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First Substitute S.B. 73
Senator Lorin V. Jones proposes to substitute the following bill:
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TELEPHONE CORPORATION DEFINITION AMENDMENTS
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2000 GENERAL SESSION
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STATE OF UTAH
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Sponsor: Lorin V. Jones
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AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES; AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF
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TELEPHONE CORPORATION.
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This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
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AMENDS:
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54-2-1, as last amended by Chapter 170, Laws of Utah 1996
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Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
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Section 1.
Section
54-2-1
is amended to read:
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54-2-1. Definitions.
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[When] As used in this title:
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(1) "Avoided costs" means the incremental costs to an electrical corporation of electric
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energy or capacity or both which, due to the purchase of electric energy or capacity or both from
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small power production or cogeneration facilities, the electrical corporation would not have to
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generate itself or purchase from another electrical corporation.
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(2) "Cogeneration facility":
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(a) means a facility which produces:
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(i) electric energy; and
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(ii) steam or forms of useful energy, including heat, which are used for industrial,
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commercial, heating, or cooling purposes; and
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(b) is a qualifying cogeneration facility under federal law.
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(3) "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of the state of Utah.
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(4) "Commissioner" means a member of the commission.
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(5) "Corporation" includes an association, and a joint stock company having any powers
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or privileges not possessed by individuals or partnerships. It does not include towns, cities,
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counties, conservancy districts, improvement districts, or other governmental units created or
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organized under any general or special law of this state.
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(6) "Electrical corporation" includes every corporation, cooperative association, and
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person, their lessees, trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any
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electric plant, or in any way furnishing electric power for public service or to its consumers or
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members for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, within this state, except independent energy
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producers, and except where electricity is generated on or distributed by the producer solely for
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his own use, or the use of his tenants, or for the use of members of an association of unit owners
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formed under Title 57, Chapter 8, Condominium Ownership Act, and not for sale to the public
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generally.
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(7) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
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controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
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transmission, delivery, or furnishing of electricity for light, heat, or power, and all conduits, ducts,
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or other devices, materials, apparatus, or property for containing, holding, or carrying conductors
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used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat, or power.
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(8) "Gas corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees, and
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receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any gas plant for public service within this
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state or for the selling or furnishing of natural gas to any consumer or consumers within the state
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for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, except in the situation that:
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(a) gas is made or produced on, and distributed by the maker or producer through, private
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property, solely for his own use or the use of his tenants and not for sale to others;
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(b) gas is compressed on private property solely for the owner's own use or the use of his
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employees as a motor vehicle fuel; or
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(c) gas is compressed by a retailer of motor vehicle fuel on his property solely for sale as
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a motor vehicle fuel.
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(9) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
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operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation, transmission,
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delivery, or furnishing of gas, natural or manufactured, for light, heat, or power.
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(10) "Heat corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees, and
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receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any heating plant for public service within
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this state.
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(11) "Heating plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, machinery, appliances, and personal
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property controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production,
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generation, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of artificial heat. Heating plant does not include
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either small power production facilities or cogeneration facilities.
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(12) "Independent energy producer" means every electrical corporation, person,
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corporation, or government entity, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, that own, operate, control,
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or manage a small power production or cogeneration facility.
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(13) "Private telecommunications system" includes all facilities for the transmission of
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signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, messages, data, or other information of any nature by wire,
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radio, lightwaves, or other electromagnetic means, excluding mobile radio facilities, that are
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owned, controlled, operated, or managed by a corporation or person, including their lessees,
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trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, for the use of that corporation or person and
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not for the shared use with or resale to any other corporation or person on a regular basis.
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(14) (a) "Public utility" includes every railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical
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corporation, wholesale electrical cooperative, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water
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corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation, and independent energy producer not
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described in Subsection (d), where the service is performed for, or the commodity delivered to, the
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public generally, or in the case of a gas corporation or electrical corporation where the gas or
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electricity is sold or furnished to any member or consumers within the state for domestic,
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commercial, or industrial use.
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(b) (i) If any railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
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corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation, or
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independent energy producer not described in Subsection (d), performs a service for or delivers
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a commodity to the public, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the jurisdiction and
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regulation of the commission and this title.
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(ii) If a gas corporation, independent energy producer not described in Subsection (d), or
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electrical corporation sells or furnishes gas or electricity to any member or consumers within the
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state, for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, for which any compensation or payment is
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received, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the jurisdiction and regulation of the
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commission and this title.
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(c) Any corporation or person not engaged in business exclusively as a public utility as
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defined in this section is governed by this title in respect only to the public utility owned,
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controlled, operated, or managed by it or by him, and not in respect to any other business or
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pursuit.
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(d) An independent energy producer is exempt from the jurisdiction and regulations of the
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commission if it meets the requirements of (i), (ii), or (iii), or any combination of these:
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(i) the commodity or service is produced or delivered, or both, by an independent energy
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producer solely for the uses exempted in Subsection (6) or for the use of state-owned facilities;
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(ii) the commodity or service is sold by an independent energy producer to an electrical
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corporation; or
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(iii) (A) the commodity or service delivered by the independent energy producer is
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delivered to an entity which controls, is controlled by, or affiliated with the independent energy
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producer or to a user located on real property managed by the independent energy producer; and
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(B) the real property on which the service or commodity is used is contiguous to real
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property which is owned or controlled by the independent energy producer. Parcels of real
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property separated solely by public roads or easements for public roads shall be considered as
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contiguous for purposes of this subsection.
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(e) Any person or corporation defined as an electrical corporation or public utility under
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this section may continue to serve its existing customers subject to any order or future
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determination of the commission in reference to the right to serve those customers.
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(f) (i) "Public utility" does not include any person that is otherwise considered a public
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utility under the provisions of Subsection (16) solely because of its ownership of an interest in an
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electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power production facility in this state if all of the
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following conditions are met:
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(A) the ownership interest in the electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power
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production facility is leased to:
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(I) a public utility, and that lease has been approved by the commission;
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(II) a person or government entity that is exempt from commission regulation as a public
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utility; or
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(III) a combination of Subsections (16)(f)(i)(A)(I) and (II);
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(B) the lessor of the ownership interest identified in Subsection (16)(f)(i)(A) is:
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(I) primarily engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; or
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(II) a person whose total equity or beneficial ownership is held directly or indirectly by
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another person engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; and
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(C) the rent reserved under the lease does not include any amount based on or determined
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by revenues or income of the lessee.
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(ii) Any person that is exempt from classification as a public utility under Subsection
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(16)(f)(i) shall continue to be so exempt from classification following termination of the lessee's
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right to possession or use of the electric plant for so long as the former lessor does not operate the
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electric plant or sell electricity from the electric plant. If the former lessor operates the electric
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plant or sells electricity, the former lessor shall continue to be so exempt for a period of 90 days
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following termination, or for a longer period that is ordered by the commission. This period may
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not exceed one year. No change in rates that would otherwise require commission approval may
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be effective during the 90-day or extended period without commission approval.
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(g) "Public utility" does not include any person that provides financing for, but has no
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ownership interest in an electric plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility.
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In the event of a foreclosure in which an ownership interest in an electric plant, small power
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production facility, or cogeneration facility is transferred to a third-party financer of an electric
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plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility, then that third-party financer is
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exempt from classification as a public utility for 90 days following the foreclosure, or for a longer
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period that is ordered by the commission. This period may not exceed one year.
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(h) (i) The distribution or transportation of natural gas for use as a motor vehicle fuel does
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not cause the distributor or transporter to be a "public utility," unless the commission, after notice
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and a public hearing, determines by rule that it is in the public interest to regulate the distributers
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or transporters, but the retail sale alone of compressed natural gas as a motor vehicle fuel may not
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cause the seller to be a "public utility."
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(ii) In determining whether it is in the public interest to regulate the distributors or
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transporters, the commission shall consider, among other things, the impact of the regulation on
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the availability and price of natural gas for use as a motor fuel.
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(15) "Purchasing utility" means any electrical corporation that is required to purchase
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electricity from small power production or cogeneration facilities pursuant to the Public Utility
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Regulatory Policies Act, 16 U.S.C. Section 824a-3.
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(16) "Railroad" includes every commercial, interurban, and other railway, other than a
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street railway, and each branch or extension of a railway, by any power operated, together with all
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tracks, bridges, trestles, rights-of-way, subways, tunnels, stations, depots, union depots, yards,
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grounds, terminals, terminal facilities, structures, and equipment, and all other real estate, fixtures,
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and personal property of every kind used in connection with a railway owned, controlled, operated,
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or managed for public service in the transportation of persons or property.
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(17) "Railroad corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
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and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any railroad for public service within
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this state.
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(18) "Sewerage corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
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and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any sewerage system for public service
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within this state. It does not include private sewerage companies engaged in disposing of sewage
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only for their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, conservancy districts, improvement districts,
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or other governmental units created or organized under any general or special law of this state.
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(19) "Small power production facility" means a facility which:
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(a) produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass,
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waste, renewable resources, geothermal resources, or any combination of them;
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(b) has a power production capacity which, together with any other facilities located at the
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same site, is not greater than 80 megawatts; and
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(c) is a qualifying small power production facility under federal law.
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(20) "Telegraph corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
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and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any telegraph line for public service
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within this state.
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(21) "Telegraph line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments, and
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appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled, operated,
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or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telegraph, whether that
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communication be had with or without the use of transmission wires.
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(22) (a) "Telephone corporation" [includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
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trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any telephone line for public
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service within this state, provided, however, that all corporations, partnerships, or firms providing
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intrastate cellular telephone service shall cease to be "telephone corporations" nine months after
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both the wire-line and the nonwire-line cellular service providers have been issued covering
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licenses by the Federal Communications Commission. It does not include any person which
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provides, on a resale basis, any telephone or telecommunication service which is purchased from
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a telephone corporation.] means any corporation or person, and their lessees, trustee, receivers, or
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trustees appointed by any court, who owns, controls, operates, manages, or resells a public
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telecommunications service as defined in Section
54-86-2
.
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(b) "Telephone corporation" does not mean a corporation, partnership, or firm providing:
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(i) intrastate cellular telephone service that has been issued a covering license by the
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Federal Communications Commission; or
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(ii) Internet access.
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(23) "Telephone line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments, and
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appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled, operated,
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or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telephone whether that
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communication is had with or without the use of transmission wires.
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(24) "Transportation of persons" includes every service in connection with or incidental
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to the safety, comfort, or convenience of the person transported, and the receipt, carriage, and
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delivery of that person and his baggage.
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(25) "Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or incidental
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to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer,
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switching, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage, and hauling, and the
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transmission of credit by express companies.
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(26) "Water corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees, and
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receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system for public service within
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this state. It does not include private irrigation companies engaged in distributing water only to
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their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, water conservancy districts, improvement districts,
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or other governmental units created or organized under any general or special law of this state.
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(27) "Water system" includes all reservoirs, tunnels, shafts, dams, dikes, headgates, pipes,
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flumes, canals, structures, and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property
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owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the diversion,
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development, storage, supply, distribution, sale, furnishing, carriage, appointment, apportionment,
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or measurement of water for power, fire protection, irrigation, reclamation, or manufacturing, or
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for municipal, domestic, or other beneficial use. It does not include private irrigation companies
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engaged in distributing water only to their stockholders.
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(28) "Wholesale electrical cooperative" includes every electrical corporation:
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(a) which is in the business of the wholesale distribution of electricity it has purchased or
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generated to its members and the public; and
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(b) which is required to distribute or allocate savings in excess of additions to reserves and
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surplus to members or patrons on the basis of patronage.
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