Section 1. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:
"Aggregator'', an entity which groups together electricity customers for retail sale purposes, except for public entities, quasi-public entities or authorities, or subsidiary organizations thereof, established pursuant to the laws of the commonwealth.
"Alternative energy producer'', any person, firm, partnership, association, public or private corporation, or any agency, department, board, commission or authority of the commonwealth or of a subdivision of the commonwealth, that owns or operates a cogeneration facility or small power production facility as defined in this section, and does not engage in the retail sale of electricity other than sales to customers that are within the confines of an industrial park, which park existed prior to March first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and in which park there existed as of said date electrical generating capacity of more than fifteen megawatts.
"Ancillary services'', those functions which support generation, transmission, and distribution, and shall include the following services: (1) reactive power/voltage control; (2) loss compensation; (3) scheduling and dispatch; (4) load following; (5) system protection service; and (6) energy imbalance service.
"Articles of organization'', (i) the articles of organization of a corporation which were filed subsequent to October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three, (ii) any agreement of association, special act of incorporation, and other charter documents, including by-law provisions and stockholder votes in effect prior to October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three, which, subsequent to that date, would be included in articles of organization, and all amendments thereto, effective prior to October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three, and (iii) any of the following amendments made or filed from time to time subsequent to October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three:
(1) a certificate of a vote establishing a series filed pursuant to section twenty-six of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B;
(2) articles of amendment filed pursuant to section eight B;
(3) restated articles of organization filed pursuant to section eight C;
(4) certificates of confirmation of proceedings filed pursuant to section eight D;
(5) articles of consolidation or merger filed pursuant to section one hundred and two A;
(6) articles of dissolution filed pursuant to section one hundred of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B;
(7) a certificate as to the revival of a corporation filed pursuant to section one hundred and eight of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B.
"Cogeneration facility'', any electrical generating unit having a power production capacity which, together with any other facilities located at the same site, is not greater than thirty megawatts and which produces electric energy and steam or other form of useful energy utilized for industrial, commercial, heating or cooling purposes, and employs a fuel other than oil or gas as its primary energy source, except that gas may be used if it is produced from coal, biomass, solid waste, or wood and oil may be used (1) in combination with coal, in a mixture not exceeding seventy per cent oil, or (2) during any modifications to any existing electrical generating facility undertaken for the purpose of enabling such facility to employ, except during any periods of maintenance or repair, a fuel other than oil or gas as its primary energy source. A cogeneration facility shall also include any electric generating unit having a power production capacity which, together with any other facilities located at the same site, is not greater than thirty megawatts and which produces electric energy and steam or other form of useful energy utilized for industrial, commercial, heating or cooling purposes that is within the confines of an industrial park, which park existed prior to March first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two and, in which park there existed, as of said date, electrical generating capacity of more than fifteen megawatts, and in which park there existed, since said date, a cogeneration facility, as defined herein, or a small power production facility.
"Contract termination fee'', the fees owed by the distribution company to its wholesale power supplier, as determined and approved by the department.
"Corporation'', a corporation to which this chapter applies, as set forth in section three.
[ Definition of "Department'' effective until April 10, 2007. For text effective April 10, 2007, see below.]
"Department'', the department of telecommunications and energy.
[ Definition of "Department'' as amended by 2007, 19, Sec. 36 effective April 10, 2007. See 2007, 19, Sec. 54. For text effective until April 10, 2007, see above.]
"Department'', the department of public utilities.
"Default Service'', the electricity services provided to a retail customer upon either the (i) failure of a distribution company or supplier to provide such electricity services as required by law or as contracted for under the standard service offer, (ii) the completion of the term of the standard service offer, or (iii) upon the inability of a customer to receive standard service transition rates during the term of the standard service offer pursuant to section 1B.
"Distributed generation'', a generation facility or renewable energy facility connected directly to distribution facilities or to retail customer facilities which alleviate or avoid transmission or distribution constraints or the installation of new transmission facilities or distribution facilities.
"Distribution'', the delivery of electricity over lines which operate at a voltage level typically equal to or greater than 110 volts and less than 69,000 volts to an end-use customer within the commonwealth. The distribution of electricity shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the department.
"Distribution company'', a company engaging in the distribution of electricity or owning, operating, or controlling distribution facilities; provided, however, a distribution company shall not include any entity which owns or operates plant or equipment used to produce electricity, steam, and chilled water, or any affiliate engaged solely in the provision of such electricity, steam, and chilled water, where the electricity produced by such entity or its affiliate is primarily for the benefit of hospitals and non-profit educational institutions, and where such plant or equipment was in operation prior to January 1, 1986.
"Distribution facility'', plant or equipment used for the distribution of electricity and which is not a transmission facility, a cogeneration facility, or a small power production facility.
"Distribution service'', the delivery of electricity to the customer by the electric distribution company from points on the transmission system or from a generating plant, at distribution voltage.
"Electric company'', a corporation organized under the laws of the commonwealth for the purpose of making by means of water power, steam power or otherwise and selling or transmitting and selling, or transmitting only, or distributing and selling, or only distributing, electricity within the commonwealth, or authorized by special act so to do, even though subsequently authorized to make or sell gas; provided, however, that electric company shall not mean an alternative energy producer; and provided, further, that a distribution company shall not include any entity which owns or operates a plant or equipment used to produce electricity, steam, and chilled water, or any affiliate engaged solely in the provision of such electricity, steam, and chilled water, where the electricity produced by such entity or its affiliate is primarily for the benefit of hospitals and nonprofit educational institutions, and where such plant or equipment was in operation before January 1, 1986; and provided, further, that electric company shall not mean a corporation only transmitting and selling, or only transmitting, electricity unless such corporation is affiliated with an electric company organized under the laws of the commonwealth for the purpose of distributing and selling or distributing only, electricity within the commonwealth.
"Electric service'', the provision of generation, transmission, distribution, or ancillary services.
"Energy efficiency'', the implementation of an action, policy, or measure which entails the application of the least amount of energy required to produce a desired or given output.
"FERC'', the federal energy regulatory commission.
"Gas company'', a corporation organized for the purpose of making and selling, or distributing and selling, gas within the commonwealth, even though subsequently authorized to make or sell electricity; provided, however, that gas company shall not mean an alternative energy producer.
"Generation'', the act or process of transforming other forms of energy into electric energy, or the amount of electric energy so produced.
"Generation company'', a company engaged in the business of producing, manufacturing, or generating electricity for retail sale to the public.
"Generation facility'', plant or equipment used to produce, manufacture, or otherwise generate electricity and which is not a transmission facility.
"Generation service'', the provision of generation and related services to a customer.
"Horizontal market power'', a situation in which one or a few market participants combined have undue concentration in the ownership of facilities at the same level in the chain of production resulting in the ability to influence price to his or their own benefit.
"Mitigation'', all actions or occurrences which reduce the amount of money that a distribution company seeks to collect through the transition charge, including those amounts resulting from both matters within the company's control and from matters not wholly within the company's control. Mitigation shall, in accordance with the provisions of section 1G, include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) sales of capacity, energy, ancillary services, reserves, and emission allowances from generating facilities that are wholly or partly owned by the company; (2) sales of capacity, energy, ancillary services, reserves, and emission allowances from generating facilities with which the company has a power purchase agreement; (3) adjustments to the company's minimum obligations under purchase power agreements that decrease such obligations, such as those that may be obtained through contract buy-out or renegotiation; (4) residual value; (5) sales and voluntary write downs of company generation-related assets; (6) any market value in excess of net book value associated with the sale, lease, transfer, or other use of the assets of the company unrelated to the provision of transmission service or distribution service at regulated prices, including, but not limited to, rights-of-way, property, and intangible assets when the costs associated with the acquisition of those assets have been reflected in the company's rates for regulated service; provided, however, that the department shall determine their market values based on the highest prices that such assets could reasonably realize after an open and competitive sale; and (7) any allowed refinancing of stranded assets or other debt obligations as provided by law.
"Primary energy source'', the fuel or fuels used, except during periods of maintenance or repair, for the generation of electric energy, except that such term does not include the minimum amounts of fuel required for ignition, start-up, testing, flame stabilization, and control uses, and minimum amounts of fuel required to alleviate or prevent unanticipated equipment outages and emergencies declared by the governor, directly affecting the public health, safety, and welfare which would result from electric power outages.
"Renewable energy'' or "renewables'', either (i) resources whose common characteristic is that they are nondepletable or are naturally replenishable but flow-limited, or (ii) existing or emerging non-fossil fuel energy sources or technologies, which have significant potential for commercialization in New England and New York, and shall include the following: solar photovoltaic or solar thermal electric energy; wind energy; ocean thermal, wave, or tidal energy; fuel cells; landfill gas; waste-to-energy which is a component of conventional municipal solid waste plant technology in commercial use; naturally flowing water and hydroelectric; and low-emission, advanced biomass power conversion technologies, such as gasification using such biomass fuels as wood, agricultural, or food wastes, energy crops, biogas, biodiesel, or organic refuse-derived fuel. The following technologies or fuels shall not be considered renewable energy supplies: coal, oil, natural gas except when used in fuel cells, and nuclear power.
"Residual value'', the value of electric company assets, not including the income which may be obtained through generation facility operation.
"Retail access'', the use of transmission and distribution facilities owned by a transmission company or a distribution company to transmit or distribute electricity from a generation company, supplier, or aggregator to retail customers.
"Retail customer'', a customer who purchases electricity for its own consumption.
"Securitization'', the use of rate reduction bonds to refinance debt and equity associated with transition costs pursuant to section 1H.
"Service territory'', the geographic area in which a distribution company provided distribution service on July 1, 1997.
"Small power production facility'', a facility which is any electrical generating unit which produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass, waste, wind, water, wood, geothermal, solar energy, or any combination thereof, or produces gas if it is produced from coal, biomass, solid waste or wood, and has a power production capacity which, together with any other facilities located at the same site is not greater than thirty megawatts.
"Supplier'', any supplier of generation service to retail customers, including power marketers, brokers, and marketing affiliates of distribution companies, except that no electric company shall be considered a supplier.
"Supplying electricity in bulk'', engaging in the business of making and selling or distributing and selling electricity to electric companies, railroads, street railways or electric railroads, or to municipalities for municipal use or re-sale to their inhabitants, or to persons, associations or corporations under limitations imposed by special law or under section ninety or corresponding provisions of earlier laws.
"Transition charge'', the charge that provides the mechanism for recovery of an electric company's transition costs.
"Transition costs'', the embedded costs as determined pursuant to section 1H which remain after accounting for maximum possible mitigation, subject to determination by the department.
"Transmission'', the delivery of power over lines that operate at a voltage level typically equal to or greater than 69,000 volts from generating facilities across interconnected high voltage lines to where it enters a distribution system.
"Transmission company'', a company engaging in the transmission of electricity or owning, operating, or controlling transmission facilities. A transmission company shall provide transmission service to all generation companies, municipal lighting plants, suppliers, and load aggregators in the commonwealth, whether affiliated or not, on comparable, nondiscriminatory prices and terms, pursuant to provisions of federal law and regulation.
"Transmission facility'', plant or equipment used for the transmission of electricity, as determined by the federal energy regulatory commission pursuant to federal law and regulation.
"Transmission service'', the delivery of electricity to a retail customer, supplier, distribution company, or wholesale customer by a transmission company.
"Unbundled rates'', rates designed to separate the costs of providing generation, the costs of transmission and distribution services, and transition and general access charges.
"Vertical market power'', a situation in which one or a few market participants, having joint ownership of facilities at differing levels of the chain of production, such as generation, transmission, and distribution, possess the ability to use such joint ownership to influence price to the participants' own benefit.
"Wholesale generation company'', a company engaged in the business of producing, manufacturing, or generating electricity for sale at wholesale only.