N.D. Admin. Code 69-09-07-01
As used throughout this chapter, except where otherwise indicated:
1. "Avoided costs" means the incremental costs to an electric utility of electric energy or capacity or both which, but for the purchase from the qualifying facility or qualifying facilities, such utility would generate itself or purchase from another source.
2. "Backup power" means electric energy or capacity supplied by an electric utility to replace energy ordinarily generated by a facility's own generation equipment during an unscheduled outage of the facility.
3. "Biomass" means any organic material not derived from fossil fuels.
4. "Bottoming-cycle cogeneration facility" means a cogeneration facility in which the energy input to the system is first applied to a useful thermal energy process, and the reject heat emerging from the process is then used for power production.
5. "Cogeneration facility" means equipment used to produce electric energy and forms of useful thermal energy, such as heat or steam, used for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling purposes, through the sequential use of energy.
6. "Commission" means the public service commission, or such other department, bureau, or commission as may lawfully succeed to the powers and duties of that commission.
7. "Electric utility" means an "electric public utility" as defined in subsection 1 of North Dakota Century Code section 49-03-01.5.
8. "Interconnection costs" means the reasonable costs of connection, switching, metering, transmission, distribution, safety provisions and administrative costs incurred by the electric utility directly related to the installation and maintenance of the physical facilities necessary to permit interconnected operations with a qualifying facility, to the extent such costs are in excess of the corresponding costs which the electric utility would have incurred if it had not engaged in interconnected operations, but instead generated an equivalent amount of electric energy itself or purchased an equivalent amount of electric energy or capacity from other sources. Interconnection costs do not include any costs included in the calculation of avoided costs.
9. "Interruptible power" means electric energy or capacity supplied by an electric utility subject to interruption by the electric utility under specified conditions.
10. "Maintenance power" means electric energy or capacity supplied by an electric utility during the scheduled outages of the qualifying facility.
11. "Natural gas" means either natural gas unmixed, or any mixture of natural gas and artificial gas.
12. "Oil" means crude oil, residual fuel oil, natural gas liquids, or any refined petroleum products.
13. "Primary energy source" means the fuel or fuels used for the generation of electric energy, except that such term does not include the minimum amounts of fuel required for ignition, startup, testing, flame stabilization, and control uses, and the minimum amounts of fuel required to alleviate or prevent unanticipated equipment outages, and emergencies, directly affecting the public health, safety or welfare, which would result from electric power outages.
14. "Purchase" means the purchase of electric energy or capacity or both from a qualifying facility by an electric utility.
15. "Qualifying cogeneration facility" means a cogeneration facility that is a qualifying facility under subsection 2 of section 69-09-07-03.
16. "Qualifying cogenerator" means the owner or operation of a qualifying cogeneration facility.
17. "Qualifying facility" means a cogeneration facility or a small power production facility which is a qualifying facility under section 69-09-07-03.
18. "Qualifying small power producer" means the owner or operator of a qualifying small power production facility.
19. "Qualifying small power production facility" means a small power production facility that is a qualifying facility under subsection 1 of section 69-09-07-03.
20. "Rate" means any price, rate, charge, or classification made, demanded, observed, or received with respect to the sale or purchase of electric energy or capacity, or any rule, regulation, or practice respecting any such rate, charge, or classification, and any contract pertaining to the sale or purchase of electric energy or capacity.
21. "Sale" means the sale of electric energy or capacity or both by an electric utility to a qualifying facility.
22. "Small power production facility" means a facility which produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass, waste, renewable resources, or any combination thereof, and has a power production capacity which, together with any other facilities located at the same site, is not greater than eighty megawatts.
23. "Supplementary firing" means an energy input to the cogeneration facility used only in the thermal process of a topping-cycle cogeneration facility, or only in the electric generating process of a bottoming-cycle cogeneration facility.
24. "Supplementary power" means electric energy or capacity supplied by an electric utility, regularly used by a qualifying facility in addition to that which the facility generates itself.
25. "System emergency" means a condition on a utility's system which is likely to result in imminent significant disruption of service to customers or is imminently likely to endanger life or property.
26. "Topping-cycle cogeneration facility" means a cogeneration facility in which the energy input to the facility is first used to produce useful power output, and the reject heat from power production is then used to provide useful thermal energy.
27. "Total energy input" means the total energy of all forms supplied from external sources other than supplementary firings to the facilities.
28. "Total energy output" of a topping-cycle cogeneration facility is the sum of the useful power output and useful thermal energy output.
29. "Useful power output" of a cogeneration facility means the electric or mechanical energy made available for use, exclusive of any such energy used in the power production process.
30. "Useful thermal energy output" of a topping-cycle cogeneration facility means the thermal energy made available for use in any industrial or commercial process, or used in any heating or cooling application.
31. "Waste" means byproduct materials other than biomass.
N.D. Admin Code 69-09-07-01
General Authority: NDCC 49-02-02
Law Implemented: NDCC 49-02-02