or fails to meet Level 1 interconnection review requirements.

(23) "Level 3 interconnection review" means an interconnection review process applicable to a facility having a generation capacity of greater than 2 megawatts but no larger than 20 megawatts, the generating facility is not certified, or the generating facility does not qualify for or fails to meet Level 1 or Level 2 interconnection review requirements.

(24) "Net metering facility" means a facility eligible for net metering, or an eligible facility as defined in Section 54-15-102.

(25) "Party or parties" means the public utility, the interconnection customer, or both.

(26) "Point of common coupling" means the point at which the interconnection between the public utility's system and the interconnection customer's equipment interface occurs. Typically, this is the customer side of the public utility's meter.

(27) "Public utility" has the meaning set forth in Section 54-2-1 and is limited to a public utility that provides electric service.

(28) "Queue position" means the order of a valid interconnection request relative to any other pending valid interconnection requests that is established based upon the date and time of receipt of a completed interconnection request, including application fees, by the public utility.

(29) "Spot network" means a type of electric distribution system that uses two or more inter-tied transformers protected by network protectors to supply an electrical network circuit. A spot network is generally used to supply power to a single customer or a small group of customers.

(30) "Standard form" or "standard form agreement" means a form or agreement that follows that adopted or approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in its small generator interconnection proceedings and modified to be consistent with this rule unless the governing authority has approved an alternative form or agreement.

(31) "Switchgear" has the same meaning as in Section 54-15-102.

(32) "System impact study" means an engineering analysis of the probable impact of a generating facility on the safety and reliability of the public utility's electric distribution system.

(33) "Telemetry" means the remote communication from a generator facility to a point on the public utility's communication network where the data may be assimilated into the public utility's grid operations if desired.

(34) "UL1741" means the UL Standard for Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use With Distributed Energy Resources as referenced in Section 54-15-102.

(35) "Upgrades" means the required additions and modifications to a public utility's distribution system beyond the point of interconnection. Upgrades do not include interconnection facilities.

(36) "Written notice" means a required notice sent by the utility via electronic mail if the interconnection customer has provided an electronic mail address. If the interconnection customer has not provided an electronic mail address, or has requested in writing to be notified by United States mail, or if the utility elects to provide notice by United States mail, then written notices from the utility shall be sent via First Class United States mail. The utility shall be considered to have fulfilled its duty to respond under this rule on the day it sends the interconnection customer notice via electronic mail or deposits the notice in First Class mail. The interconnection customer shall be responsible for informing the utility of any changes to its notification address.

Notes

Utah Admin. Code R746-312-2

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2017-2, effective 12/22/2016 Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-08, effective 4/9/2024