Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-1

Current with legislation from the 2024 Regular and Special Sessions.

Section 16-1 - Definitions

(a) Terms used in this title and in chapters 244, 244a, 244b, 245, 245a and 245b shall be construed as follows, unless another meaning is expressed or is clearly apparent from the language or context:

(1) "Authority" means the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and "department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection;

(2) "Utility commissioner" means a utility commissioner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority;

(3) "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 section 16-243b, or an exempt wholesale generator, as defined in 15 USC 79z-5a;

(4) "Plant" includes all real estate, buildings, tracks, pipes, mains, poles, wires and other fixed or stationary construction and equipment, wherever located, used in the conduct of the business of the company;

(5) "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 section 16-19ff;

(6) "Water company" includes every person owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling any pond, lake, reservoir, stream, well or distributing plant or system employed for the purpose of supplying water to fifty or more consumers. A water company does not include homeowners, condominium associations providing water only to their members, homeowners associations providing water to customers at least eighty per cent of whom are members of such associations, a municipal waterworks system established under chapter 102, a district, metropolitan district, municipal district or special services district established under chapter 105, chapter 105a or any other general statute or any public or special act which is authorized to supply water, or any other waterworks system owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by any unit of local government under any general statute or any public or special act;

(7) "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;

(8) "Sewage company" includes every person owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling, for general use in any town, city or borough, or portion thereof, in this state, sewage disposal facilities which discharge treated effluent into any waterway of this state;

(9) "Pipeline company" includes every person owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling mains, pipes or other fixtures through, over, across or under any public land, water, parkways, highways, parks or public grounds for the transportation, transmission or distribution of petroleum products for hire within this state;

(10) "Community antenna television company" includes every person owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling a community antenna television system, in, under or over any public street or highway, for the purpose of providing community antenna television service for hire and shall include any municipality which owns or operates one or more plants for the manufacture or distribution of electricity pursuant to section 7-213 or any special act and seeks to obtain or obtains a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct or operate a community antenna television system pursuant to section 16-331 or a certificate of cable franchise authority pursuant to section 16-331q. "Community antenna television company" does not include a certified competitive video service provider;

(11) "Community antenna television service" means (A) the one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming or information that a community antenna television company makes available to all subscribers generally, and subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection of such video programming or information, and (B) noncable communications service. "Community antenna television service" does not include video service provided by a certified competitive video service provider;

(12) "Community antenna television system" means a facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception and control equipment that is designed to provide community antenna television service which includes video programming and which is provided in, under or over any public street or highway, for hire, to multiple subscribers within a franchise, but such term does not include (A) a facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations; (B) a facility that serves only subscribers in one or more multiple unit dwellings under common ownership, control or management, unless such facility is located in, under or over a public street or highway; (C) a facility of a common carrier which is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Subchapter II of Chapter 5 of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 201 et seq., as amended, except that such facility shall be considered a community antenna television system and the carrier shall be considered a public service company to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers; or (D) a facility of an electric distribution company which is used solely for operating its electric distribution company systems. "Community antenna television system" does not include a facility used by a certified competitive video service provider to provide video service;

(13) "Video programming" means programming provided by, or generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a television broadcast station;

(14) "Noncable communications service" means any telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a, and which is not included in the definition of "cable service" in the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 522, as amended. Nothing in this definition shall be construed to affect service which is both authorized and preempted pursuant to federal law;

(15) "Cogeneration technology" means the use for the generation of electricity of exhaust steam, waste steam, heat or resultant energy from an industrial, commercial or manufacturing plant or process, or the use of exhaust steam, waste steam or heat from a thermal power plant for an industrial, commercial or manufacturing plant or process, but shall not include steam or heat developed solely for electrical power generation;

(16) "Renewable fuel resources" means energy sources described in subdivisions (20) and (21) of this subsection;

(17) "Telephone company" means a telecommunications company that provides one or more noncompetitive or emerging competitive services, as defined in section 16-247a;

(18) "Domestic telephone company" includes any telephone company which has been chartered by or organized or constituted within or under the laws of this state;

(19) "Telecommunications company" means a person that provides telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a, within the state, but shall not mean a person that provides only (A) private telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a, (B) the one-way transmission of video programming or other programming services to subscribers, (C) subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection of such video programming or other programming services, (D) the two-way transmission of educational or instructional programming to a public or private elementary or secondary school, or a public or independent institution of higher education, as required by the authority pursuant to a community antenna television company franchise agreement, or provided pursuant to a contract with such a school or institution which contract has been filed with the authority, or (E) a combination of the services set forth in subparagraphs (B) to (D), inclusive, of this subdivision;

(20) "Class I renewable energy source" means (A) electricity derived from (i) solar power, (ii) wind power, (iii) a fuel cell, (iv) geothermal, (v) landfill methane gas, anaerobic digestion or other biogas derived from biological sources, (vi) thermal electric direct energy conversion from a certified Class I renewable energy source, (vii) ocean thermal power, (viii) wave or tidal power, (ix) low emission advanced renewable energy conversion technologies, including, but not limited to, zero emission low grade heat power generation systems based on organic oil free rankine, kalina or other similar nonsteam cycles that use waste heat from an industrial or commercial process that does not generate electricity, (x) (I) a run-of-the-river hydropower facility that began operation after July 1, 2003, has a generating capacity of not more than sixty megawatts, is not based on a new dam or a dam identified by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection as a candidate for removal, and meets applicable state and federal requirements, including state dam safety requirements and applicable site-specific standards for water quality and fish passage, or (II) a run-of-the-river hydropower facility that received a new license after January 1, 2018, under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules pursuant to 18 CFR 16, as amended from time to time, is not based on a new dam or a dam identified by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection as a candidate for removal, and meets applicable state and federal requirements, including state dam safety requirements and applicable site-specific standards for water quality and fish passage, (xi) a biomass facility that uses sustainable biomass fuel and has an average emission rate of equal to or less than .075 pounds of nitrogen oxides per million BTU of heat input for the previous calendar quarter, except that energy derived from a biomass facility with a capacity of less than five hundred kilowatts that began construction before July 1, 2003, may be considered a Class I renewable energy source, or (xii) a nuclear power generating facility constructed on or after October 1, 2023, or (B) any electrical generation, including distributed generation, generated from a Class I renewable energy source, provided, on and after January 1, 2014, any megawatt hours of electricity from a renewable energy source described under this subparagraph that are claimed or counted by a load-serving entity, province or state toward compliance with renewable portfolio standards or renewable energy policy goals in another province or state, other than the state of Connecticut, shall not be eligible for compliance with the renewable portfolio standards established pursuant to section 16-245a;

(21) "Class II renewable energy source" means electricity derived from a trash-to-energy facility that has obtained a permit pursuant to section 22a-208a and section 22a-174-33 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies;

(22) "Electric distribution services" means the owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling of poles, wires, conduits or other fixtures along public highways or streets for the distribution of electricity, or electric distribution-related services;

(23) "Electric distribution company" or "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 section 16-243b;

(B) a municipal electric utility established under chapter 101, other than a participating municipal electric utility;

(C) a municipal electric energy cooperative established under chapter 101a;

(D) an electric cooperative established under chapter 597;

(E) any other electric utility owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by any unit of local government under any general statute or special act;

(F) an electric supplier;

(G) an entity approved to submeter pursuant to section 16-19ff; or

(H) a municipality, state or federal governmental entity authorized to distribute electricity across a public highway or street pursuant to section 16-243aa;

(24) "Electric supplier" means any person, including an electric aggregator or participating municipal electric utility that is licensed by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in accordance with section 16-245, that provides electric generation services to end use customers in the state using the transmission or distribution facilities of an electric distribution company, regardless of whether or not such person takes title to such generation services, but does not include:

(A) A municipal electric utility established under chapter 101, other than a participating municipal electric utility;

(B) a municipal electric energy cooperative established under chapter 101a;

(C) an electric cooperative established under chapter 597; or

(D) any other electric utility owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by any unit of local government under any general statute or special act;

(25) "Electric aggregator" means (A) a person, municipality or regional water authority that gathers together electric customers for the purpose of negotiating the purchase of electric generation services from an electric supplier, or (B) the MIRA Dissolution Authority, if it gathers together electric customers for the purpose of negotiating the purchase of electric generation services from an electric supplier, provided such person, municipality or authority is not engaged in the purchase or resale of electric generation services, and provided further such customers contract for electric generation services directly with an electric supplier, and may include an electric cooperative established pursuant to chapter 597;

(26) "Electric generation services" means electric energy, electric capacity or generation-related services;

(27) "Electric transmission services" means electric transmission or transmission-related services;

(28) "Generation entity or affiliate" means a corporate affiliate or a separate division of an electric distribution company that provides electric generation services;

(29) "Participating municipal electric utility" means a municipal electric utility established under chapter 101 or any other electric utility owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by any unit of local government under any general statute or any public or special act, that is authorized by the authority in accordance with section 16-245c to provide electric generation services to end use customers outside its service area, as defined in section 16-245c;

(30) "Person" means an individual, business, firm, corporation, association, joint stock association, trust, partnership or limited liability company;

(31) "Regional independent system operator" means the "ISO - New England, Inc.", or its successor organization as approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;

(32) "Certified telecommunications provider" means a person certified by the authority to provide intrastate telecommunications services, as defined in section 16-247a, pursuant to sections 16-247f to 16-247h, inclusive;

(33) "Gas registrant" means a person registered to sell natural gas pursuant to section 16-258a;

(34) "Customer-side distributed resources" means (A) the generation of electricity from a unit with a rating of not more than sixty-five megawatts on the premises of a retail end user within the transmission and distribution system including, but not limited to, fuel cells, photovoltaic systems or small wind turbines, or (B) a reduction in the demand for electricity on the premises of a retail end user in the distribution system through methods of conservation and load management, including, but not limited to, peak reduction systems and demand response systems;

(35) "Federally mandated congestion charges" means any cost approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of New England Standard Market Design including, but not limited to, locational marginal pricing, locational installed capacity payments, any cost approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to reduce federally mandated congestion charges in accordance with section 7-233y, this section, sections 16-32f, 16-50 i, 16-50 k, 16-50 x, 16-243i to 16-243q, inclusive, 16-244 c, 16-245m, 16-245n and 16-245z, section 21 of public act 05-1 of the June special session*, subsection (f) of section 16a-3j and reliability must run contracts;

(36) "Combined heat and power system" means a system that produces, from a single source, both electric power and thermal energy used in any process that results in an aggregate reduction in electricity use;

(37) "Grid-side distributed resources" means the generation of electricity from a unit with a rating of not more than sixty-five megawatts that is connected to the transmission or distribution system, which units may include, but are not limited to, units used primarily to generate electricity to meet peak demand;

(38) "Class III source" means the electricity output from combined heat and power systems with an operating efficiency level of no less than fifty per cent that are part of customer-side distributed resources developed at commercial and industrial facilities in this state on or after January 1, 2006, a waste heat recovery system installed on or after April 1, 2007, that produces electrical or thermal energy by capturing preexisting waste heat or pressure from industrial or commercial processes, or the electricity savings created in this state from conservation and load management programs begun on or after January 1, 2006, provided on and after January 1, 2014, no such programs supported by ratepayers, including programs overseen by the Energy Conservation Management Board or third-party programs pursuant to section 16-245m, shall be considered a Class III source, except that any demand-side management project awarded a contract pursuant to section 16-243m shall remain eligible as a Class III source for the term of such contract;

(39) "Sustainable biomass fuel" means biomass that is cultivated and harvested in a sustainable manner. "Sustainable biomass fuel" does not mean construction and demolition waste, as defined in section 22a-208x, finished biomass products from sawmills, paper mills or stud mills, organic refuse fuel derived separately from municipal solid waste, or biomass from old growth timber stands, except where (A) such biomass is used in a biomass gasification plant that received funding prior to May 1, 2006, from the Clean Energy Fund established pursuant to section 16-245n, or (B) the energy derived from such biomass is subject to a long-term power purchase contract pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (j) of section 16-244c entered into prior to May 1, 2006;

(40) "Video service" means video programming services provided through wireline facilities, a portion of which are located in the public right-of-way, without regard to delivery technology, including Internet protocol technology. "Video service" does not include any video programming provided by a commercial mobile service provider, as defined in 47 USC 332(d), any video programming provided as part of community antenna television service in a franchise area as of October 1, 2007, any video programming provided as part of and via a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail or other services over the public Internet;

(41) "Certified competitive video service provider" means an entity providing video service pursuant to a certificate of video franchise authority issued by the authority in accordance with section 16-331e. "Certified competitive video service provider" does not mean an entity issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity in accordance with section 16-331 or the affiliates, successors and assigns of such entity or an entity issued a certificate of cable franchise authority in accordance with section 16-331p or the affiliates, successors and assignees of such entity;

(42) "Certificate of video franchise authority" means an authorization issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority conferring the right to an entity or person to own, lease, maintain, operate, manage or control facilities in, under or over any public highway to offer video service to any subscribers in the state;

(43) "Certificate of cable franchise authority" means an authorization issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority pursuant to section 16-331q conferring the right to a community antenna television company to own, lease, maintain, operate, manage or control a community antenna television system in, under or over any public highway to (A) offer community antenna television service in a community antenna television company's designated franchise area, or (B) use the public rights-of-way to offer video service in a designated franchise area. The certificate of cable franchise authority shall be issued as an alternative to a certificate of public convenience and necessity pursuant to section 16-331 and shall only be available to a community antenna television company under the terms specified in sections 16-331q to 16-331aa, inclusive;

(44) "Thermal energy transportation company" means any person authorized under any provision of the general statutes or special act to furnish heat or air conditioning or both, by means of steam, heated or chilled water or other medium, to lay and maintain mains, pipes or other conduits, and to erect such other fixtures necessary or convenient in and on the streets, highways and public grounds of any municipality to carry steam, heated or chilled water or other medium from such plant to the location to be served and to return the same;

(45) "The Connecticut Television Network" means the General Assembly's state-wide twenty-four-hour state public affairs programming service, separate and distinct from community access channels;

(46) "Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection" means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection appointed pursuant to title 4, or the commissioner's designee;

(47) "Large-scale hydropower" means any hydropower facility that (A) began operation on or after January 1, 2003, (B) is located in the New England Power Pool Generation Information System geographic eligibility area in accordance with Rule 2.3 of said system or an area abutting the northern boundary of the New England Power Pool Generation Information System geographic eligibility area that is not interconnected with any other control area that is not a part of the New England Power Pool Generation Information System geographic eligibility area, (C) delivers power into such geographic eligibility area, and (D) has a generating capacity of more than thirty megawatts;

(48) "Energy storage system" means any commercially available technology that is capable of absorbing energy, storing it for a period of time and thereafter dispatching the energy, and that is capable of either:

(A) Using mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to store electricity that is generated at one time for use at a later time;

(B) storing thermal energy for direct use for heating or cooling at a later time in a manner that avoids the need to use electricity at a later time;

(C) using mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to store electricity generated from renewable energy sources for use at a later time; or

(D) using mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to capture or harness waste electricity and to store such electricity generated from mechanical processes for delivery at a later time;

(49) "Distributed energy resource" means any (A) customer-side distributed resource or grid-side distributed resource that generates electricity from a Class I renewable energy source or Class III source, and (B) customer-side distributed resource that reduces demand for electricity through conservation and load management, energy storage system which is located on the customer-side of the meter or is connected to the distribution system or microgrid; and

(50) "Grid-side system enhancement" means an investment in distribution system infrastructure, technology and systems designed to enable the deployment of distributed energy resources and allow for grid management and system balancing, including, but not limited to, energy storage systems, distribution system automation and controls, intelligent field systems, advanced distribution system metering, and communication and systems that enable two-way power flow.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the terms "utility", "public utility" and "public service company" shall be deemed to include a community antenna television company and a holder of a certificate of cable franchise authority, except (1) as otherwise provided in sections 16-8, 16-27, 16-28 and 16-43, (2) that no provision of the general statutes, including but not limited to, the provisions of sections 16-6b and 16-19, shall subject a community antenna television company to regulation as a common carrier or utility by reason of providing community antenna television service, other than noncable communications service, as provided in Subchapter V-A of Chapter 5 of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 521 et seq., as amended, and (3) that no provision of the general statutes, including but not limited to, sections 16-6b and 16-19, shall apply to community antenna television companies to the extent any such provision is preempted pursuant to any other provision of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 151 et seq., as amended, any other federal act or any regulation adopted thereunder.

(c) An owner of an electric vehicle charging station, as defined in section 16-19f, shall not be deemed to be a utility, public utility or public service company solely by virtue of the fact that such owner is an owner of an electric vehicle charging station.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-1

(1949 Rev., S. 5390; February, 1965, P.A. 175, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 546, S. 1; 691, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 768, S. 208; P.A. 73-267; P.A. 75-486, S. 2, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 79-214, S. 1; 79-610, S. 7; P.A. 80-482, S. 39, 348; 80-483, S. 65, 186; P.A. 81-297, S. 3; 81-329, S. 1, 11; 81-358, S. 2; 81-439, S. 2, 14; P.A. 85-246, S. 8; 85-509, S. 1, 11; P.A. 86-403, S. 33, 132; P.A. 87-323, S. 4; 87-415, S. 7, 13; P.A. 91-310 , S. 3 ; P.A. 92-137 , S. 2 ; P.A. 93-149 ; P.A. 94-83 , S. 1 , 16 ; P.A. 95-79 , S. 47 , 189 ; P.A. 98-28 , S. 1 , 117 ; P.A. 99-222 , S. 1 , 19 ; 99-286 , S. 1 , 19 ; P.A. 00-53 , S. 11 , 12 ; P.A. 01-49 , S. 1 ; 01-204 , S. 7 , 29 ; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 , S. 73 , 131 ; P.A. 03-135 , S. 1 , 2 ; 03-163 , S. 2 ; 03-221 , S. 1 , 2 ; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-1 , S. 1 , 2 ; P.A. 06-74 , S. 1 , 2 ; P.A. 07-242 , S. 44 ; 07-253 , S. 1 ; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-5 , S. 58 ; P.A. 08-77 , S. 1 ; 08-185 , S. 4 ; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7, S. 186; P.A. 11-80 , S. 1 , 14 ; P.A. 13-5 , S. 1 , 30 , 31 ; 13-298 , S. 1 , 2 , 38 ; 13-303 , S. 1 -4; P.A. 14-94 , S. 1 ; 14-134 , S. 1 ; P.A. 15-107 , S. 2 , 3 ; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 , S. 102 ; P.A. 16-135 , S. 3 ; P.A. 17-144 , S. 2 ; P.A. 18-50 , S. 27 .)

*Note: Section 21 of public act 05-1 of the June special session is special in nature and therefore has not been codified but remains in full force and effect according to its terms.

Amended by P.A. 23-0170,S. 8 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2023.

Amended by P.A. 23-0204, S. 185 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 6/12/2023.

Amended by P.A. 23-0102,S. 36 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 6/29/2023.

Amended by P.A. 18-0050, S. 27 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2018 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2018.

Amended by P.A. 17-0144, S. 2 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2017 Regular Session, eff. 6/27/2017.

Amended by P.A. 16-0135, S. 3 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2016 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2016.

Amended by P.A. 15-0005, S. 102 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2015 Special Session, eff. 7/1/2015.

Amended by P.A. 15-0107, S. 3 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2015 Regular Session, eff. 6/19/2015.

Amended by P.A. 15-0107, S. 2 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2015 Regular Session, eff. 6/19/2015.

Amended by P.A. 14-0134, S. 1 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2014 Regular Session, eff. 6/6/2014.

Cited. 147 C. 229 ; 152 C. 563 ; 159 C. 327 ; 162 C. 51 ; 166 C. 232; 169 C. 344 ; 174 C. 556 ; 183 C. 128 ; 214 C. 609 ; 216 C. 627 . Cited. 12 CA 499 ; 20 CA 474 ; 43 CA 196 .

See Sec. 25-32n re exclusion of municipality with well water service to a school administration building from consideration as a water company.