When used in Articles 1, 3, and 5 of this chapter:

(1) The term "commission" means the Public Service Commission.

(2) The term "corporation" includes joint stock companies, corporations, associations and commissions and boards, whether public or private, having any powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or partnerships.

(3) The term "person" includes an individual, a firm, and a copartnership.

(4) The term "public utility" includes every corporation and person delivering natural gas distributed or transported by pipe, and every corporation and person furnishing or supplying in any manner heat (other than by means of electricity), water, sewerage collection, sewerage disposal, and street railway service, or any of them, to the public, or any portion thereof, for compensation; provided, however, that a corporation or person furnishing, supplying, marketing, and/or selling natural gas at the retail level for use as a fuel in self-propelled vehicles is not a public utility by virtue of the furnishing, supplying, marketing, and/or selling of natural gas and a corporation or person whose only purpose is the furnishing, supplying, marketing, and/or selling of treated effluent for irrigation purposes is not a public utility by virtue of the furnishing, supplying, marketing, and/or selling of treated effluent if the effluent is not permitted for consumption by a regulatory agency.

(5) The term "public or any portion thereof" means the public generally, or any limited portion of the public, including a person, private corporation, municipality, or any political subdivision of the State for which the service is performed or to which the commodity is delivered and whenever such corporation or person performs a service or delivers a commodity to the public, or any portion thereof, for which compensation is required such corporation or person is hereby declared to be a public utility subject to the jurisdiction and regulation of the Public Service Commission, the Office of Regulatory Staff, and Articles 1, 3, and 5 of this chapter to the extent of its activities within the State.

(6) The term "regulatory staff" means the executive director or the executive director and employees of the Office of Regulatory Staff.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 58-101; 1952 Code Section 58-101; 1942 Code Section 8209; 1932 Code Section 8252; Civ. C. '22 Section 1045; Civ. C. '12 Section 922; 1910 (16) 564; 1922 (32) 938; 1935 (39) 25; 1959 (51) 375; 1994 Act No. 389, Section 1, eff May 10, 1994; 2006 Act No. 318, Section 5, eff May 24, 2006; 2007 Act No. 83, Section 9, eff June 19, 2007.