Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 25 > Chapter 7 > Subchapter II - Partition Proceedings

• adult person: means a person of the age of 18 years or older. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Aggregator: means any person or entity who contracts with an electric distribution company, electric supplier or PJM Interconnection (or its successor) to provide energy services, which facilitate battery storage systems for grid-integrated electric vehicles and related technologies. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Broker: means a person or entity that acts as an agent or intermediary in the sale or purchase of, but that does not take title to, electricity for sale to retail electric customers. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Commission: means the Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Commission: means the Delaware Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Community-owned energy generating facility: means a renewable energy generating facility, located in the service area of a utility under the regulation of the Public Service Commission, that has multiple owners or customers who share the output of the generator, which may be located either as a stand-alone facility or behind the meter of a participating owner or customer. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• customer: means a purchaser of electricity for ultimate consumption and not for resale in this State, including the owner/operator of any building or facility, but not the occupants thereof, that purchases and supplies electricity to the occupants of such building or facility. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• DEC: means the Delaware Electric Cooperative and its successors. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Demand-side management: means cost effective energy efficiency programs that are designed to reduce customers' electricity consumption, especially during peak periods. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Direct access: means the right of electric suppliers and their customers to use an electric distribution company's transmission and distribution system on a nondiscriminatory basis at rates, terms and conditions of service comparable to the electric distribution company's own use of the system to transmit or distribute electricity from any electric supplier to any customer. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Distribution facilities: means electric facilities located in Delaware that are owned by a public utility that operate at voltages of 34,500 volts or below and that are used to deliver electricity to customers, up through and including the point of physical connection with electric facilities owned by the customer. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Distribution services: means those services, including metering, relating to the delivery of electricity to a customer through distribution facilities. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Dower: A widow
• Electric distribution company: means a public utility owning and/or operating transmission and/or distribution facilities in this State. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Electric supplier: means a person or entity certified by the Commission that sells electricity to retail electric customers utilizing the transmission and/or distribution facilities of a nonaffiliated electric utility, including:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001

• Electric supply service: means the provision of electricity and related services to customers. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• 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.
• Fuel cell: means an electric generating facility that:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001

• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grid-integrated electric vehicle: means a battery-run motor vehicle that has the ability for 2-way power flow between the vehicle and the electric grid and the communications hardware and software that allow for the external control of battery charging and discharging by an electric distribution company, electric supplier, PJM Interconnection, or an aggregator. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Integrated resource planning: means the planning process of an electric distribution company that systematically evaluates all available supply options, including but not limited to: generation, transmission and demand-side management programs, during the planning period to ensure that the electric distribution company acquires sufficient and reliable resources over time that meet its customers' needs at a minimal cost. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Lawful age: means the age of 18 years or older. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Marketer: means a person or entity that purchases and takes title to electricity for sale to customers in this State. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Public utility: includes every individual, partnership, association, corporation, joint stock company, agency or department of the State or any association of individuals engaged in the prosecution in common of a productive enterprise (commonly called a "cooperative"), their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, that now operates or hereafter may operate for public use within this State, (however, electric cooperatives shall not be permitted directly or through an affiliate to engage in the production, sale or distribution of propane gas or heating oil), any natural gas, electric (excluding electric suppliers as defined in § 1001 of this title), electric transmission by other than a public utility over which the Commission has no supervisory or regulatory jurisdiction pursuant to § 202(a) or (g) of this title, water, wastewater (which shall include sanitary sewer charge), telecommunications (excluding telephone services provided by cellular technology or by domestic public land mobile radio service) service, system, plant or equipment. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Retail competition: means the right of a customer to purchase electricity from an electric supplier. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Returning customer service: means the electric supply service offered to customers with a peak monthly load of 1000 kW or more, which have left standard offer service as of April 30, 2007, and later decide to receive electric supply service from their electric distribution company. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Standard offer service: means the provision of electric supply service after the transition period by a standard offer service supplier to customers who do not otherwise receive electric supply service from an electric supplier. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Standard offer service supplier: means the electric distribution company serving within its certificated service territory. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• system: shall mean a facility within this State which is constructed in whole or in part in, on, under or over any highway, road, street, alley, or other public place and which is operated to perform the service of receiving and amplifying the signals of 1 or more radio and/or television broadcasting stations and distributing such signals by cable, wire or other means to members of the public who subscribe to such service; provided that nothing herein is intended to prohibit any system from engaging in any other activity not expressly prohibited by law; except that such definition shall not include (i) any system which serves fewer than 50 subscribers; or (ii) any system which serves only the residents of 1 or more apartment dwellings or mobile home or trailer parks under common ownership, control or management, and commercial establishments located on the premises of such dwellings; or (iii) telephone, telegraph or electric utilities in those cases where the activity of such utility in connection with a cable system is limited to leasing or renting to cable systems, cables, wires, poles, towers or other electronic equipment or rights to use real property as part of, or for use in connection with, the operation of a cable system. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Transition period: means the period of time beginning with the implementation of retail competition and ending on the dates specified in § 1004 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Transmission facilities: means electric facilities located in Delaware, including those in offshore waters and integrated with onshore electric facilities, and owned by a public utility that operate at voltages above 34,500 volts and that are used to transmit and deliver electricity to customers (including any customers taking electric service under interruptible rate schedules as of December 31, 1998) up through and including the point of physical connection with electric facilities owned by the customer. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 1001
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Under age: means an age of less than 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Water utility: shall mean any person or entity operating within this State any water service, system, plant or equipment for public use. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• written notice: shall mean notice in writing which is hand-delivered or mailed by certified mail, to the person who is to be given notice. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302