Colo. Rev. Stat. § 40-41-102

Current through 11/5/2024 election

Section 40-41-102 - Definitions

As used in this article 41, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Adjustment mechanism" means a formula-based mechanism for making automatic adjustments to CO-EI charges authorized in a financing order and for making any adjustments that are necessary to correct for overcollection or undercollection of such charges or otherwise ensure the timely and complete payment of the CO-EI bonds and all financing costs.

(2) "Ancillary agreement" means any bond, insurance policy, letter of credit, reserve account, surety bond, interest rate lock or swap arrangement, hedging arrangement, liquidity or credit support arrangement, or other financial arrangement entered into in connection with CO-EI bonds that is designed to promote the credit quality and marketability of the CO-EI bonds or to mitigate the risk of an increase in interest rates.

(3) "Assignee" means any person to which an interest in CO-EI property is sold, assigned, transferred, or conveyed, other than as security, and any successor to or subsequent assignee of such a person.

(4) "Bondholder" means any holder or owner of CO-EI bonds.

(5) "CO-EI bonds" means Colorado energy impact bonds that are low-cost corporate securities, such as senior secured bonds, debentures, notes, certificates of participation, certificates of beneficial interest, certificates of ownership, or other evidences of indebtedness or ownership that have a scheduled maturity date as determined reasonable by the commission but not later than thirty-two years following issuance, that are rated "AA" or "AA2" or better by at least one major independent credit rating agency at the time of pricing, and that are issued by an electric 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 CO-EI costs and financing costs.

(6) "CO-EI charge" means a charge in an amount authorized by the commission in a financing order in order to provide a source of revenue solely to repay, finance, or refinance CO-EI costs and financing costs that are imposed on and are a part of all customer bills and are collected in full by the electric utility to which the financing order applies, its successors or assignees, or a collection agent through a nonbypassable charge that is separate and apart from the electric utility's base rates.

(7)

(a) "CO-EI costs" means:

(I)

(A) At the option of and upon petition by an electric utility, and as approved by the commission, any of the pretax costs that the electric utility has incurred or will incur that are caused by, associated with, or remain as a result of the retirement of an electric generating facility located in the state.

(B) As used in this subsection (7), "pretax costs", if approved by the commission, include, but are not limited to, the unrecovered capitalized cost of a retired electric generating facility, costs of decommissioning and restoring the site of the electric generating facility, and other applicable capital and operating costs, accrued carrying charges, deferred expenses, reductions for applicable insurance and salvage proceeds and the costs of retiring any existing indebtedness, fees, costs, and expenses to modify existing debt agreements or for waivers or consents related to existing debt agreements.

(II) Amounts for assistance to affected workers and communities if approved by the commission;

(III) Pretax costs that an electric utility has previously incurred related to the commission-approved closure of an electric generating facility occurring before May 30, 2019.

(b) "CO-EI costs" do not include any monetary penalty, fine, or forfeiture assessed against an electric utility by a government agency or court under a federal or state environmental statute, rule, or regulation.

(8) "CO-EI property" means:

(a) All rights and interests of an electric utility or successor or assignee of an electric utility under a financing order for the right to impose, bill, collect, and receive CO-EI charges as it is authorized to do solely under the financing order and to obtain periodic adjustments to such CO-EI charges as provided in the financing order; and

(b) All revenue, collections, claims, rights to payments, payments, money, or proceeds arising from the rights and interests specified in subsection (8)(a) of this section, regardless of whether such revenue, collections, claims, rights to payment, payments, money, or proceeds are imposed, billed, received, collected, or maintained together with or commingled with other revenue, collections, rights to payment, payments, money, or proceeds.

(9) "CO-EI revenue" means all revenue, receipts, collections, payments, money, claims, or other proceeds arising from CO-EI property.

(10) "Commission" means the public utilities commission of the state of Colorado.

(11) "Customer" means a person that takes electric distribution or electric transmission service from an electric utility or its successors or assignees under commission-approved rate schedules or pursuant to special contracts for consumption of electricity in the state. The term includes a customer's successors and assignees.

(12) "Electric utility" means an entity operating for the purpose of supplying electricity to the public for domestic, mechanical, or public uses and includes an investor-owned electric utility subject to regulation under articles 1 to 7 of this title 40, a municipally owned utility, and a cooperative electric association.

(13) "Financing costs" means, if approved by the commission in a financing order, costs to issue, service, repay, or refinance CO-EI bonds, whether incurred or paid upon issuance of the CO-EI bonds or over the life of the CO-EI bonds, and includes:

(a) Principal, interest, and redemption premiums that are payable on CO-EI bonds;

(b) Any payment required under an ancillary agreement and any amount required to fund or replenish a reserve account or other accounts established under the terms of any indenture, ancillary agreement, or other financing document pertaining to CO-EI bonds;

(c) Any other costs related to issuing, supporting, repaying, refunding, and servicing CO-EI bonds, including, but not limited to, servicing fees, accounting and auditing fees, trustee fees, legal fees, consulting fees, financial advisor fees, administrative fees, placement and underwriting fees, capitalized interest, rating agency fees, stock exchange listing and compliance fees, security registration fees, filing fees, information technology programming costs, and any other demonstrable costs necessary to otherwise ensure and guarantee the timely payment of CO-EI bonds or other amounts or charges payable in connection with CO-EI bonds;

(d) Any taxes and license fees imposed on the revenue generated from the collection of a CO-EI charge;

(e) Any state and local taxes, including franchise, sales and use, and other taxes or similar charges, including, but not limited to, regulatory assessment fees, whether paid, payable, or accrued; and

(f) Any costs incurred by an electric utility to pay the commission's costs of engaging specialized counsel and expert consultants experienced in securitized electric utility ratepayer-backed bond financing similar to CO-EI bonds as authorized by section 40-41-107 (3).

(14) "Financing order" means an order of the commission issued pursuant to section 40-41-106 that grants, in whole or in part, an application filed pursuant to section 40-41-103 and that authorizes the issuance of CO-EI bonds in one or more series, the imposition, charging, and collection of CO-EI charges, and the creation of CO-EI property.

(15) "Financing party" means a holder of CO-EI bonds and trustees, collateral agents, any party under an ancillary agreement, or any other person acting for the benefit of a holder of CO-EI bonds.

(16) "Financing statement" has the same meaning as set forth in section 4-9-102 (39).

(17) "Nonbypassable" means that the payment of a CO-EI charge may not be avoided by any future or existing customer located within an electric utility service area as such service area existed as of the date of the financing order or, if the financing order so provides, as such service area may be expanded, even if the customer elects to purchase electricity from a supplier other than the electric utility.

(18) "Successor" means, with respect to any legal entity, another legal entity that succeeds by operation of law to the rights and obligations of the first legal entity pursuant to any bankruptcy, reorganization, restructuring, other insolvency proceeding, merger, acquisition, consolidation, or sale or transfer of assets, whether any of these occur due to a restructuring of the electric power industry or otherwise. Solely for the purpose of implementing this article 41, "successor" does not include any municipally owned electric utility established and providing retail electric service before the date on which CO-EI bonds are issued pursuant to a financing order relating to electric generating facilities that serve or previously served the service area of the municipally owned electric utility.

C.R.S. § 40-41-102

Added by 2019 Ch. 359, § 26, eff. 5/30/2019.

L. 2019: Entire article added, (SB 19-236), ch. 3317, p. 3317, § 26, effective May 30.