Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 39-26.8 - Residential Solar Energy Disclosure and Homeowners Bill of Rights Act

• Company: means and includes a person, firm, partnership, corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, association, joint-stock association or company, and his, her, its, or their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
• 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 person who, for primarily personal, family, or household purposes:

  (i)  Purchases a residential solar energy system under a system purchase agreement;

  (ii)  Leases a residential solar energy system under a system lease agreement; or

  (iii)  Purchases electricity under a power purchase agreement. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2

• Division: means the division of public utilities and carriers. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2
• 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}
• 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.
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Power purchase agreement: means an agreement:

  (i)  Between a customer and a solar retailer;

  (ii)  For the customer's purchase of electricity generated by a residential solar energy system owned by the solar retailer; and

  (iii)  That provides for the customer to make payments over a term of at least five (5) years. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2

• Public utility: means and includes every company that is an electric distribution company and every company operating or doing business in intrastate commerce and in this state as a railroad, street railway, common carrier, gas, liquefied natural gas, water, telephone, telegraph, and pipeline company, and every company owning, leasing, maintaining, managing, or controlling any plant or equipment, or any part of any plant or equipment, within this state for manufacturing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or furnishing natural or manufactured gas, directly or indirectly, to or for the public, or any cars or equipment employed on, or in connection with, any railroad or street railway for public or general use within this state, or any pipes, mains, poles, wires, conduits, fixtures, through, over, across, under, or along any public highways, parkways, or streets, public lands, waters, or parks for the transmission, transportation, or distribution of gas for sale to the public for light, heat, cooling, or power for providing audio or visual telephonic or telegraphic communication service within this state, or any pond, lake, reservoir, stream, well, or distributing plant or system employed for the distribution of water to the consuming public within this state, including the water supply board of the city of Providence; provided, that, except as provided in § 39-16-9 and in P. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Residential solar energy system: means a solar energy system that:

  (i)  Is installed in the state;

  (ii)  Generates electricity primarily for on-site consumption for personal, family, or household purposes;

  (iii)  Is situated on no more than four (4) units of residential real property;

  (iv)  Has an electricity delivery capacity that exceeds one kilowatt; and

  (v)  Does not include a generator that:

  (A)  Produces electricity; and

  (B)  Is intended for occasional use. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2

• Solar agreement: means a system purchase agreement, a system lease agreement, or a power purchase agreement. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2
• Solar energy system: means a system or configuration of solar energy devices that collects and uses solar energy to generate electricity. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2
• Solar retailer: means a person who:

  (i)  Sells or proposes to sell a residential solar energy system to a customer under a system purchase agreement;

  (ii)  Owns the residential solar energy system that is the subject of a system lease agreement or proposed system lease agreement; or

  (iii)  Sells or proposes to sell electricity to a customer under a power purchase agreement. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2

• System lease agreement: means an agreement:

  (i)  Under which a customer leases a residential solar energy system from a solar retailer; and

  (ii)  That provides for the customer to make payments over a term of at least five (5) years for the lease of the residential solar energy system. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2

• System purchase agreement: means an agreement under which a customer purchases a residential solar energy system from a solar retailer. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-26.8-2
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9