Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes > Chapter 62 > Article 7 - Rates of Public Utilities

• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Certificate: means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission to a person or public utility or a certificate of authority issued by the Commission to a bus company. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Commission: means the North Carolina Utilities Commission. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Common carrier: means any person, other than a carrier by rail, which holds itself out to the general public to engage in transportation of persons or household goods for compensation, including transportation by bus, truck, boat or other conveyance, except as exempted in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Common carrier by motor vehicle: means any person which holds itself out to the general public to engage in the transportation by motor vehicle in intrastate commerce of persons or household goods or any class or classes thereof for compensation, whether over regular or irregular routes, or in charter operations, except as exempted in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Competing local provider: means any person applying for a certificate to provide local exchange or exchange access services in competition with a local exchange company. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• 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.
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fixed route: means the specific highway or highways over which a bus company is authorized to operate between fixed termini. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Franchise: means the grant of authority by the Commission to any person to engage in business as a public utility, whether or not exclusive or shared with others or restricted as to terms and conditions and whether described by area or territory or not, and includes certificates, and all other forms of licenses or orders and decisions granting such authority. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Interstate commerce: means commerce between any place in a state and any place in another state or between places in the same state through another state. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Intrastate commerce: means commerce between points and over a route or within a territory wholly within this State, which commerce is not a part of a prior or subsequent movement to or from points outside of this State in interstate or foreign commerce, and includes all transportation within this State for compensation in interstate or foreign commerce which has been exempted by Congress from federal regulation. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• 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.
• 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}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local exchange company: means a person holding, on January 1, 1995, a certificate to provide local exchange services or exchange access services. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Motor carrier: means a common carrier by motor vehicle. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Motor vehicle: means any vehicle, machine, tractor, semi-trailer, or any combination thereof, which is propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used upon the highways within the State. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Municipality: means any incorporated community, whether designated in its charter as a city, town, or village. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• 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.
• Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: means a corporation, individual, copartnership, company, association, or any combination of individuals or organizations doing business as a unit, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, lessee, or personal representative thereof. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• public utility: except as otherwise expressly provided in this Chapter, shall not include the following:

  1. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3

• Rate: means every compensation, charge, fare, tariff, schedule, toll, rental and classification, or any of them, demanded, observed, charged or collected by any public utility, for any service product or commodity offered by it to the public, and any rules, regulations, practices or contracts affecting any such compensation, charge, fare, tariff, schedule, toll, rental or classification. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Route: means the course or way which is traveled; the road or highway over which motor vehicles operate. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Service: means any service furnished by a public utility, including any commodity furnished as a part of such service and any ancillary service or facility used in connection with such service. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Small power producer: means a person or corporation owning or operating an electrical power production facility that qualifies as a "small power production facility" under 16 U. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• State: means the State of North Carolina; "state" means any state. See North Carolina General Statutes 62-3
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3