4 Colo. Code Regs. § 723-4-4001

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

Section 4 CCR 723-4-4001 - [Effective 4/28/2025] Definitions

The following definitions apply throughout this Part 4, except where a specific rule or statute provides otherwise. In addition to the definitions here, the definitions found in the Public Utilities Law and Part 1 apply to these rules. In the event of a conflict between these definitions and a statutory definition, the statutory definition shall apply. In the event of a conflict between these definitions and a definition in Part 1, these definitions shall apply.

(a) "Advanced metering infrastructure" means an integrated system of smart electric or gas utility meters and communication networks that enables two-way communication between an electric or gas utility's data systems and the meter's internet protocol address and allows the utility to measure usage and/or connect or disconnect service remotely.

(b) "Affiliate" of a utility means a subsidiary of a utility, a parent corporation of a utility, a joint venture organized as a separate corporation or partnership to the extent of the individual utility's involvement with the joint venture, a subsidiary of a parent corporation of a utility or where the utility or the parent corporation has a controlling interest over an entity.

(c) "Aggregated data" means customer data, alone or in combination with non-customer data, resulting from processing (e.g., average of a group of customers) or a compilation of customer data of one or more customers from which and personal information has been removed.

(d) "Applicant for service" means a person who applies for utility service and who either has taken no previous utility service from that utility or has not taken utility service from that utility within the most recent 30 days.

(e) "Air Pollution Control Division" means the Air Pollution Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment established by § 25-1-102(2)(a), C.R.S.

(f) "Air Quality Control Commission" means the decision-making body within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment established by § 25-7-104, C.R.S., to oversee and promulgate the rules to administer Colorado's air quality programs.

(g) "Base rate" means charges used to recover costs of utility infrastructure and operations, including a return on capital investment, not otherwise recovered through a utility rate adjustment mechanism.

(h) "Basis Point" means one-hundredth of a percentage point (100 basis points = 1 percent).

(i) "Benefit of service" means the use of utility service by each person of legal age who resides at a premises to which service is delivered and who is not registered with the utility as the customer of record.

(j) "Best value employment metrics" means additional labor metrics required to be obtained by a utility from bidders and contractors for a utility construction contract, specifically, the length and type of training and apprenticeship programs available to the workforce, the percentage of labor estimated to be Colorado residents as compared to out of-state workers, the number and type of long-term careers supported by the project, whether the workforce will be covered by a labor agreement, and the wage rates and health care and pension benefits, including employer pension contribution rates, provided to protect labor.

(k) "Biomethane" means:

(I) a mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons released from the biological decomposition of organic materials that is primarily methane and provides a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; and

(II) includes biomethane recovered from manure management systems or anaerobic digesters that has been processed to meet pipeline quality gas standards.

(l) "Commission" means the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

(m) "Contracted agent" means any person that has contracted with a utility in compliance with rule 4030 to assist in the provision of regulated utility services (e.g., an affiliate or vendor).

(n) "Cubic foot" means, as the context requires.

(I) At Local Pressure Conditions. For the purpose of measuring gas to a customer at local pressure conditions, a cubic foot is that amount of gas which occupies a volume of one cubic foot under the conditions existing in the customer's meter as and where installed. When gas is metered at a pressure in excess of eight inches of water column gauge pressure, a suitable correction factor shall be applied to provide for measurement of gas as if delivered and metered at a pressure of six inches of water column gauge pressure. A utility may also apply appropriate factors to correct local pressure measurement to standard conditions.

(II) At Standard Conditions. For all other purposes, including testing gas, a standard cubic foot is that amount of gas at standard conditions which occupies a volume of one cubic foot.

(o) "Curtailment" means the inability of a transportation customer or a sales customer to receive gas due to a shortage of gas supply.

(p) "Customer" means any person who is currently receiving utility service. Any person who moves within a utility's service territory and obtains utility service at a new location within 30 days shall be considered a "customer." Unless stated in a particular rule, "customer" applies to any class of customer as defined by the Commission or by utility tariff.

(q) "Customer data" means customer specific information, excluding personal information as defined in paragraph 1004(x), that is:

(I) collected from the gas meter by the utility and stored in its data systems;

(II) combined with customer-specific energy usage information on bills issued to the customer for regulated utility service when not publicly or lawfully available to the general public; or

(III) about the customer's participation in regulated utility programs, such as renewable energy, demand-side management, load management, or energy efficiency programs.

(r) "Dekatherm" (Dth) means a measurement of gas commodity heat content. One Dekatherm is the energy equivalent of 1,000,000 British Thermal Units (1 MMBtu).

(s) "Dedicated recovered methane pipeline" means a conveyance of recovered methane that is not a part of a common carrier pipeline system, and which conveys recovered methane from where it is generated to a common carrier pipeline or to the end user in Colorado for which the recovered methane was produced so long as the recovered methane replaces geologic gas supplied by a gas distribution utility or small gas distribution utility.

(t) "Design peak demand" refers to the maximum gas flow rate projected for a utility system, or a portion thereof, which is utilized by a utility for gas infrastructure capacity planning.

(u) "Disproportionately impacted community" means a geographic area defined pursuant to § 40-2-108(3)(d), C.R.S., and as may be further modified by Commission rule or order. Mapping of such geographic areas shall be conducted in accordance with the best available mapping tool developed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, until such time as a different practice is adopted by Commission rule or order.

(v) "Distribution system" means the utility-owned piping and associated facilities used to deliver gas to customers, excluding facilities owned by a utility that are classified on the books and records of the utility as production, storage, or transmission facilities.

(w) "Emergency or safety event or circumstance" means a manmade or natural emergency event or safety circumstance:

(I) that prevents utility staff from being able to safely travel to or work at a customer's residence or place of business for purposes of reconnecting or making necessary repairs prior to reconnecting utility service; or

(II) for which a utility has dispatched utility staff members to help respond to the emergency or safety event or circumstance and, due to the timing or number of utility staff dispatched, the utility lacks sufficient trained staff to reconnect or make necessary repairs prior to reconnecting utility service at a customer's residence or place of business; and

(III) includes a severe weather event that one or more reputable weather forecasting sources forecasts to occur in the following twenty-four hours and that is more likely than not to result in dangerous travel or on-site outdoor or indoor work conditions for individuals in the path of the weather event.

(x) "Energy assistance organization" means the nonprofit corporation established for low-income energy assistance pursuant to § 40-8.5-104, C.R.S.

(y) "Gas" means natural or geological gas; hydrogen, or recovered methane, or any mixture thereof transported by a common carrier or dedicated pipeline; flammable gas; manufactured gas; petroleum or other hydrocarbon gases including propane; or any mixture of gases injected into a pipeline and transmitted, distributed, or furnished by any utility.

(z) "Income-qualified utility customer" or "low-income customer" is a customer meeting the requirements of § 40-3-106(1)(d)(II), C.R.S.

(aa) "Informal complaint" means an informal complaint as defined and discussed in the Commission's Rules Regulating Practice and Procedure, 4 CCR 723-1.

(bb) "Interruption" means a utility's inability to provide transportation to a transportation customer, or its inability to serve a sales customer, due to constraints on the utility's pipeline system.

(cc) "Intrastate transmission pipeline" or "ITP" means generally any person that provides gas transportation service for compensation to or for another person in the State of Colorado using transmission facilities rather than distribution facilities and is exempt from FERC jurisdiction.

(dd) "Local distribution company" (LDC) means any person, other than an interstate pipeline or an intrastate transmission pipeline, engaged in the sale and distribution of gas for end-user consumption. A LDC may also perform transportation services for its end-use customers, for another LDC or its end-use customers, as authorized under its effective Colorado jurisdictional tariffs.

(ee) "Local government" means any Colorado county, municipality, city and county, home rule city or town, home rule city and county, or city or town operating under a territorial charter.

(ff) "Local office" means any Colorado office operated by a utility at which persons may make requests to establish or to discontinue utility service. If the utility does not operate an office in Colorado, "local office" means any office operated by a utility at which persons may make requests to establish or to discontinue utility service in Colorado.

(gg) "Mandatory relocation" means a project to relocate the utility's gas infrastructure as required by a federal, tribal, state, county, or local governmental body.

(hh) "Main" means a distribution line that serves, or is designed to serve, as a common source of supply for more than one service lateral.

(ii) "Mcf" means 1,000 standard cubic feet.

(jj) "MMBtu" means 1,000,000 British Thermal Units, or one Dekatherm.

(kk) "Natural gas" or "geological gas" means methane or other hydrocarbons that occur underground without human intervention and may be used as fuel.

(ll) "Non-pipeline alternative" means programs, equipment, or actions that avoid, reduce, or delay the need for investment in certain types of new gas infrastructure and may include energy efficiency, demand response, and beneficial electrification.

(mm) "Non-standard customer data" means all customer data that are not standard customer data.

(nn) "Past due" means the point at which a utility can affect a customer's account for regulated service due to non-payment of charges for regulated service.

(oo) "Pipeline system" means the utility-owned piping and associated facilities used in the transmission or distribution of gas.

(pp) "Principal place of business" means the place, in or out of the State of Colorado, where the executive or managing principals who directly oversee the utility's operations in Colorado are located.

(qq) "Pressure district" means a localized area within a utility's service territory whereby an established minimum and maximum pressure range is intended to be maintained and is distinct from neighboring regions.

(rr) "Property owner" means the legal owner of government record for a parcel of real property within the service territory of a utility. A utility may rely upon the records of a county clerk for the county within which a parcel of real property is located to determine ownership of government record.

(ss) "Pyrolysis" means the thermochemical decomposition of material at elevated temperatures without the participation of oxygen.

(tt) "Qualifying communication" means one of the following methods of communicating with a utility customer about a possible upcoming disconnection of service:

(I) a physical visit to the customer's premises during which a utility representative speaks with the customer and provides the customer utility assistance information or, if the customer is not available to speak, leaves notice of proposed disconnection and utility assistance information for the customer's review; or

(II) a telephone call, text, or e-mail to the customer's last-known telephone number or email address in which:

(A) the utility representative provides the customer with notice of the proposed disconnection and utility assistance information; and

(B) the utility representative either speaks directly with the customer over the telephone or the customer receives the utility representative's text or email.

(uu) "Rate adjustment mechanism" or "rate rider" means a charge added to a utility bill to recover a specific cost that is not part of the base rate.

(vv) "Recovered methane" means any of the following that are located in the State of Colorado and meet the recovered methane protocol approved by the Air Quality Control Commission: biomethane; methane derived from municipal solid waste, the pyrolysis of municipal solid waste, biomass pyrolysis or enzymatic biomass, or wastewater treatment; coal mine methane as defined in § 40-2-124(1)(a)(II), C.R.S, the capture of which is not otherwise required by law; or methane that would have leaked without repairs of the gas distribution or service pipelines from the city gate to customer end use.

(ww) "Regulated charges" means charges billed by a utility to a customer if such charges are approved by the Commission, presented on a tariff sheet, or contained in a tariff of the utility.

(xx) "Sales customer" or "full service customer" means a customer who receives sales service from a utility and is not served under a utility's gas transportation service at that same meter.

(yy) "Sales service" means a bundled gas utility service in which the utility both purchases gas commodity for resale to the customer and delivers the gas to the customer.

(zz) "Security" includes any stock, bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness.

(aaa) "Service lateral" means that part of a distribution system from the utility's main to the entrance to a customer's physical location.

(bbb) "Standard conditions" means gas at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and subject to an absolute pressure equal to 14.73 pounds per square inch absolute.

(ccc) "Standard customer data" means customer data maintained by a utility in its systems in the ordinary course of business.

(ddd) "Standby capacity" means the maximum daily volumetric amount of capacity reserved in the utility's system for use by a transportation customer, if the customer purchased optional standby service.

(eee) "Standby supply" means the daily volumetric amount of gas reserved by a utility for the use by a transportation customer should that customer's supply fail, if the customer purchased optional standby service.

(fff) "Test year" means a twelve-month period that is examined to determine a utility's costs of service in a rate case.

(ggg) "Third party" means a person who is not the customer, an agent of the customer who has been designated by the customer with the utility and is acting on the customer's behalf, a regulated utility serving the customer, or a contracted agent of the utility.

(hhh) "Transportation" means the exchange, forward-haul, backhaul, flow reversal, or displacement of gas between a utility and a transportation customer through a pipeline system.

(iii) "Transportation customer" means a person who, by signing a gas transportation agreement, elects to subscribe to gas transportation service offered by a utility.

(jjj) "Unique identifier" means customer's name, mailing address, telephone number, or email address that is displayed on a bill.

(kkk) "Unregulated charges" means charges that are billed by a utility to a customer and that are not regulated or approved by the Commission, are not contained in a tariff, and are for service or merchandise not required as a condition of receiving regulated utility service.

(lll) "Utility" means a public utility as defined in § 40-1-103, C.R.S., providing sales service or transportation service (or both) in Colorado. This term includes both an ITP and a LDC.

(mmm) "Utility assistance information" means information that a utility representative provides a customer informing the customer that the customer may contact 1-866-HEAT-HELP (1-866-432-8435) to determine if the customer qualifies for utility bill payment assistance.

(nnn) "Utility service" or "service" means a service offering of a utility, which service offering is regulated by the Commission.

(ooo) "Whole building data" means the sum of the monthly gas use for either all service connections at a building on a parcel of real property or all buildings on a parcel of real property.

4 CCR 723-4-4001

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

40 CR 01, January 10, 2017, effective 1/30/2017

41 CR 11, June 10, 2018, effective 6/30/2018

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

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

44 CR 04, February 25, 2021, effective 3/17/2021

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

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

46 CR 06, March 25, 2023, effective 1/25/2023

46 CR 08, April 25, 2023, effective 5/15/2023

46 CR 18, September 25, 2023, effective 8/14/2023, exp. 3/11/2024 (Emergency)

47 CR 07, April 10, 2024, effective 3/6/2024, exp. 10/2/2024 (Emergency)

47 CR 08, April 25, 2024, effective 5/15/2024

47 CR 21, November 10, 2024, effective 9/30/2024, exp. 4/28/2025 (Emergency)