Connecticut General Statutes 16-19d – Advertising not to be deemed an operating expense for purposes of rate-making. Disclosure of source of payment for advertising
(a) As used in this section:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 16-19d
- another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Authority: means the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and "department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- Consumer: means any private dwelling, boardinghouse, apartment, store, office building, institution, mechanical or manufacturing establishment or other place of business or industry to which water is supplied by a water company. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- distribution company: means any person providing electric transmission or distribution services within the state, but does not include: (A) A private power producer, as defined in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- Gas company: includes every person owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling mains, pipes or other fixtures, in public highways or streets, for the transmission or distribution of gas for sale for heat or power within this state, or engaged in the manufacture of gas to be so transmitted or distributed for such purpose, but shall not include (A) a person manufacturing gas through the use of a biomass gasification plant provided such person does not own, lease, maintain, operate, manage or control mains, pipes or other fixtures in public highways or streets, (B) a municipal gas utility established under chapter 101 or any other gas utility owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by any unit of local government under any general statute or any public or special act, or (C) an entity approved to submeter pursuant to §. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- Public service company: includes electric distribution, gas, telephone, pipeline, sewage, water and community antenna television companies and holders of a certificate of cable franchise authority, owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling plants or parts of plants or equipment, but shall not include towns, cities, boroughs, any municipal corporation or department thereof, whether separately incorporated or not, a private power producer, as defined in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- Telephone company: means a telecommunications company that provides one or more noncompetitive or emerging competitive services, as defined in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(1) “Advertising” means the commercial use of any media including, but not limited to, newspaper and all other forms of print, radio and television, in order to transmit a message to a substantial number of members of the public or customers of a public service company;
(2) “Political advertising” means any advertising for the purpose of influencing public opinion with respect to any legislative, administrative or electoral decision or with respect to any controversial issue of public importance;
(3) “Institutional advertising” means any advertising which is designed to create, enhance or sustain a public service company’s image or good will with regard to the general public or its customers;
(4) “Promotional advertising” means any advertising that has the purpose of inducing the public to select or use the service or additional service of a public service company or select or install any appliance or equipment designed to use such service, provided such advertising shall not include advertising authorized by order or regulation of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.
(b) The cost of political, institutional or promotional advertising of any gas company or electric distribution company and the cost of political or institutional advertising of any telephone company shall not be deemed to be an operating expense in any rate schedule proceedings held pursuant to § 16-19. For the purposes of this section, political, institutional or promotional advertising shall not be deemed to include reasonable expenditures for (1) the publication or distribution of existing or proposed tariffs or rate schedules; (2) notices required by law or regulation; (3) public information regarding service interruptions, safety measures, emergency conditions, employment opportunities or the means by which customers can conserve energy or make efficient and economical use of service; (4) the promotion or marketing of efficient gas and electric equipment which the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority determines: (A) Is consistent with the state’s energy policy; (B) is consistent with integrated resource planning principles; (C) provides net economic benefit to such company’s customers; and (D) shall not have the primary purpose of promoting one fuel over another; or (5) advertising by a gas company that is necessary as a result of competition created by actions and decisions of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Such advertising shall be limited to the express purpose of promoting gas companies in competition with other providers and marketers of natural gas. Such advertising shall not include any promotions, cash, equipment, installation or service subsidies for the conversion to natural gas from any other energy source.
(c) A public service company shall make application to the authority for determination that equipment meets the requirements of subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of this section. The authority shall, to the extent practicable, make such determination within one hundred twenty days of such filing. All reasonable and proper expenses, required by the authority and the Office of Consumer Counsel, including, but not limited to, the costs associated with analysis, testing, evaluation and testimony at a public hearing or other proceeding, shall be borne by the company and shall be paid by the company at such times and in such manner as the authority directs.
(d) The authority shall not allocate any expenditures made by a gas company pursuant to subdivision (5) of subsection (b) of this section to residential customers in any rate schedule proceedings held pursuant to § 16-19 unless the authority finds that effective competition in the residential gas market already exists.
(e) The authority shall adopt regulations to carry out the purposes of subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
(f) Each gas or electric distribution company shall conspicuously indicate in all of its advertising whether the costs of the advertising are being paid for by the company’s shareholders, its customers or both.