Section 58-27-1105 - DefinitionsWhen used in this article:
(1) The term "ancillary agreement" means a bond, insurance policy, letter of credit, reserve account, surety bond, liquidity or credit support arrangement, or other financial arrangement entered into in connection with recovery bonds.(2) The term "assignee" means a legally recognized entity to which an electrical utility assigns, sells, or transfers, other than as a security, all or a portion of its interest in or right to storm recovery property. The term includes a corporation, limited liability company, general partnership or limited partnership, public authority, trust, financing entity, or any entity to which an assignee assigns, sells, or transfers, other than as security, all or a portion of its interest in or right to storm recovery property.(3) The term "bondholder" means a person who holds a storm recovery bond.(4) The term "code" means The Uniform Commercial Code, Title 36 of the South Carolina Code of Laws.(5) The term "commission" means the Public Service Commission of South Carolina.(6) The term "electrical utility" is as defined in Section 58-27-10(7).(7) The term "financing costs" includes all of the following: (a) interest and acquisition, defeasance, or redemption premiums payable on recovery bonds;(b) any payment required under an ancillary agreement and any amount required to fund or replenish a storm reserve account or other accounts established under the terms of any indenture, ancillary agreement, or other financing documents pertaining to recovery bonds;(c) any other cost related to issuing, supporting, repaying, refunding, and servicing storm recovery bonds, including servicing fees, accounting and auditing fees, trustee fees, legal fees, consulting fees, structuring adviser fees, administrative fees, placement and underwriting fees, independent director and manager fees, capitalized interest, rating agency fees, stock exchange listing and compliance fees, security registration fees, filing fees, information technology programming costs, and any other costs necessary to otherwise ensure the timely payment of recovery or other amounts or charges payable in connection with the bonds, including costs related to obtaining the financing order;(d) any taxes and license fees or other fees imposed on the revenues generated from the collection of a storm recovery charge or otherwise resulting from the collection of storm recovery charges, in any such case whether paid, payable, or accrued;(e) any state and local taxes, franchise, gross receipts, and other taxes or similar charges, including regulatory assessment fees, whether paid, payable, or accrued;(f) any costs incurred by the commission or the Office of Regulatory Staff for any outside consultants, including counsel and advisors, retained in connection with the securitization of storm recovery costs.(8) The term "financing order" means an order that authorizes the issuance of storm recovery bonds; the imposition, collection, and periodic adjustments of a storm recovery charge; the creation of storm recovery property; and the sale, assignment, or transfer of storm recovery property to an assignee.(9) The term "financing party" means bondholders and trustees, collateral agents, any party under an ancillary agreement, or any other person acting for the benefit of bondholders.(10) The term "financing statement" is as defined in Section 36-9-102.(11) The term "pledgee" means a financing party to which an electrical utility or its successors or assignees mortgages, negotiates, pledges, or creates a security interest or lien on all or any portion of its interest in or right to storm recovery property.(12) The term "storm" means, individually or collectively, a named tropical storm or hurricane, a tornado, ice storm or snowstorm, flood, an earthquake, or other significant weather or natural disaster.(13)(a) The term "storm recovery activity" means an activity or activities by an electrical utility, its affiliates, or its contractors directly and specifically in connection with the restoration of service and infrastructure associated with electric power outages affecting customers of an electrical utility as the result of a storm or storms, including activities related to mobilization, staging, and construction, reconstruction, replacement, or repair of electric generation, transmission, distribution, or general plant facilities.(b) No electrical utility is required to securitize nor is it prohibited from securitizing those capital improvements or infrastructure upgrades that have a quantifiable net benefit to consumers and that improve the resiliency of the transmission and distribution system.(14) The term "storm recovery bonds" means bonds, debentures, notes, certificates of participation, certificates of beneficial interest, certificates of ownership, or other evidences of indebtedness or ownership that are issued by an electrical utility or an assignee pursuant to a financing order, the proceeds of which are used directly or indirectly to recover, finance, or refinance commission-approved storm recovery costs and financing costs, and that are secured by or payable from storm recovery property. If certificates of participation or ownership are issued, references in this article to principal, interest, or premium shall be construed to refer to comparable amounts under those certificates.(15) The term "storm recovery charge" means the amounts authorized by the commission to repay, finance, or refinance storm recovery costs and financing costs and that are nonbypassable charges (i) imposed on and part of all retail customer bills, (ii) collected by an electrical utility or its successors or assignees, or a collection agent, in full, separate and apart from the electrical utility's base rates, and (iii) paid by all existing or future retail customers receiving transmission or distribution service, or both, from the electrical utility or its successors or assignees under commission-approved rate schedules or under special contracts, even if a customer elects to purchase electricity from an alternative electricity supplier following a fundamental change in regulation of electrical utilities in this State.(16) The term "storm recovery costs" means: (a) all incremental costs, including capital costs, appropriate for recovery from existing and future retail customers receiving transmission or distribution service from an electrical utility that an electrical utility has incurred or expects to incur as a result of the applicable storm that are caused by, associated with, or remain as a result of undertaking storm recovery activity;(b) storm recovery costs shall be net of applicable insurance proceeds, tax benefits, income tax savings, and any other amounts intended to reimburse the electrical utility for storm recovery activities such as government grants, or aid of any kind and where determined appropriate by the commission, and may include adjustments for capital replacement and operating costs previously considered in determining normal amounts in the electrical utility's most recent general rate proceeding. Storm recovery costs may include, to the extent determined appropriate by the commission, the cost to replenish and fund any storm reserves, the costs of retiring any existing indebtedness relating to storm recovery activities, and carrying costs;(c) with respect to storm recovery costs that the electrical utility expects to incur, any difference between costs expected to be incurred and actual, reasonable and prudent costs incurred, or any other rate-making adjustments appropriate to fairly and reasonably assign or allocate storm cost recovery to customers over time, shall be addressed in a future general rate proceeding, as may be facilitated by other orders of the commission issued at the time or prior to such proceeding; provided, however, that the commission's adoption of a financing order and approval of the issuance of storm recovery bonds may not be revoked or otherwise modified.(17) The term "storm recovery property" means:(a) All rights and interests of an electrical utility or successor or assignee of the electrical utility under a financing order, including the right to impose, bill, charge, collect, and receive storm recovery charges authorized under the financing order and to obtain periodic adjustments to such charges as provided in the financing order.(b) All revenues, collections, claims, rights to payments, payments, money, or proceeds arising from the rights and interests specified in the financing order, regardless of whether such revenues, collections, claims, rights to payment, payments, money, or proceeds are imposed, billed, received, collected, or maintained together with or commingled with other revenues, collections, rights to payment, payments, money, or proceeds.Added by 2022 S.C. Acts, Act No. 227 (SB 1077),s 1, eff. 6/17/2022.