Connecticut General Statutes 16-243gg – Costs associated with trade associations, lobbying, legislative action, advertising, marketing and board of director’s or officers; travel, lodging or food and business expenses. Recovery of costs by an electr…
(a) No electric distribution company, gas company, pipeline company or water company, as such terms are defined in section 16-1, shall recover through rates any direct or indirect cost associated with membership, dues, sponsorships or contributions to a business or industry trade association, group or related entity incorporated under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 16-243gg
- Authority: means the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and "department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. 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 section 16-243b. 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 section 16-19ff. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- 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. 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 section 16-243b, or an exempt wholesale generator, as defined in 15 USC 79z-5a. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
- 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. See Connecticut General Statutes 16-1
(b) No electric distribution company, gas company, pipeline company or water company, as such terms are defined in section 16-1, shall recover through rates any direct or indirect cost associated with lobbying or legislative action, as such terms are defined in section 1-91.
(c) No electric distribution company, gas company, pipeline company or water company, as such terms are defined in section 16-1, shall recover through rates any direct or indirect cost associated with advertising, marketing, communications that seek to influence public opinion or any other related costs identified by the authority, unless such marketing, advertising, communications or related costs are specifically approved or ordered by the authority or the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
(d) No electric distribution company, gas company, pipeline company or water company, as such terms are defined in section 16-1, shall recover through rates any direct or indirect cost associated with (1) travel, lodging or food and beverage expenses for such company’s board of directors and officers or the board of directors and officers of such company’s parent company; (2) entertainment or gifts; (3) any owned, leased or chartered aircraft for such company’s board of directors and officers or the board of directors and officers of such company’s parent company; or (4) investor relations.
(e) On or before January 15, 2024, and annually thereafter, each electric distribution company, gas company, pipeline company or water company, as such terms are defined in section 16-1, with more than seventy-five thousand customers shall report to the authority an itemized list of costs associated with the activities described in this section and subsection (b) of section 16-243p in a form prescribed by the authority. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) Any costs spent by the parent company or affiliates of the public service company directly billed or allocated to the public service company; (2) a list of the title, job description and salary of any employees of the public service company who performed work associated with the activities described in this section or in subsection (b) of section 16-243p and the hours attributed to such work; (3) a list of the title, job description and salary of any employees of the parent company or affiliate who performed work associated with the activities described in this section or in subsection (b) of section 16-243p and the hours attributed to such work that were directly billed or allocated to the public service company; (4) an itemized list of costs that the public service company made to all third-party vendors for any expenses associated with the activities described in this section or in subsection (b) of section 16-243p including unredacted billing amounts, billing dates, payees and explanation of the expenditure in detail sufficient to describe the purpose of the cost; and (5) any other itemized information deemed relevant by the authority. No electric distribution company, gas company, pipeline company or water company, as such terms are defined in section 16-1, shall recover through rates any costs associated with the preparation of such report.