SECTION 165:65-1-2. Definitions  


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  •   The following words and terms, when used in this Chapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
    "Affiliate" means any person, entity, or business section, or division that directly or through one or more intermediaries controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the entity in question. Control includes but is not limited to, the possession, directly or indirectly and whether acting alone or in conjunction with others, of the authority to direct a direction of the management or policies of a person or entity. Control may be exercised through management, ownership of voting securities or other right to vote, by contract or otherwise. A voting interest or ownership of five percent (5%) or more creates a presumption of control.
    "Attorney General" means the Oklahoma Attorney General.
    "Business day" means Monday through Friday, excluding all legal holidays which have been declared legal holidays by law or proclamation of the Governor of Oklahoma, or those days on which mail is not delivered.
    "Commission" means the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
    "Complaint" means an oral, electronic or written communication by an interested party requesting an investigation or corrective action regarding the provision of water services.
    "CSD" means the Consumer Services Division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
    "Consumer" means any person, firm, corporation, municipality, or agency, other political subdivision of the United States or the State of Oklahoma receiving any type of water service. Any reference to a "customer" or "end-user" contained in a tariff, or in this Chapter, shall be deemed to mean a "consumer," unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
    "DEQ" means the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
    "Distribution" or "Distribution service" means the transportation of water services through a utility's distribution facilities bundled with any one or more of the services of billing, metering, customer service and similar services.
    "Distribution main" means a distribution line that serves as a common source of supply to service lines.
    "Distribution system" means any pipeline, meter, metering station, valve, regulator, regulating station and/or delivery station which receives water from any water supply source for service to one or more consumers.
    "Electronic notification" means any automated communication received by e-mail, phone, text message or fax.
    "Gallon" means one U.S. Standard gallon, containing 231 cubic inches and weighing 8.333 pounds.
    "Interested party" means any individual or entity with appropriate authority to act on behalf of a particular consumer or group of consumers or any other party involved in, or affected by, the provision of water services.
    "Legal holiday" means only those days declared legal holidays by law or proclamation of the Governor of Oklahoma, or those days on which mail is not delivered or banks are closed, such as Columbus Day.
    "Local forecast" means a statement of what the weather is predicted to be, that is issued by the National Weather Service for a specific county, city, and/or zip-code area.
    "Meter" means any device that measures the quantity of water transferred from one party to another.
    "NWS" means the National Weather Service.
    "Pipe" means any tubing used in the gathering, transmission or distribution of water which meets the specifications of the DEQ.
    "Premises" means any piece of land or real estate, or any building or other structure or portion thereof, or any facility where water service is furnished to a consumer.
    "Prudency review" means, for purposes of this Chapter, a comprehensive review that examines as fair, just and reasonable, a utility's practices and policies and judgment regarding an investment or expense at the time the investment was made or expense was incurred; including direct or indirect maximization of its positive impacts and mitigation of adverse impact upon its ratepayers, without consideration of its ultimate used and useful nature.
    "P.s.i.g." means pounds per square inch gauge.
    "PUD" means the Public Utility Division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
    "Regulator" means a device used to reduce the water pressure.
    "Residence" means any dwelling unit containing kitchen appliances, permanent sewer or septic facilities and water service. A weekend cabin and a mobile home are residences when used as such. An individual room in a hotel or motel is not a residence.
    "Service line" means a line that branches off a distribution main or distribution line in order to transport water from the common source of supply to utility meters or to a consumer's piping, whichever is farther downstream, or the connection to a consumer's piping if there is no utility meter.
    "Subdivision" means any land, wherever located, whether improved or unimproved, contiguous or not, which is divided into lots or proposed to be divided, for the purpose of disposition pursuant to a common promotional scheme or plan of advertising.
    "Tariff" means every rate schedule, or provision thereof, and all terms, conditions, rules and regulations for furnishing water service filed with the Commission and approved by the Director of the Public Utility Division.
    "Temporary service" means every rate schedule, or provision thereof, and all terms, conditions, rules and regulations for furnishing water service filed with the Commission and approved by the Director of the Public Utility Division.
    "Uniform System of Accounts (USOA)" applicable to water utilities published by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) or other uniform system acceptable to the Commission may be adopted by a utility.
    "Utility" means and includes any corporation, association, company, individual, and the trustees, lessees, or receivers, successors or assigns of any of them, (but shall not include a city, town or other body politic) that now or hereafter may own, operate, or manage any plant or equipment, or any part thereof, directly or indirectly, for public use, for the transmission and distribution of water by pipeline.
[Source: Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2380, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2322, eff 7-15-03; Amended at 31 Ok Reg 1091, eff 9-12-14; Amended at 36 Ok Reg 718, eff 7-25-19]