Sec. 101.003. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle:

(1) "Affected person" means:

(A) a gas utility affected by an action of a regulatory authority;

(B) a person whose utility service or rates are affected by a proceeding before a regulatory authority; or

(C) a person who:

(i) is a competitor of a gas utility with respect to a service performed by the utility; or

(ii) wants to enter into competition with a gas utility.

(2) "Affiliate" means:

(A) a person who directly or indirectly owns or holds at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;

(B) a person in a chain of successive ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;

(C) a corporation that has at least five percent of its voting securities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a gas utility;

(D) a corporation that has at least five percent of its voting securities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by:

(i) a person who directly or indirectly owns or controls at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility; or

(ii) a person in a chain of successive ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;

(E) a person who is an officer or director of a gas utility or of a corporation in a chain of successive ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility; or

(F) a person determined to be an affiliate under Section 101.004.

(3) "Allocation" means the division among municipalities or among municipalities and unincorporated areas of the plant, revenues, expenses, taxes, and reserves of a gas utility used to provide gas utility service in a municipality or for a municipality and unincorporated areas.

(4) "Corporation" means a domestic or foreign corporation, joint-stock company, or association, and each lessee, assignee, trustee, receiver, or other successor in interest of the corporation, company, or association, that has any of the powers or privileges of a corporation not possessed by an individual or partnership. The term does not include a municipal corporation, except as expressly provided by this subtitle.

(5) "Counsellor" means the chief executive of the Office of Public Utility Counsel.

(6) "Facilities" means all of the plant and equipment of a gas utility and includes the tangible and intangible property, without limitation, owned, operated, leased, licensed, used, controlled, or supplied for, by, or in connection with the business of the gas utility.

(7) "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. Section 717 et seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas utility. The term does not include:

(A) a municipal corporation;

(B) a person or river authority to the extent the person or river authority:

(i) produces, gathers, transports, or sells natural gas or synthetic natural gas under Section 121.004 or 121.005;

(ii) distributes or sells liquefied petroleum gas; or

(iii) transports, delivers, or sells natural gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other direct agricultural use;

(C) a person to the extent the person:

(i) sells natural gas for use as vehicle fuel;

(ii) sells natural gas to a person who later sells the natural gas for use as vehicle fuel; or

(iii) owns or operates equipment or facilities to sell or transport natural gas for ultimate use as vehicle fuel;

(D) a person not otherwise a gas utility who furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas service is not resold to or used by others;

(E) a person excluded from being considered a gas utility under Section 121.007; or

(F) an electric cooperative, as that term is defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that is excluded from regulation as a gas utility by Section 121.008.

(8) "Municipally owned utility" means a utility owned, operated, and controlled by a municipality or by a nonprofit corporation the directors of which are appointed by one or more municipalities.

(9) "Order" means all or a part of a final disposition by a regulatory authority in a matter other than rulemaking, without regard to whether the disposition is affirmative or negative or injunctive or declaratory. The term includes the setting of a rate.

(10) "Person" includes an individual, a partnership of two or more persons having a joint or common interest, a mutual or cooperative association, a limited liability company, and a corporation.

(11) "Proceeding" means a hearing, investigation, inquiry, or other procedure for finding facts or making a decision under this subtitle. The term includes a denial of relief or dismissal of a complaint.

(12) "Rate" means:

(A) any compensation, tariff, charge, fare, toll, rental, or classification that is directly or indirectly demanded, observed, charged, or collected by a gas utility for a service, product, or commodity described in the definition of gas utility in this section; and

(B) a rule, regulation, practice, or contract affecting the compensation, tariff, charge, fare, toll, rental, or classification.

(13) "Regulatory authority" means either the railroad commission or the governing body of a municipality, in accordance with the context.

(14) "Service" has its broadest and most inclusive meaning. The term includes any act performed, anything supplied, and any facilities used or supplied by a gas utility in the performance of the utility's duties under this subtitle to its patrons, employees, other gas utilities, and the public. The term also includes the interchange of facilities between two or more gas utilities.

(15) "State agency" has the meaning assigned by Section 572.002, Government Code, to the extent the state agency must obtain the approval described by Section 31.401(a), Natural Resources Code.

(16) "Test year" means the most recent 12 months, beginning on the first day of a calendar or fiscal year quarter, for which operating data for a gas utility are available.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 11, Sec. 1, eff. May 3, 1999.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 709 (H.B. 2174), Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2007.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 4 (S.B. 312), Sec. 1, eff. April 21, 2011.