§ 2. Definitions. 1. The term "department" when used in this chapter, means the department of public service, and the term "commission," means the public service commission.

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2. The term "commissioner," when used in this chapter, means one of the members of the public service commission.

2-a. The term "co-generation facility", when used in this chapter, includes any facility with an electric generating capacity of up to eighty megawatts, and including any facility with an electric generating capacity of up to one hundred twenty megawatts located at a project site within an air terminal operated by the port authority of New York and New Jersey and wholly contained within a city having a population of one million or more, which produces electricity and useful thermal energy solely for sale to the port authority of New York and New Jersey, for use at the airport, for sale to an electric utility, and/or for sale to the power authority of the state of New York, together with any related facilities located at the same project site, which is fueled by coal, gas, wood, alcohol, solid waste refuse-derived fuel, water or oil, to the extent any such oil fueled facility was fueled by oil prior to the effective date of this subdivision and there is no increase in the amount of oil used at the facility or to the extent oil is used as a backup fuel for such facility, and which simultaneously or sequentially produces either electricity or shaft horsepower and useful thermal energy which is used solely for industrial and/or commercial purposes.

2-b. The term "alternate energy production facility," when used in this chapter, includes any solar, wind turbine, fuel cell, fuel-flexible linear generator electric generating equipment, tidal, wave energy, waste management resource recovery, refuse-derived fuel, wood burning facility, or energy storage device utilizing batteries, flow batteries, flywheels or compressed air, together with any related facilities located at the same project site, with an electric generating capacity of up to eighty megawatts, which produces electricity, gas or useful thermal energy.

2-c. The term "small hydro facility", when used in this chapter, includes any hydroelectric facility, together with any related facilities located at the same project site, with an electric generating capacity of up to eighty megawatts.

2-d. The term "related facilities" shall mean any land, work, system, building, improvement, instrumentality or thing necessary or convenient to the construction, completion or operation of any co-generation, alternate energy production or small hydro facility and include also such transmission or distribution facilities as may be necessary to conduct electricity, gas or useful thermal energy to users located at or near a project site.

3. The term "corporation," when used in this chapter, includes a corporation, company, association and joint-stock association other than a corporation, company, association or joint stock association generating electricity, shaft horsepower, useful thermal energy or gas solely from one or more co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facilities or distributing electricity, shaft horsepower, useful thermal energy or gas solely from one or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site.

4. The word "person," when used in this chapter, includes an individual, firm or co-partnership other than an individual, firm or co-partnership generating electricity, shaft horsepower, useful thermal energy or gas solely from one or more co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facilities or distributing electricity, shaft horsepower, useful thermal energy or gas solely from one or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site; provided, however, that an individual, firm or co-partnership generating or distributing electricity or gas solely from one or more co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facilities shall nevertheless be considered a person for purposes of commission jurisdiction under article seven of this chapter.

10. The term "gas plant," when used in this chapter, includes all real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the manufacture, conveying, transportation, distribution, sale or furnishing of gas (natural or manufactured or mixture of both) for light, heat or power, but does not include property used solely for or in connection with the business of selling, distributing or furnishing of gas in enclosed containers.

11. The term "gas corporation," when used in this chapter, includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or managing any gas plant or thermal energy network (a) except where gas is made or produced and distributed by the maker on or through private property solely for its own use or the use of its tenants and not for sale to others, (b) except where compressed natural gas is sold, distributed or furnished solely as a fuel for use in motor vehicles, (c) except where manufactured gas is sold by the producer only for use or resale by a gas corporation and such gas of the producer and any affiliated producers does not exceed in any one year thirty per cent of the total gas sold by any purchaser thereof in the area in which such manufactured gas is resold either as manufactured gas or as a component of mixed gas, and (d) except where gas is made or produced solely from one or more alternate energy production facilities or distributed solely from one or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site; provided, however, that any producer not included within the meaning of "gas corporation" by reason of exception (c) or (d) shall nevertheless be considered a gas corporation for the purposes of commission jurisdiction relating to the safety of the construction, operation, or maintenance of plants manufacturing pipeline quality gas.

12. The term "electric plant," when used in this chapter, includes all real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the generation, transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of electricity for light, heat or power; and any conduits, ducts or other devices, materials, apparatus or property for containing, holding or carrying conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat or power, and also includes retired nuclear power reactors and their associated systems, structures, fuel and waste storage facilities, real estate, fixtures and personal property.

13. The term "electric corporation," when used in this chapter, includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever (other than a railroad or street railroad corporation generating electricity solely for railroad or street railroad purposes or for the use of its tenants and not for sale to others) owning, operating or managing any electric plant or thermal energy network except where electricity or thermal energy is generated or distributed by the producer solely on or through private property for railroad or street railroad purposes or for its own use or the use of its tenants and not for sale to others; or except where electricity is generated by the producer solely from one or more co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facilities or distributed solely from one or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site.

14. The term "combination gas and electric corporation," when used in sections twenty-five-a, sixty-five and sixty-six of this chapter, includes any gas corporation operating in New York under common ownership with an electric corporation operating in New York or any electric corporation operating in New York under common ownership with a gas corporation operating in New York, or any successor of either such corporation; provided, however, that such term shall not include municipally-owned utilities, and shall not include any generating facilities owned or operated by either such corporation or any common owner thereof, or any subsidiary of such common owner.

16. The term "municipality", when used in this chapter, includes a city, village, town or lighting district, organized as provided by a general or special act, provided, however, that the counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester shall each be deemed a "municipality" and consents issued by each such county pursuant to the transportation corporations law and the county government law of Nassau county, local law adopted by the county legislature of Rockland county, the Suffolk county charter and the Westchester county charter respectively shall be deemed "consents of local authorities" for the purpose of applying every provision of this chapter applicable to consents of local authorities; and provided further that no county, city, village, town or lighting district shall be deemed a municipality with respect to any co-generation, small hydro or alternate energy production facility owned by one of the above from which electricity, useful thermal energy or gas is generated or produced or distributed from one or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site.

17. The term "telephone corporation," when used in this chapter, includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or managing any telephone line or part of telephone line used in the conduct of the business of affording telephonic communication for hire; excepting, however, any corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, partnership or person, their lessees, trustees or receivers, who or which do not operate the business of affording telephonic communication for profit.

18. The term "telephone line," when used in this chapter, includes conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, receivers, transmitters, instruments, machines, appliances and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus, property and routes used, operated or owned by any telephone corporation to facilitate the business of affording telephonic communication up to and including the demarcation point located on a subscriber's premises.

19. The term "telegraph corporation," when used in this chapter, includes every corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or managing any telegraph line or part of telegraph line used in the conduct of the business of affording for hire communication by telegraph.

20. The term "telegraph line," when used in this chapter, includes conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, instruments, machines, appliances and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus, property and routes used, operated or owned by any telegraph corporation to facilitate the business of affording communication by telegraph.

21. The term "steam plant," when used in this chapter, includes all real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the generation, transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of steam for heat or power.

22. The term "steam corporation," when used in this chapter, includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever owning, operating or managing any steam plant, (a) except where steam is made or produced and distributed by the maker, on or through private property solely for the maker's own use or the use of the maker's tenant and not for sale to others, (b) except where steam is made or produced by the maker solely from one or more co-generation or alternate energy production facilities or distributed soley from one or more of such facilities to users located at or near a project site or (c) except where steam is made or produced and distributed solely for the use of its members by a non-profit cooperative corporation organized under the cooperative corporations law.

22-a. The term "telecommuting", when used in this chapter, shall mean the conservation of energy through the reduction of travel by employees of the department to and from their designated workplace through the use of telecommunication and computer technology in tasks including, but not limited to, information transfer and processing.

23. The term "utility company" or "public utility company" is used to avoid repetitions in a provision applying to one or more persons or corporations operating an agency or agencies for public service, and who or which is or are subject to the jurisdiction, supervision and regulations prescribed by or pursuant to provisions of this chapter other than article 11; such term being so used only as a general term descriptive of such a person or corporation.

24. The term "utility corporation" or "public utility corporation" is an incorporated utility company.

25. The term "stock yard," when used in this chapter, includes all real estate, fixtures and personal property owned, used or to be used in connection with the business of affording facilities for the shipment of live stock and for the care thereof for such purpose prior to the time that transportation begins; and the term "stock yard company" includes every corporation, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, operating or managing a stock yard.

26. The term "water system" when used in this chapter includes all real estate, attachments, fixtures, impounded water, water-works, water plant, water rights and personal property, and all property either real, personal or mixed, owned, operated, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the distribution, sale or furnishing of water for domestic, commercial or public uses, but does not include property used solely for or in connection with the business of bottling or selling, distributing or furnishing bottled water.

27. The term "water-works corporation", when used in this chapter includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or managing any water plant or water-works, except where water is distributed solely on or through private property solely for the use of the distributor or its tenants and not for sale to others.

28. "Thermal energy," when used in this chapter, shall mean piped non-combustible fluids used for transferring heat into and out of buildings for the purpose of eliminating any resultant on-site greenhouse gas emissions of all types of heating and cooling processes, including, but not limited to, comfort heating and cooling, domestic hot water, and refrigeration.

29. "Thermal energy network," when used in this chapter, shall mean all real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate a utility-scale distribution infrastructure project that supplies thermal energy.