Title 3 . Commerce, Community, and Economic Development

Chapter 52 . Telecommunications

Section 500. Definitions

3 AAC 52.500. Definitions

Unless the context indicates otherwise, in 3 AAC 52.400 - 3 AAC 52.500

(1) "advance for construction" means money provided to a utility by a customer for a line extension or service connection, the value of which may be refundable by the utility;

(2) "applicant" means a person requesting the utility to supply electric service;

(3) "application" means a request to the utility for electric service, but not a mere inquiry as to the availability or charges for the service;

(4) "billing cycle" means the time interval between two consecutive bills for electric service as prescribed in a utility's tariff;

(5) "cogeneration" means the production of electric energy and forms of useful thermal energy (such as heat or steam), employed for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling purposes, through the sequential use of energy;

(6) "commission" means the Regulatory Commission of Alaska;

(7) "contribution-in-aid of construction" means money or facilities provided to a utility by a customer for a line extension or service connection, the value of which is not refundable by the utility;

(8) "customer" means a person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, municipality, cooperative organization or governmental agency supplied with electric service by a utility;

(9) "customer charge" means the amount a customer must pay a utility for the availability of electric service, excluding any electricity used, as provided for under 3 AAC 48.540(f) and as specified in the utility's effective tariff;

(10) "delinquent" means, for billing purposes, all past due amounts and associated finance and late charges that are not received by the utility within 40 days after the date the bill that is past due was rendered;

(11) "distribution lines" means the utility lines operated at distribution voltage which are constructed along public roadways or other bona fide rights-of-way, including easements on a customer's property;

(12) "effective tariff" means every rate schedule, or provision of one, and all terms, conditions, and regulations for furnishing electric service that have been filed, noticed, and placed in effect in full compliance with all procedural requirements established by law and commission regulations;

(13) "finance charge" means the tariffed percentage interest rate or charge, not to exceed that allowable under AS 45.45.010 (a), levied by a utility on an account for which payment is past due or delinquent;

(14) "kilowatt" means a unit of power equal to 1,000 watts;

(15) "kilowatt-hour" means electric energy equivalent to the amount of electric energy delivered in one hour at a constant rate of one kilowatt;

(16) "late charge" means the tariffed penalty amount levied as a one-time charge to an account when the account first becomes past due;

(17) "line extension" means any additional lines and equipment capable of serving more than one customer and necessary to extend the electric distribution system of a utility to new customers;

(18) "meter" means a device that measures and registers electrical quantities;

(19) "meter tampering" means illegally altering a meter by methods such as bypassing a meter, using magnets to slow the meter recording, or breaking meter seals;

(20) "outage" means an interruption of electric service which requires utility intervention for resumption of service when service cannot be resumed by the automatic recycling of utility equipment;

(21) "past due" means, with respect to a customer's account for electric service, an amount billed for which payment was not received by the utility within 25 days after the date the bill was rendered;

(22) "premises" means a piece of land or real estate, including buildings and other improvements;

(23) "qualifying facility" means a cogeneration facility or a small power production facility as defined in 3 AAC 50.820(11) ;

(24) "rendered" means the date a bill is postmarked or the billing date shown on the bill, but the billing date cannot differ from the postmark or mailing date by more than three working days;

(25) "residential use" means use of electricity for domestic purposes such as space heating, air conditioning, water heating, cooking, and clothes drying, and includes service in apartment buildings, mobile home parks, and other multi-unit residential buildings;

(26) "service complaint" is a claim or dispute regarding a customer's electric service;

(27) "service connection" means the line extending from a distribution line or transformer to a customer's premises or point of delivery where the line, as constructed, is only capable of serving that customer's premises;

(28) "steady-state standard frequency" means the frequency measured over time, ignoring momentary fluctuations due to the addition or subtraction of large loads to the system;

(29) "temporary service" means service to premises or enterprises that are temporary in character, or where it is known in advance that the service will be of limited duration;

(30) "utility" means an electric utility subject to the jurisdiction of the commission; and

(31) "utility plant" means all real estate, fixtures, and property that is owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation, transmission, and delivery of electricity for light, heat, or power.

History: Eff. 1/1/87, Register 100; am 4/10/92, Register 122; am 4/24/2004, Register 170

Authority: AS 42.05.141

AS 42.05.151

AS 42.05.291

AS 42.05.331

AS 42.05.341

AS 42.05.351

AS 42.05.361

AS 42.05.501

AS 42.05.691