Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 62 > Article 3 - Powers and Duties of Utilities Commission

• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Certificate: means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission to a person or public utility or a certificate of authority issued by the Commission to a bus company. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Commission: means the North Carolina Utilities Commission. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Competing local provider: means any person applying for a certificate to provide local exchange or exchange access services in competition with a local exchange company. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Franchise: means the grant of authority by the Commission to any person to engage in business as a public utility, whether or not exclusive or shared with others or restricted as to terms and conditions and whether described by area or territory or not, and includes certificates, and all other forms of licenses or orders and decisions granting such authority. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Highway: means any road or street in this State used by the public or dedicated or appropriated to public use. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Interstate commerce: means commerce between any place in a state and any place in another state or between places in the same state through another state. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Local exchange company: means a person holding, on January 1, 1995, a certificate to provide local exchange services or exchange access services. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Municipality: means any incorporated community, whether designated in its charter as a city, town, or village. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Person: means a corporation, individual, copartnership, company, association, or any combination of individuals or organizations doing business as a unit, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, lessee, or personal representative thereof. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• public utility: except as otherwise expressly provided in this Chapter, shall not include the following:

  1. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3

• Rate: means every compensation, charge, fare, tariff, schedule, toll, rental and classification, or any of them, demanded, observed, charged or collected by any public utility, for any service product or commodity offered by it to the public, and any rules, regulations, practices or contracts affecting any such compensation, charge, fare, tariff, schedule, toll, rental or classification. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Service: means any service furnished by a public utility, including any commodity furnished as a part of such service and any ancillary service or facility used in connection with such service. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• State: means the State of North Carolina; "state" means any state. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3