4 Colo. Code Regs. § 723-3-3852

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 22, November 25, 2024

Section 4 CCR 723-3-3852 - Definitions

The following definitions apply only to rules 3850 to 3859.

(a) "Business day" means Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.

(b) "Distributed energy resource" or "DER" means the interconnection customer's source of electric power connected to the utility's distribution grid, including retail renewable distributed generation, other small generation facilities for the production of electricity, energy storage systems, or combination of any of these elements, as identified in the interconnection request, but shall not include the interconnection facilities not owned by the interconnection customer. DER includes an interconnection system or a supplemental DER device that is necessary for compliance with IEEE 1547-2018, until January 1, 2022, or until such time new DERs applying for interconnection will comply with IEEE 1547 2018. This rule does not include any later amendments or editions of this standard. This standard is available for public inspection at the Commission's office, 1560 Broadway, Suite 250, Denver, CO 80202.

(c) "Distribution system" means the utility's facilities and equipment used to transmit electricity to ultimate usage points such as homes and industries directly from interconnection resources or from interchanges with higher voltage transmission networks which transport bulk power over longer distances. The voltage levels at which distribution systems operate differ among areas.

(d) "Energy storage system" means any commercially available, customer-sited system or utility-sited system, including batteries and batteries paired with on-site generation, that does not generate energy, that is capable of retaining, storing, and delivering electrical energy by chemical, thermal, mechanical, or other means.

(e) "Export capacity" means the amount of alternating current (AC) electrical energy that an interconnection resource is intended to transfer to the utility's system across the point of interconnection.

(f) "Highly seasonal circuit" means a circuit with a ratio of annual peak load to off-season peak load greater than six.

(g) "Inadvertent export" means the potential condition in which a normally non-exporting or limited-exporting DER experiences a momentary export that does not exceed limitations specified in paragraph 3853(c).

(h) "Interconnection agreement" means a contract between the interconnection customer and the utility that formally documents terms and conditions related to the operation and maintenance of any DER in accordance with the utility's tariffs on file with the Commission.

(i) "Interconnection customer" or "IC" means any entity, including the utility, any affiliates or subsidiaries of either, that proposes to interconnect its DER with the utility's system.

(j) "Interconnection facilities" means the utility's interconnection facilities and the interconnection customer's interconnection facilities. Collectively, interconnection facilities include all facilities and equipment between the DER and the point of interconnection, including any modification, additions or upgrades that are necessary to physically and electrically interconnect the DER to the utility's system. Interconnection facilities are sole use facilities and shall not include distribution upgrades.

(k) "Interconnection request" means the interconnection customer's request, in accordance with any applicable utility tariff, to interconnect a new small generating facility, or to increase the capacity of, or make a material modification to the operating characteristics of, an existing DER that is interconnected with the utility's system.

(l) "Interconnection resource" means the interconnection customer's source of electric power connected to the utility's distribution grid, including retail renewable distributed generation, other small generation facilities for the production of electricity, energy storage systems, bidirectional storage, electric vehicle chargers with vehicle to grid, vehicle to home, vehicle to building or combination of any of these elements, as identified in the interconnection request, but shall not include the interconnection facilities not owned by the interconnection customer. "Interconnection resource" includes an interconnection system or a supplemental DER device that is necessary for compliance with IEEE Standard 1547-2018, until January 1, 2022, or until such time new DERs applying for interconnection will comply with IEEE 1547-2018. This rule does not include any later amendments or editions of this standard. This standard is available for public inspection at the Commission's office, 1560 Broadway, Suite 250, Denver, CO 80202.

(m) "Interconnection tariffs" are required filings from the utilities that set forth fees associated with interconnection. Tariff filings would accommodate utility-specific costs, while allowing for appropriate statewide standardization in the provisions set forth.

(n) "Line section" means that portion of the utility's electric delivery system that is connected to a Customer and bounded by automatic sectionalizing devices or the end of the distribution line.

(o) "Material modification" means a modification that has a material impact on the cost or timing of processing an application with a later queue priority date or a change in the point of interconnection. A material modification does not include, for example: a change of ownership of an interconnection resource; changes to the address of the generating facility, so long as the generating facility remains on the same parcel; a change or replacement of interconnection resource that is a like-kind substitution in size, ratings, impedances, efficiencies, or capabilities of the equipment specified in the original application; or a reduction in the capacity of the interconnection resource of ten percent or less.

(p) "Minor modifications" means modifications to the utility's distribution system or to the interconnection facilities that do not have a material impact on the cost or on the timing of an interconnection request.

(q) "Non-exporting system" means an interconnection resource that is designed so that it does not intentionally transfer electrical energy to the utility's distribution or transmission system across the point of common coupling. Such systems may be used to supply part or all of a customer's load continuously or during an outage. A system can be non-exporting by virtue of inverter programing or by some other on-site limiting element. Non-exporting systems may or may not produce inadvertent exports as defined in paragraph (g) of this rule.

(r) "Operating mode" means the mode of DER operational characteristics that determines the performance during normal and abnormal conditions. For example, an operating mode such as "export only," "import only," and "no exchange."

(s) "Parallel operation" means a DER facility that is connected to the utility's system and can supply AC electricity to the interconnection customer simultaneously with the utility's supply of AC electricity.

(t) "Party" or "Parties" means the utility, interconnection customer, or any combination thereof.

(u) "Point of interconnection" means the point where the interconnection facilities connect with the utility's system.

(v) "Study process" means the procedure for evaluating an interconnection request that includes the Level 3 scoping meeting, feasibility study, system impact study, and facilities study.

(w) "System upgrades" means the additions, modifications, and upgrades to the utility's distribution or Commission-jurisdictional transmission system at or beyond the point of interconnection to facilitate interconnection of interconnection resources and render the service necessary to effect the interconnection customer's operation of interconnection resources. System upgrades do not include interconnection facilities.

(x) "Transmission system" means an interconnected group of transmission lines and associated equipment for the movement or transfer of electric energy between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery to customers or is delivered to other electric systems.

(y) "Utility system" means the facilities owned, controlled, or operated by the utility that are used to provide electric service under the tariff.

(z) "Upgrades" means the additions and modifications to the utility's system at or beyond the point of interconnection that are necessary to interconnect an interconnection resource. Upgrades do not include interconnection facilities.

4 CCR 723-3-3852

38 CR 17, September 10, 2015, effective 9/30/2015

39 CR 06, March 25, 2016, effective 4/14/2016

39 CR 08, April 25, 2016, effective 5/15/2016

40 CR 22, November 25, 2017, effective 12/15/2017

42 CR 03, February 10, 2019, effective 3/2/2019

42 CR 07, April 10, 2019, effective 4/30/2019

42 CR 09, May 10, 2019, effective 5/30/2019

43 CR 08, April 25, 2020, effective 5/15/2020

43 CR 12, June 25, 2020, effective 7/15/2020

43 CR 20, October 25, 2020, effective 11/14/2020

44 CR 13, July 10, 2021, effective 7/30/2021

44 CR 24, December 25, 2021, effective 1/14/2022

45 CR 18, September 25, 2022, effective 10/15/2022

46 CR 02, January 25, 2023, effective 2/14/2023