2006 Code of Virginia § 56-576 - Definitions

56-576. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

"Affiliate" means any person that controls, is controlled by, or is undercommon control with an electric utility.

"Aggregator" means a person that, as an agent or intermediary, (i) offersto purchase, or purchases, electric energy or (ii) offers to arrange for, orarranges for, the purchase of electric energy, for sale to, or on behalf of,two or more retail customers not controlled by or under common control withsuch person. The following activities shall not, in and of themselves, make aperson an aggregator under this chapter: (i) furnishing legal services to twoor more retail customers, suppliers or aggregators; (ii) furnishingeducational, informational, or analytical services to two or more retailcustomers, unless direct or indirect compensation for such services is paidby an aggregator or supplier of electric energy; (iii) furnishingeducational, informational, or analytical services to two or more suppliersor aggregators; (iv) providing default service under 56-585; (v) engagingin activities of a retail electric energy supplier, licensed pursuant to 56-587, which are authorized by such supplier's license; and (vi) engaging inactions of a retail customer, in common with one or more other such retailcustomers, to issue a request for proposal or to negotiate a purchase ofelectric energy for consumption by such retail customers.

"Billing services" means services related to billing customers forcompetitive electric services or billing customers on a consolidated basisfor both competitive and regulated electric services.

"Commission" means the State Corporation Commission.

"Cooperative" means a utility formed under or subject to Chapter 9.1 (56-231.15 et seq.) of this title.

"Covered entity" means a provider in the Commonwealth of an electricservice not subject to competition but shall not include default serviceproviders.

"Covered transaction" means an acquisition, merger, or consolidation of,or other transaction involving stock, securities, voting interests or assetsby which one or more persons obtains control of a covered entity.

"Customer choice" means the opportunity for a retail customer in theCommonwealth to purchase electric energy from any supplier licensed andseeking to sell electric energy to that customer.

"Distribute," "distributing" or "distribution of" electric energymeans the transfer of electric energy through a retail distribution system toa retail customer.

"Distributor" means a person owning, controlling, or operating a retaildistribution system to provide electric energy directly to retail customers.

"Electric utility" means any person that generates, transmits, ordistributes electric energy for use by retail customers in the Commonwealth,including any investor-owned electric utility, cooperative electric utility,or electric utility owned or operated by a municipality.

"Generate," "generating," or "generation of" electric energy means theproduction of electric energy.

"Generator" means a person owning, controlling, or operating a facilitythat produces electric energy for sale.

"Incumbent electric utility" means each electric utility in theCommonwealth that, prior to July 1, 1999, supplied electric energy to retailcustomers located in an exclusive service territory established by theCommission.

"Independent system operator" means a person that may receive or hasreceived, by transfer pursuant to this chapter, any ownership or control of,or any responsibility to operate, all or part of the transmission systems inthe Commonwealth.

"Market power" means the ability to impose on customers a significant andnontransitory price increase on a product or service in a market above theprice level which would prevail in a competitive market.

"Metering services" means the ownership, installation, maintenance, orreading of electric meters and includes meter data management services.

"Municipality" means a city, county, town, authority or other politicalsubdivision of the Commonwealth.

"Period of transition to customer choice" means the period beginning onJanuary 1, 2002, and ending on January 1, 2004, unless otherwise extended bythe Commission pursuant to this chapter, during which the Commission and allelectric utilities authorized to do business in the Commonwealth shallimplement customer choice for retail customers in the Commonwealth.

"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, association,company, business, trust, joint venture, or other private legal entity, andthe Commonwealth or any municipality.

"Renewable energy" means energy derived from sunlight, wind, falling water,sustainable biomass, energy from waste, wave motion, tides, and geothermalpower, and does not include energy derived from coal, oil, natural gas ornuclear power.

"Retail customer" means any person that purchases retail electric energyfor its own consumption at one or more metering points or nonmetered pointsof delivery located in the Commonwealth.

"Retail electric energy" means electric energy sold for ultimateconsumption to a retail customer.

"Supplier" means any generator, distributor, aggregator, broker, marketer,or other person who offers to sell or sells electric energy to retailcustomers and is licensed by the Commission to do so, but it does not mean agenerator that produces electric energy exclusively for its own consumptionor the consumption of an affiliate.

"Supply" or "supplying" electric energy means the sale of or the offerto sell electric energy to a retail customer.

"Transmission of," "transmit," or "transmitting" electric energymeans the transfer of electric energy through the Commonwealth'sinterconnected transmission grid from a generator to either a distributor ora retail customer.

"Transmission system" means those facilities and equipment that arerequired to provide for the transmission of electric energy.

(1999, c. 411; 2000, c. 991; 2001, c. 421.)