Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 202 – Limitations on jurisdiction of Commission
(a) Except insofar as may be necessary to implement §§ 203A and 203B of this title regarding the establishment and administration of retail electric service territories, and except as may be necessary to implement § 203C and § 203D of this title regarding the issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity for water and wastewater utilities, and the review authorized under § 122 of Title 16, the Commission shall not have any supervision or regulation over any public utility, or over the rates, property, property rights, equipment, facilities or franchises of any public utility that is municipally-owned or over any municipal electric company formed pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 22.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 202
- Commission: means the Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
- 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.
- 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
(b) Except as may be necessary to implement §§ 203C and 203D of this title regarding the issuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity for water and wastewater utilities, and the review authorized under § 122 of Title 16, the Commission shall not have any jurisdiction over any public utility, water or wastewater district or water or wastewater authority created and operated pursuant to Title 9 and Title 16.
(c) The Commission shall have no jurisdiction over the operation of telephone service provided by cellular technology or by domestic public land mobile radio service or over the rates to be charged for such service or over property, property rights, equipment or facilities employed in such service.
(d) [Repealed.]
(e) Any building owner, engaged in a principal business which does not involve the provision of utility services, providing steam heat or refrigeration chilled water to a nonprofit entity occupying a building located in close proximity to the owner’s building, shall not be considered a public utility.
(f) Except insofar as may be necessary to implement Chapter 10 of this title regarding the establishment of retail competition, the Commission shall have no supervision or regulation over any electric supplier.
(g) Except as provided in § 224 of this title, the Commission shall have no supervision or regulation over any electric cooperative the membership of which has voted to be exempt from regulation by the Commission in accordance with § 223 of this title.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, the Commission shall not have any supervisory or regulatory authority over wastewater utilities serving fewer than 50 customers in the aggregate.
(i) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Commission shall have no jurisdiction or regulatory authority over Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) service, as defined in paragraph (i)(2) of this section, or IP-enabled service, as defined in paragraph (i)(3) of this section, including but not limited to, the imposition of regulatory fees, certification requirements, rates, terms or other conditions of service.
(2) “Voice over Internet Protocol service” or “VoIP service” means any service that:
a. Enables real-time 2-way voice communications that originate or terminate from the user’s location in Internet protocol or any successor protocol; and
b. Utilizes a broadband connection from the user’s location.
(3) “Internet protocol-enabled service” or “IP-enabled service” means a service, capability, functionality or application provided using Internet protocol, or any successor protocol, that enables an end user to send or receive a communication in Internet protocol format or any successor format, regardless of whether the communication is voice, data or video.
(4) Nothing herein shall be construed to either mandate or prohibit the assessment of Enhanced 911 fees pursuant to Chapter 101 of Title 16 on VoIP service, or to mandate or prohibit the payment of any switched network access rates or other intercarrier compensation rates that may be determined to apply.
47 Del. Laws, c. 254, § ?2; 26 Del. C. 1953, § ?122; 57 Del. Laws, c. 735; 59 Del. Laws, c. 397, § ?1; 61 Del. Laws, c. 469, § ?1; 61 Del. Laws, c. 496, § ?2; 62 Del. Laws, c. 419, § ?1; 63 Del. Laws, c. 5, § ?1; 64 Del. Laws, c. 342, §§ ?2, 3; 66 Del. Laws, c. 50, § ?3; 68 Del. Laws, c. 124, § ?2; 68 Del. Laws, c. 299, § ?3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 133, § ?1; 72 Del. Laws, c. 10, § ?6; 72 Del. Laws, c. 163, § ?1; 72 Del. Laws, c. 402, § ?5; 73 Del. Laws, c. 157, § ?1; 74 Del. Laws, c. 317, §§ ?3-5; 76 Del. Laws, c. 29, § ?1; 79 Del. Laws, c. 53, § ?3;