N.Y. Public Service Law § 2: Definitions

§ 2. Definitions. 1. The term "department" when used in this chapter,

means the department of public service, and the term "commission," means

the public service commission.

2. The term "commissioner," when used in this chapter, means one of

the members of the public service commission.

2-a. The term "co-generation facility", when used in this chapter,

includes any facility with an electric generating capacity of up to

eighty megawatts, and including any facility with an electric generating

capacity of up to one hundred twenty megawatts located at a project site

within an air terminal operated by the port authority of New York and

New Jersey and wholly contained within a city having a population of one

million or more, which produces electricity and useful thermal energy

solely for sale to the port authority of New York and New Jersey, for

use at the airport, for sale to an electric utility, and/or for sale to

the power authority of the state of New York, together with any related

facilities located at the same project site, which is fueled by coal,

gas, wood, alcohol, solid waste refuse-derived fuel, water or oil, to

the extent any such oil fueled facility was fueled by oil prior to the

effective date of this subdivision and there is no increase in the

amount of oil used at the facility or to the extent oil is used as a

backup fuel for such facility, and which simultaneously or sequentially

produces either electricity or shaft horsepower and useful thermal

energy which is used solely for industrial and/or commercial purposes.

2-b. The term "alternate energy production facility," when used in

this chapter, includes any solar, wind turbine, fuel cell, fuel-flexible

linear generator electric generating equipment, tidal, wave energy,

waste management resource recovery, refuse-derived fuel, wood burning

facility, or energy storage device utilizing batteries, flow batteries,

flywheels or compressed air, together with any related facilities

located at the same project site, with an electric generating capacity

of up to eighty megawatts, which produces electricity, gas or useful

thermal energy.

2-c. The term "small hydro facility", when used in this chapter,

includes any hydroelectric facility, together with any related

facilities located at the same project site, with an electric generating

capacity of up to eighty megawatts.

2-d. The term "related facilities" shall mean any land, work, system,

building, improvement, instrumentality or thing necessary or convenient

to the construction, completion or operation of any co-generation,

alternate energy production or small hydro facility and include also

such transmission or distribution facilities as may be necessary to

conduct electricity, gas or useful thermal energy to users located at or

near a project site.

3. The term "corporation," when used in this chapter, includes a

corporation, company, association and joint-stock association other than

a corporation, company, association or joint stock association

generating electricity, shaft horsepower, useful thermal energy or gas

solely from one or more co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy

production facilities or distributing electricity, shaft horsepower,

useful thermal energy or gas solely from one or more of such facilities

to users located at or near a project site.

4. The word "person," when used in this chapter, includes an

individual, firm or co-partnership other than an individual, firm or

co-partnership generating electricity, shaft horsepower, useful thermal

energy or gas solely from one or more co-generation, small hydro or

alternate energy production facilities or distributing electricity,

shaft horsepower, useful thermal energy or gas solely from one or more

of such facilities to users located at or near a project site; provided,

however, that an individual, firm or co-partnership generating or

distributing electricity or gas solely from one or more co-generation,

small hydro or alternate energy production facilities shall nevertheless

be considered a person for purposes of commission jurisdiction under

article seven of this chapter.

10. The term "gas plant," when used in this chapter, includes all real

estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to be

used for or in connection with or to facilitate the manufacture,

conveying, transportation, distribution, sale or furnishing of gas

(natural or manufactured or mixture of both) for light, heat or power,

but does not include property used solely for or in connection with the

business of selling, distributing or furnishing of gas in enclosed

containers.

11. The term "gas corporation," when used in this chapter, includes

every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association,

partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed

by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or managing any gas plant or

thermal energy network (a) except where gas is made or produced and

distributed by the maker on or through private property solely for its

own use or the use of its tenants and not for sale to others, (b) except

where compressed natural gas is sold, distributed or furnished solely as

a fuel for use in motor vehicles, (c) except where manufactured gas is

sold by the producer only for use or resale by a gas corporation and

such gas of the producer and any affiliated producers does not exceed in

any one year thirty per cent of the total gas sold by any purchaser

thereof in the area in which such manufactured gas is resold either as

manufactured gas or as a component of mixed gas, and (d) except where

gas is made or produced solely from one or more alternate energy

production facilities or distributed solely from one or more of such

facilities to users located at or near a project site; provided,

however, that any producer not included within the meaning of "gas

corporation" by reason of exception (c) or (d) shall nevertheless be

considered a gas corporation for the purposes of commission jurisdiction

relating to the safety of the construction, operation, or maintenance of

plants manufacturing pipeline quality gas.

12. The term "electric plant," when used in this chapter, includes all

real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to

be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the generation,

transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of electricity for light,

heat or power; and any conduits, ducts or other devices, materials,

apparatus or property for containing, holding or carrying conductors

used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat

or power, and also includes retired nuclear power reactors and their

associated systems, structures, fuel and waste storage facilities, real

estate, fixtures and personal property.

13. The term "electric corporation," when used in this chapter,

includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock

association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or

receivers appointed by any court whatsoever (other than a railroad or

street railroad corporation generating electricity solely for railroad

or street railroad purposes or for the use of its tenants and not for

sale to others) owning, operating or managing any electric plant or

thermal energy network except where electricity or thermal energy is

generated or distributed by the producer solely on or through private

property for railroad or street railroad purposes or for its own use or

the use of its tenants and not for sale to others; or except where

electricity is generated by the producer solely from one or more

co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facilities or

distributed solely from one or more of such facilities to users located

at or near a project site.

14. The term "combination gas and electric corporation," when used in

sections twenty-five-a, sixty-five and sixty-six of this chapter,

includes any gas corporation operating in New York under common

ownership with an electric corporation operating in New York or any

electric corporation operating in New York under common ownership with a

gas corporation operating in New York, or any successor of either such

corporation; provided, however, that such term shall not include

municipally-owned utilities, and shall not include any generating

facilities owned or operated by either such corporation or any common

owner thereof, or any subsidiary of such common owner.

16. The term "municipality", when used in this chapter, includes a

city, village, town or lighting district, organized as provided by a

general or special act, provided, however, that the counties of Nassau,

Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester shall each be deemed a "municipality"

and consents issued by each such county pursuant to the transportation

corporations law and the county government law of Nassau county, local

law adopted by the county legislature of Rockland county, the Suffolk

county charter and the Westchester county charter respectively shall be

deemed "consents of local authorities" for the purpose of applying every

provision of this chapter applicable to consents of local authorities;

and provided further that no county, city, village, town or lighting

district shall be deemed a municipality with respect to any

co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facility owned

by one of the above from which electricity, useful thermal energy or gas

is generated or produced or distributed from one or more of such

facilities to users located at or near a project site.

17. The term "telephone corporation," when used in this chapter,

includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock

association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or

receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or

managing any telephone line or part of telephone line used in the

conduct of the business of affording telephonic communication for hire;

excepting, however, any corporation, company, association, joint-stock

association, partnership or person, their lessees, trustees or

receivers, who or which do not operate the business of affording

telephonic communication for profit.

18. The term "telephone line," when used in this chapter, includes

conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, receivers,

transmitters, instruments, machines, appliances and all devices, real

estate, easements, apparatus, property and routes used, operated or

owned by any telephone corporation to facilitate the business of

affording telephonic communication up to and including the demarcation

point located on a subscriber's premises.

19. The term "telegraph corporation," when used in this chapter,

includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock

association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or

receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or

managing any telegraph line or part of telegraph line used in the

conduct of the business of affording for hire communication by

telegraph.

20. The term "telegraph line," when used in this chapter, includes

conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, instruments,

machines, appliances and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus,

property and routes used, operated or owned by any telegraph corporation

to facilitate the business of affording communication by telegraph.

21. The term "steam plant," when used in this chapter, includes all

real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to

be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the generation,

transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of steam for heat or

power.

22. The term "steam corporation," when used in this chapter, includes

every corporation, company, association, joint stock association,

partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed

by any court whatsoever owning, operating or managing any steam plant,

(a) except where steam is made or produced and distributed by the maker,

on or through private property solely for the maker's own use or the use

of the maker's tenant and not for sale to others, (b) except where steam

is made or produced by the maker solely from one or more co-generation

or alternate energy production facilities or distributed soley from one

or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site or

(c) except where steam is made or produced and distributed solely for

the use of its members by a non-profit cooperative corporation organized

under the cooperative corporations law.

22-a. The term "telecommuting", when used in this chapter, shall mean

the conservation of energy through the reduction of travel by employees

of the department to and from their designated workplace through the use

of telecommunication and computer technology in tasks including, but not

limited to, information transfer and processing.

23. The term "utility company" or "public utility company" is used to

avoid repetitions in a provision applying to one or more persons or

corporations operating an agency or agencies for public service, and who

or which is or are subject to the jurisdiction, supervision and

regulations prescribed by or pursuant to provisions of this chapter

other than article 11; such term being so used only as a general term

descriptive of such a person or corporation.

24. The term "utility corporation" or "public utility corporation" is

an incorporated utility company.

25. The term "stock yard," when used in this chapter, includes all

real estate, fixtures and personal property owned, used or to be used in

connection with the business of affording facilities for the shipment of

live stock and for the care thereof for such purpose prior to the time

that transportation begins; and the term "stock yard company" includes

every corporation, association, joint stock association, partnership and

person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court

whatsoever, operating or managing a stock yard.

26. The term "water system" when used in this chapter includes all

real estate, attachments, fixtures, impounded water, water-works, water

plant, water rights and personal property, and all property either real,

personal or mixed, owned, operated, used or to be used for or in

connection with or to facilitate the distribution, sale or furnishing of

water for domestic, commercial or public uses, but does not include

property used solely for or in connection with the business of bottling

or selling, distributing or furnishing bottled water.

27. The term "water-works corporation", when used in this chapter

includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock

association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or

receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or

managing any water plant or water-works, except where water is

distributed solely on or through private property solely for the use of

the distributor or its tenants and not for sale to others.

28. "Thermal energy," when used in this chapter, shall mean piped

non-combustible fluids used for transferring heat into and out of

buildings for the purpose of eliminating any resultant on-site

greenhouse gas emissions of all types of heating and cooling processes,

including, but not limited to, comfort heating and cooling, domestic hot

water, and refrigeration.

29. "Thermal energy network," when used in this chapter, shall mean

all real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or

to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate a utility-scale

distribution infrastructure project that supplies thermal energy.