SECTION 7.115. Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Affiliate--Any affiliate as defined in Texas Utilities Code, §101.003.

(2) Allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC)--The net cost of borrowed funds for the period of construction used for construction purposes and a reasonable rate on other funds when so used until included in the rate base.

(3) Apartment house--A building or buildings containing more than five dwelling units, all of which are rented or available to be rented primarily for nontransient use, with rental paid at intervals of one week or longer. The term "apartment house" shall include residential condominiums, whether rented or owner occupied.

(4) Apartment unit--A room or rooms in an apartment house suitable for occupancy as a residence containing kitchen and bathroom facilities.

(5) Appellate jurisdiction--Exclusive jurisdiction of the Commission in those cases in which a utility perfects an appeal pursuant to Texas Utilities Code, §103.054, from the decision of a municipality.

(6) Bulletin--A Gas Services publication published twice monthly containing information such as notices of hearings, final orders and decisions, rules, and other information of general interest to the public. Gas Services shall publish the bulletin on the Commission's web site and shall make a paper copy available for public inspection and copying.

(7) Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas, including its staff or delegate.

(8) Common purchaser of gas--Every common purchaser of gas as defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, §111.081(a)(2).

(9) Construction work in progress (CWIP)--Funds expended by a gas utility which are irrevocably committed to construction projects not yet completed or placed into service.

(10) Cost of service adjustment clause--Any rate provision other than a purchased gas adjustment clause provided for in §7.5519 of this title (relating to Gas Cost Recovery), which operates to increase or decrease rates without prior consent or authority of the appropriate regulatory authority.

(11) Director--The Director of the Oversight and Safety Division or the Director's delegate.

(12) Discrimination--Any material difference in rates, service, rules and regulations, or conditions of service for transportation services which unreasonably disadvantages or prejudices similarly-situated shippers.

(13) Domestic use--The use of natural gas for cooking, clothes drying, space heating, or water heating.

(14) Environs rates--Residential and commercial rates for a gas utility applicable to natural gas sales and service in unincorporated areas adjacent to or near incorporated cities and towns, aside from special rates as defined in this section.

(15) Gas-gathering utility--For the purposes of determining which annual report to file, a gas utility or public utility which employs a pipeline or pipelines and ancillary facilities thereto in the first taking or the first retaining of possession of gas produced by others which extends from any point where such gas is produced, purchased, or received to the trunk line or main line of transportation where such gas is sold or delivered, without regard to the size, the length, or the amount of such gas carried through such pipeline or pipelines to the trunk line or main line of transportation, thus having as its primary function the collecting or collecting and processing of gas produced by others as a preliminary incident to the transportation after it has been severed from the earth by production.

(16) Gas pipeline--Any gas pipeline under the provisions of Texas Utilities Code, Chapters 121 and 122.

(17) Gas Services--A department of the Oversight and Safety Division of the Commission responsible for the regulation of the natural gas utility industry in Texas.

(18) Gas utility (utility)--Any gas utility or utility as defined in Texas Utilities Code, Title 3.

(19) Interim rate adjustment--A tariff or rate schedule that provides for an interim adjustment in a gas utility's monthly customer charge or initial block usage rate, made pursuant to §7.7101 of this title (relating to Interim Rate Adjustments), to recover the cost of changes in the utility's invested capital and related expenses and revenues, for providing gas utility service. An interim rate adjustment can be either an initial tariff or rate schedule or an annual adjustment to an existing interim rate adjustment tariff or rate schedule.

(20) Local distribution company--An entity that operates a retail gas distribution system.

(21) Lost and unaccounted for gas--The difference between the amount of gas metered into a distribution or transmission system and the amount metered out.

(22) Lost gas--The amount of gas which physically escapes into the ground or atmosphere from a distribution or transmission system, except for that gas which escapes as a part of an intentional testing procedure or purging operation performed during maintenance or construction activities.

(23) Master meter--A single large volume gas measurement device by which gas is metered and sold to a single purchaser who distributes the gas to one or more additional persons downstream from that meter.

(24) Mobile home--A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is eight body feet or more in width and is 32 body feet or more in length, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein.

(25) Mobile home or apartment resident--An occupant of a mobile home in a mobile home park or an occupant in an apartment house or apartment unit who is responsible for rent payments and who receives gas through a submeter.

(26) Municipality--A city, incorporated village, or town, existing, created, or organized under the general, home-rule, or special laws of the state.

(27) Person--Has the same meaning as the definition in Texas Utilities Code, §101.003(10).

(28) Preference--Any material difference in rates, service, rules and regulations, conditions of service, or the dissemination or providing of information concerning transportation services which unreasonably advantages or favors similarly-situated shippers.

(29) Rate case--A statement of intent to increase rates filed at the Commission pursuant to Texas Utilities Code, §104.102.

(30) Qualifying offer--An offer to convert all of the residential or commercial customers' gas burning facilities to the lowest cost available alternative energy source, including, at a minimum, a single tank of normal size for the customer's premises filled once with any liquid alternative energy source. At the customer's election, the qualifying offer shall be the cash equivalent of the cost of conversion to the lowest cost available alternative energy source.

(31) Shipper--Any person or corporation for which a transporter is currently providing, has provided, or has pending a written request to provide transportation services.

(32) Similarly-situated shipper--Any shipper that seeks or receives transportation services under the same or substantially the same, physical, regulatory, and economic conditions of service as any other shipper of a transporter. In determining whether conditions of service are the same or substantially the same, the Commission shall evaluate the significance of relevant conditions, including, but not limited to, the following:

(A) service requirements;

(B) location of facilities;

(C) receipt and delivery points;

(D) length of haul;

(E) quality of service (firm, interruptible, etc.);

(F) quantity;

(G) swing requirements;

(H) credit worthiness;

(I) gas quality;

(J) pressure (including inlet or line pressure);

(K) duration of service;

(L) connect requirements; and

(M) conditions and circumstances existing at the time of agreement or negotiation.

(33) Special rates--Residential and commercial rates for a gas utility applicable to natural gas sales and service established pursuant to Commission orders applicable only to service by a given utility within a specified area and not specifically keyed to the rates charged in any incorporated area.

(34) Submeter--A single gas measurement device by which gas is metered to a mobile home unit, apartment house, or apartment unit downstream of a master meter.

(35) Transportation service--The receipt of a shipper's gas at a point or points on the facilities of a transporter, and redelivery of a shipper's gas by the transporter at another point or points on the facilities of the transporter, including exchange, backhaul, displacement, and other methods of transportation, provided, however, that the term "transportation service" shall not include processing services or the movement of gas to which the transporter has title.

(36) Transporter--Any common purchaser of gas, gas utility, or gas pipeline that provides gas gathering and/or transmission transportation service for a fee.

(37) Unaccounted for gas--Lost and unaccounted for gas less lost gas.

Source Note: The provisions of this §7.115 adopted to be effective July 29, 2002, 27 TexReg 6687; amended to be effective December 27, 2004, 29 TexReg 11948; amended to be effective May 14, 2018, 43 TexReg 2997