4 Colo. Code Regs. § 723-3-3001

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 1, January 10, 2025

Section 4 CCR 723-3-3001 - [Effective 6/3/2025] Definitions

The following definitions apply throughout this Part 3, except where a specific rule or statute provides otherwise. In addition to the definitions here, the definitions found in the Public Utilities Law and Part 1 apply to these rules. In the event of a conflict between these definitions and a statutory definition, the statutory definition shall apply. In the event of a conflict between these definitions and a definition in Part 1, these definitions shall apply.

(a) "Advanced metering infrastructure" means an integrated system of smart electric utility meters and communication networks that enables two-way communication between an electric utility's data systems and the meter's internet protocol address and allows the electric utility to measure electricity usage and/or connect or disconnect service remotely.

(b) "Affiliate" of a utility means a subsidiary of a utility, a parent corporation of a public utility, a joint venture organized as a separate corporation or partnership to the extent of the individual utility's involvement with the joint venture, a subsidiary of a parent corporation of a utility or where the utility or the parent corporation has a controlling interest over an entity.

(c) "Aggregated data" means customer data, alone or in combination with non-customer data, resulting from processing (e.g., average of a group of customers) and/or the compilation of customer data of one or more customers from which all unique identifiers and personal information has been removed.

(d) "Applicant for service" means a person who applies for utility service and who either has taken no previous utility service from that utility or has not taken utility service from that utility within the most recent 30 days.

(e) "Base rate" means charges used to recover costs of utility infrastructure and operations, including a return on capital investment, not otherwise recovered through a utility rate adjustment mechanism.

(f) "Basis point" means one-hundredth of a percentage point (100 basis points = one percent).

(g) "Benefit of service" means the use of utility service by each person of legal age who resides at a premises to which service is delivered and who is not registered with the utility as the customer of record.

(h) "Commission" means the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

(i) "Contracted agent" means any person that has contracted with a utility in compliance with rule 3030 to assist in the provision of regulated utility services (e.g., an affiliate or vendor).

(j) "Customer" means any person who is currently receiving utility service. Any person who moves within a utility's service territory and obtains utility service at a new location within 30 days shall be considered a "customer." Unless stated in a particular rule, "customer" applies to any class of customer as defined by the Commission or by utility tariff.

(k) "Customer data" means customer-specific data or information, excluding personal information as defined in paragraph 1004(x), that is:

(I) collected from the electric meter by the utility and stored in its data systems (e.g., kWh, kW, voltage, VARs and power factor);

(II) combined with customer-specific energy usage information on bills issued to the customer for regulated utility service when not publicly or lawfully available to the general public; or

(III) about the customer's participation in regulated utility programs, such as renewable energy, demand-side management, load management, or energy efficiency programs.

(l) "Distribution facilities" are those lines designed to operate at the utility's distribution voltages in the area as defined in the utility's tariffs including substation transformers that transform electricity to a distribution voltage and also includes other equipment within a transforming substation which is not integral to the circuitry of the utility's transmission system.

(m) "Emergency or safety event or circumstance" means a manmade or natural emergency event or safety circumstance:

(I) that prevents utility staff from being able to safely travel to or work at a customer's residence or place of business for purposes of reconnecting or making necessary repairs prior to reconnecting utility service; or

(II) for which a utility has dispatched utility staff members to help respond to the emergency or safety event or circumstance and, due to the timing or number of utility staff dispatched, the utility lacks sufficient trained staff to reconnect or make necessary repairs prior to reconnecting utility service at a customer's residence or place of business; and

(III) includes a severe weather event that one or more reputable weather forecasting sources forecasts to occur in the following twenty-four hours and that is more likely than not to result in dangerous travel or on-site outdoor or indoor work conditions for individuals in the path of the weather event.

(n) "Energy assistance organization" means the nonprofit corporation established for low-income energy assistance pursuant to § 40-8.5-104, C.R.S.

(o) "Energy storage system" means a commercially available technology that is capable of retaining energy, storing the energy for a period of time, and delivering the energy as electricity after storage by chemical, thermal, mechanical, or other means.

(p) "Financial security" includes any stock, bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness.

(q) "Generation facility" means a power plant that converts a primary energy resource into electricity. Primary energy resources include, but are not limited to: nuclear resources, coal, natural gas, hydro, wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal.

(r) "Heavy load" means not less than 60 percent, but not more than 100 percent, of the nameplate-rated capacity of a meter.

(s) "Income qualified utility customer" or "low income customer" is a customer meeting the requirements of § 40-3-106(1)(d)(II), C.R.S.

(t) "Informal complaint" means an informal complaint as defined and discussed in the Commission's Rules Regulating Practice and Procedure.

(u) "Light load" means approximately five to ten percent of the nameplate-rated capacity of a meter.

(v) "Load" means the power consumed by an electric utility customer over time (measured in terms of either demand or energy or both).

(w) "Local government" means any Colorado county, municipality, city and county, home rule city or town, home rule city and county, or city or town operating under a territorial charter.

(x) "Local office" means any Colorado office operated by a utility at which persons may make requests to establish or to discontinue utility service. If the utility does not operate an office in Colorado, "local office" means any office operated by a utility at which persons may make requests to establish or to discontinue utility service in Colorado.

(y) "Main service terminal" means the point at which the utility's metering connections terminate.

(z) "Major event" means an event as defined in and consistent with IEEE Standard Number 1366-2003, Guide for Electric Power Distribution Reliability Indices.

(aa) "MVA" means mega-volt amperes and is the vector sum of the real power and the reactive power.

(bb) "Non-standard customer data" means all customer data that are not standard customer data.

(cc) "Output" means the energy and power produced by a generation system.

(dd) "Past due" means the point at which a utility can affect a customer's account for regulated service due to non-payment of charges for regulated service.

(ee) "Powerline trail" means a multimodal trail that is: eight feet in width or wider; made of hard surface such as concrete or compacted gravel; used for recreational purposes or commuting in a manner that does not involve a motor vehicle; and located in an existing transmission or future transmission corridor.

(ff) "Principal place of business" means the place, in or out of the State of Colorado, where the executive or managing principals who directly oversee the utility's operations in Colorado are located.

(gg) "Property owner" means the legal owner of government record for a parcel of real property within the service territory of a utility. A utility may rely upon the records of a county clerk for the county within which a parcel of property is located to determine ownership of government record.

(hh) "Qualifying communication" means one of the following methods of communicating with a utility customer about a possible upcoming disconnection of service:

(I) a physical visit to the customer's premises during which a utility representative speaks with the customer and provides the customer utility assistance information or, if the customer is not available to speak, leaves notice of proposed disconnection and utility assistance information for the customer's review; or

(II) a telephone call, text, or e-mail to the customer's last-known telephone number or email address in which:

(A) the utility representative provides the customer with notice of proposed disconnection and utility assistance information; and

(B) the utility representative either speaks directly with the customer over the telephone or the customer receives the utility representative's text or email.

(ii) "Rate adjustment mechanism" or "rate rider" means a charge added to a utility bill to recover a specific cost that is not part of the base rate.

(jj) "Reference standard" means suitable indicating electrical equipment permanently mounted in a utility's laboratory and used for no purpose other than testing rotating standards.

(kk) "Regulated charges" means charges billed by a utility to a customer if such charges are approved by the Commission or contained in a tariff of the utility.

(ll) "RFP" means request for proposals.

(mm) "Rotating standard" means a portable meter used for testing service meters.

(nn) "RUS" means the Rural Utilities Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, or its successor agencies.

(oo) "Service connection" is the location on the customer's premises/facilities at which a point of delivery of power between the utility and the customer is established. For example, in the case of a typical residential customer served from overhead secondary supply, this is the location at which the utility's electric service drop conductors are physically connected to the customer's electric service entrance conductors.

(pp) "Standard customer data" means customer data maintained by a utility in its systems in the ordinary course of business.

(qq) "Test year" means a twelve-month period that is examined to determine a utility's costs of service in a rate case.

(rr) "Third-party" means a person who is not the customer, an agent of the customer who has been designated by the customer with the utility and is acting of the customer's behalf, a regulated utility serving the customer, or a contracted agent, of the utility.

(ss) "Transmission corridor" means a tract of land owned, occupied, or leased by a transmission provider as defined in § 33-45-102(11), C.R.S., or covered by an easement or right-of-way held by a transmission provider, where an electric transmission line is constructed, operated, or maintained at a voltage of 69 kilovolts or above.

(tt) "Transmission facilities" are those lines and related substations designed and operating at voltage levels above the utility's voltages for distribution facilities, including but not limited to related substation facilities such as transformers, capacitor banks, or breakers that are integral to the circuitry of the utility's transmission system.

(uu) "Unique identifier" means a customer's name, mailing address, telephone number, or email address that is displayed on a bill.

(vv) "Unregulated charges" means charges that are billed by a utility to a customer and that are not regulated or approved by the Commission, are not contained in a tariff filed with the Commission, and are for service or merchandise not required as a condition of receiving regulated utility service.

(ww) "Utility assistance information" means information that a utility representative provides a customer informing the customer that the customer may contact 1-866-HEAT-HELP (1-866-432-8435) to determine if the customer qualifies for utility bill payment assistance.

(xx) "Utility" means any public utility as defined in § 40-1-103, C.R.S., providing electric, steam, or associated services in the state of Colorado.

(yy) "Utility service" or "service" means a service offering of a utility, which service offering is regulated by the Commission.

(zz) "Whole building data" means the sum of the monthly electric use for either all meters at a building on a parcel or real property or all buildings on a parcel of real property.

4 CCR 723-3-3001

38 CR 17, September 10, 2015, effective 9/30/2015

39 CR 06, March 25, 2016, effective 4/14/2016

39 CR 08, April 25, 2016, effective 5/15/2016

40 CR 22, November 25, 2017, effective 12/15/2017

42 CR 03, February 10, 2019, effective 3/2/2019

42 CR 07, April 10, 2019, effective 4/30/2019

42 CR 09, May 10, 2019, effective 5/30/2019

43 CR 08, April 25, 2020, effective 5/15/2020

43 CR 12, June 25, 2020, effective 7/15/2020

43 CR 20, October 25, 2020, effective 11/14/2020

44 CR 13, July 10, 2021, effective 7/30/2021

44 CR 24, December 25, 2021, effective 1/14/2022

45 CR 18, September 25, 2022, effective 10/15/2022

46 CR 02, January 25, 2023, effective 2/14/2023

46 CR 15, August 10, 2023, effective 8/30/2023

46 CR 18, September 25, 2023, effective 8/14/2023, exp. 3/11/2024 (Emergency)

47 CR 07, April 10, 2024, effective 3/6/2024, exp. 10/2/2024 (Emergency)

47 CR 08, April 25, 2024, effective 5/15/2024

47 CR 21, November 10, 2024, effective 9/30/2024, exp. 4/28/2025 (Emergency)

47 CR 23, December 10, 2024, effective 11/5/2024, exp. 6/3/2025 (Emergency)