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H.B. 158

             1     

WATER SHARES IN A MUNICIPAL WATER

             2     
COMPANY

             3     
2004 GENERAL SESSION

             4     
STATE OF UTAH

             5     
Sponsor: Gregory H. Hughes

             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill modifies the definition of a water corporation for purposes of the Public
             10      Utilities Code.
             11      Highlighted Provisions:
             12          This bill:
             13          .    provides that a mutual water company is not a water corporation for purposes of the
             14      Public Utilities Code if the mutual water company operates:
             15              .    under a commonality of interest; and
             16              .    with equal ownership and control rights among all members.
             17      Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
             18          None
             19      Other Special Clauses:
             20          None
             21      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             22      AMENDS:
             23          54-2-1, as last amended by Chapter 212, Laws of Utah 2001
             24     
             25      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             26          Section 1. Section 54-2-1 is amended to read:
             27           54-2-1. Definitions.


             28          As used in this title:
             29          (1) "Avoided costs" means the incremental costs to an electrical corporation of electric
             30      energy or capacity or both which, due to the purchase of electric energy or capacity or both
             31      from small power production or cogeneration facilities, the electrical corporation would not
             32      have to generate itself or purchase from another electrical corporation.
             33          (2) "Cogeneration facility":
             34          (a) means a facility which produces:
             35          (i) electric energy; and
             36          (ii) steam or forms of useful energy, including heat, which are used for industrial,
             37      commercial, heating, or cooling purposes; and
             38          (b) is a qualifying cogeneration facility under federal law.
             39          (3) "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of Utah.
             40          (4) "Commissioner" means a member of the commission.
             41          (5) (a) "Corporation" includes an association, and a joint stock company having any
             42      powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or partnerships.
             43          (b) "Corporation" does not include towns, cities, counties, conservancy districts,
             44      improvement districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any general or
             45      special law of this state.
             46          (6) "Distribution electrical cooperative" includes an electrical corporation that:
             47          (a) is a cooperative;
             48          (b) conducts a business that includes the retail distribution of electricity the cooperative
             49      purchases or generates for the cooperative's members; and
             50          (c) is required to allocate or distribute savings in excess of additions to reserves and
             51      surplus on the basis of patronage to the cooperative's:
             52          (i) members; or
             53          (ii) patrons.
             54          (7) "Electrical corporation" includes every corporation, cooperative association, and
             55      person, their lessees, trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any
             56      electric plant, or in any way furnishing electric power for public service or to its consumers or
             57      members for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, within this state, except independent
             58      energy producers, and except where electricity is generated on or distributed by the producer


             59      solely for the producer's own use, or the use of the producer's tenants, or for the use of
             60      members of an association of unit owners formed under Title 57, Chapter 8, Condominium
             61      Ownership Act, and not for sale to the public generally.
             62          (8) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
             63      controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
             64      transmission, delivery, or furnishing of electricity for light, heat, or power, and all conduits,
             65      ducts, or other devices, materials, apparatus, or property for containing, holding, or carrying
             66      conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat, or power.
             67          (9) "Gas corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees, and
             68      receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any gas plant for public service within
             69      this state or for the selling or furnishing of natural gas to any consumer or consumers within the
             70      state for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, except in the situation that:
             71          (a) gas is made or produced on, and distributed by the maker or producer through,
             72      private property:
             73          (i) solely for the maker's or producer's own use or the use of the maker's or producer's
             74      tenants; and
             75          (ii) not for sale to others;
             76          (b) gas is compressed on private property solely for the owner's own use or the use of
             77      the owner's employees as a motor vehicle fuel; or
             78          (c) gas is compressed by a retailer of motor vehicle fuel on the retailer's property solely
             79      for sale as a motor vehicle fuel.
             80          (10) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned,
             81      controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the production, generation,
             82      transmission, delivery, or furnishing of gas, natural or manufactured, for light, heat, or power.
             83          (11) "Heat corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees, trustees,
             84      and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any heating plant for public service
             85      within this state.
             86          (12) (a) "Heating plant" includes all real estate, fixtures, machinery, appliances, and
             87      personal property controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the
             88      production, generation, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of artificial heat.
             89          (b) "Heating plant" does not include either small power production facilities or


             90      cogeneration facilities.
             91          (13) "Independent energy producer" means every electrical corporation, person,
             92      corporation, or government entity, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, that own, operate,
             93      control, or manage a small power production or cogeneration facility.
             94          (14) "Private telecommunications system" includes all facilities for the transmission of
             95      signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, messages, data, or other information of any nature by
             96      wire, radio, lightwaves, or other electromagnetic means, excluding mobile radio facilities, that
             97      are owned, controlled, operated, or managed by a corporation or person, including their lessees,
             98      trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, for the use of that corporation or person
             99      and not for the shared use with or resale to any other corporation or person on a regular basis.
             100          (15) (a) "Public utility" includes every railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical
             101      corporation, distribution electrical cooperative, wholesale electrical cooperative, telephone
             102      corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation,
             103      and independent energy producer not described in Subsection (15)(d), where the service is
             104      performed for, or the commodity delivered to, the public generally, or in the case of a gas
             105      corporation or electrical corporation where the gas or electricity is sold or furnished to any
             106      member or consumers within the state for domestic, commercial, or industrial use.
             107          (b) (i) If any railroad corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone
             108      corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewerage corporation, heat corporation,
             109      or independent energy producer not described in Subsection (15)(d), performs a service for or
             110      delivers a commodity to the public, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the
             111      jurisdiction and regulation of the commission and this title.
             112          (ii) If a gas corporation, independent energy producer not described in Subsection
             113      (15)(d), or electrical corporation sells or furnishes gas or electricity to any member or
             114      consumers within the state, for domestic, commercial, or industrial use, for which any
             115      compensation or payment is received, it is considered to be a public utility, subject to the
             116      jurisdiction and regulation of the commission and this title.
             117          (c) Any corporation or person not engaged in business exclusively as a public utility as
             118      defined in this section is governed by this title in respect only to the public utility owned,
             119      controlled, operated, or managed by the corporation or person, and not in respect to any other
             120      business or pursuit.


             121          (d) An independent energy producer is exempt from the jurisdiction and regulations of
             122      the commission if it meets the requirements of Subsection (15)(d)(i), (ii), or (iii), or any
             123      combination of these:
             124          (i) the commodity or service is produced or delivered, or both, by an independent
             125      energy producer solely for the uses exempted in Subsection (7) or for the use of state-owned
             126      facilities;
             127          (ii) the commodity or service is sold by an independent energy producer to an electrical
             128      corporation; or
             129          (iii) (A) the commodity or service delivered by the independent energy producer is
             130      delivered to an entity which controls, is controlled by, or affiliated with the independent energy
             131      producer or to a user located on real property managed by the independent energy producer;
             132      and
             133          (B) the real property on which the service or commodity is used is contiguous to real
             134      property which is owned or controlled by the independent energy producer. Parcels of real
             135      property separated solely by public roads or easements for public roads shall be considered as
             136      contiguous for purposes of this Subsection (15).
             137          (e) Any person or corporation defined as an electrical corporation or public utility
             138      under this section may continue to serve its existing customers subject to any order or future
             139      determination of the commission in reference to the right to serve those customers.
             140          (f) (i) "Public utility" does not include any person that is otherwise considered a public
             141      utility under this Subsection (15) solely because of that person's ownership of an interest in an
             142      electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power production facility in this state if all of the
             143      following conditions are met:
             144          (A) the ownership interest in the electric plant, cogeneration facility, or small power
             145      production facility is leased to:
             146          (I) a public utility, and that lease has been approved by the commission;
             147          (II) a person or government entity that is exempt from commission regulation as a
             148      public utility; or
             149          (III) a combination of Subsections (15)(f)(i)(A)(I) and (II);
             150          (B) the lessor of the ownership interest identified in Subsection (15)(f)(i)(A) is:
             151          (I) primarily engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; or


             152          (II) a person whose total equity or beneficial ownership is held directly or indirectly by
             153      another person engaged in a business other than the business of a public utility; and
             154          (C) the rent reserved under the lease does not include any amount based on or
             155      determined by revenues or income of the lessee.
             156          (ii) Any person that is exempt from classification as a public utility under Subsection
             157      (15)(f)(i) shall continue to be so exempt from classification following termination of the
             158      lessee's right to possession or use of the electric plant for so long as the former lessor does not
             159      operate the electric plant or sell electricity from the electric plant. If the former lessor operates
             160      the electric plant or sells electricity, the former lessor shall continue to be so exempt for a
             161      period of 90 days following termination, or for a longer period that is ordered by the
             162      commission. This period may not exceed one year. A change in rates that would otherwise
             163      require commission approval may not be effective during the 90-day or extended period
             164      without commission approval.
             165          (g) "Public utility" does not include any person that provides financing for, but has no
             166      ownership interest in an electric plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility.
             167      In the event of a foreclosure in which an ownership interest in an electric plant, small power
             168      production facility, or cogeneration facility is transferred to a third-party financer of an electric
             169      plant, small power production facility, or cogeneration facility, then that third-party financer is
             170      exempt from classification as a public utility for 90 days following the foreclosure, or for a
             171      longer period that is ordered by the commission. This period may not exceed one year.
             172          (h) (i) The distribution or transportation of natural gas for use as a motor vehicle fuel
             173      does not cause the distributor or transporter to be a "public utility," unless the commission,
             174      after notice and a public hearing, determines by rule that it is in the public interest to regulate
             175      the distributers or transporters, but the retail sale alone of compressed natural gas as a motor
             176      vehicle fuel may not cause the seller to be a "public utility."
             177          (ii) In determining whether it is in the public interest to regulate the distributors or
             178      transporters, the commission shall consider, among other things, the impact of the regulation
             179      on the availability and price of natural gas for use as a motor fuel.
             180          (16) "Purchasing utility" means any electrical corporation that is required to purchase
             181      electricity from small power production or cogeneration facilities pursuant to the Public Utility
             182      Regulatory Policies Act, 16 U.S.C. Section 824a-3.


             183          (17) "Railroad" includes every commercial, interurban, and other railway, other than a
             184      street railway, and each branch or extension of a railway, by any power operated, together with
             185      all tracks, bridges, trestles, rights-of-way, subways, tunnels, stations, depots, union depots,
             186      yards, grounds, terminals, terminal facilities, structures, and equipment, and all other real
             187      estate, fixtures, and personal property of every kind used in connection with a railway owned,
             188      controlled, operated, or managed for public service in the transportation of persons or property.
             189          (18) "Railroad corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             190      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any railroad for public
             191      service within this state.
             192          (19) (a) "Sewerage corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             193      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any sewerage system for
             194      public service within this state.
             195          (b) "Sewerage corporation" does not include private sewerage companies engaged in
             196      disposing of sewage only for their stockholders, or towns, cities, counties, conservancy
             197      districts, improvement districts, or other governmental units created or organized under any
             198      general or special law of this state.
             199          (20) "Small power production facility" means a facility which:
             200          (a) produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass,
             201      waste, renewable resources, geothermal resources, or any combination of them;
             202          (b) has a power production capacity that, together with any other facilities located at
             203      the same site, is not greater than 80 megawatts; and
             204          (c) is a qualifying small power production facility under federal law.
             205          (21) "Telegraph corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             206      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any telegraph line for
             207      public service within this state.
             208          (22) "Telegraph line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments, and
             209      appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
             210      operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telegraph, whether
             211      that communication be had with or without the use of transmission wires.
             212          (23) (a) "Telephone corporation" means any corporation or person, and their lessees,
             213      trustee, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court, who owns, controls, operates, manages, or


             214      resells a public telecommunications service as defined in Section 54-8b-2 .
             215          (b) "Telephone corporation" does not mean a corporation, partnership, or firm
             216      providing:
             217          (i) intrastate telephone service offered by a provider of cellular, personal
             218      communication systems (PCS), or other commercial mobile radio service as defined in 47
             219      U.S.C. Sec. 332 that has been issued a covering license by the Federal Communications
             220      Commission;
             221          (ii) Internet service; or
             222          (iii) resold intrastate toll service.
             223          (24) "Telephone line" includes all conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, instruments,
             224      and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property owned, controlled,
             225      operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate communication by telephone whether
             226      that communication is had with or without the use of transmission wires.
             227          (25) "Transportation of persons" includes every service in connection with or
             228      incidental to the safety, comfort, or convenience of the person transported, and the receipt,
             229      carriage, and delivery of that person and that person's baggage.
             230          (26) "Transportation of property" includes every service in connection with or
             231      incidental to the transportation of property, including in particular its receipt, delivery,
             232      elevation, transfer, switching, carriage, ventilation, refrigeration, icing, dunnage, storage, and
             233      hauling, and the transmission of credit by express companies.
             234          (27) (a) "Water corporation" includes every corporation and person, their lessees,
             235      trustees, and receivers, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system for
             236      public service within this state. [It]
             237          (b) "Water corporation" does not include:
             238          (i) private irrigation companies engaged in distributing water only to their
             239      stockholders[, or];
             240          (ii) towns, cities, counties, water conservancy districts, improvement districts, or other
             241      governmental units created or organized under any general or special law of this state[.]; or
             242          (iii) a mutual water company operating:
             243          (A) under a commonality of interest; and
             244          (B) with equal ownership and control rights among all members.


             245          (28) (a) "Water system" includes all reservoirs, tunnels, shafts, dams, dikes, headgates,
             246      pipes, flumes, canals, structures, and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal
             247      property owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the
             248      diversion, development, storage, supply, distribution, sale, furnishing, carriage, appointment,
             249      apportionment, or measurement of water for power, fire protection, irrigation, reclamation, or
             250      manufacturing, or for municipal, domestic, or other beneficial use.
             251          (b) "Water system" does not include private irrigation companies engaged in
             252      distributing water only to their stockholders.
             253          (29) "Wholesale electrical cooperative" includes every electrical corporation that is:
             254          (a) in the business of the wholesale distribution of electricity it has purchased or
             255      generated to its members and the public; and
             256          (b) required to distribute or allocate savings in excess of additions to reserves and
             257      surplus to members or patrons on the basis of patronage.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 2-4-04 12:50 PM


A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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