Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 69 > Chapter 8 > Part 4 - Public Utilities, Cooperative Utilities, and Electricity Suppliers

• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• commission: means the public service commission provided for in 2-15-2602. See Montana Code 69-1-101
• Cooperative utility: means :

  (a)a utility qualifying as an electric cooperative pursuant to Title 35, chapter 18; or

  (b)an existing municipal electric utility as of May 2, 1997. See Montana Code 69-8-103

• Cost-effective carbon offsets: means any combination of certified actions that are taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions or that increase the absorption of carbon dioxide, which collectively do not increase the cost of electricity produced annually on a per-megawatt-hour basis by more than 2. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Distribution facilities: means those facilities by and through which electricity is received from transmission facilities and distributed to a retail customer and that are controlled or operated by a utility. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• Electricity supply resource: means :

  (a)contracts for electric capacity and generation;

  (b)plants owned or leased by a utility or equipment used to generate electricity;

  (c)customer load management and energy conservation programs; or

  (d)other means of providing adequate, reliable service to customers, as determined by the commission. See Montana Code 69-8-103

• 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}
• Interested person: means a retail electricity customer, the consumer counsel established in 5-15-201, the commission, or a utility. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• 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.
• Large customer: means , for universal system benefits programs purposes, a customer with an individual load greater than a monthly average of 1,000 kilowatt demand in the previous calendar year for that individual load. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• 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}
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Local governing body: means a local board of trustees of a rural electric cooperative. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Public utility: has the meaning of a public utility regulated by the commission pursuant to Title 69, chapter 3, on May 2, 1997, including the public utility's successors or assignees. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• Qualifying load: means , for payments and credits associated with universal system benefits programs, all nonresidential demand-metered accounts of a large customer within the utility's service territory in which the customer qualifies as a large customer. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Universal system benefits charge: means a nonbypassable rate or charge to be imposed on a customer to pay the customer's share of universal system benefits programs costs. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• Universal system benefits programs: means public purpose programs for:

  (a)cost-effective local energy conservation;

  (b)low-income customer weatherization;

  (c)renewable resource projects and applications, including those that capture unique social and energy system benefits or that provide transmission and distribution system benefits;

  (d)research and development programs related to energy conservation and renewables;

  (e)market transformation designed to encourage competitive markets for public purpose programs; and

  (f)low-income energy assistance. See Montana Code 69-8-103

• Utility: means any public utility or cooperative utility. See Montana Code 69-8-103
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203