Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 58 > Chapter 27 - Electric Utilities and Electric Cooperatives

• Actor: means a person accused of any of the offenses defined in this chapter. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• ancillary agreement: means a bond, insurance policy, letter of credit, reserve account, surety bond, liquidity or credit support arrangement, or other financial arrangement entered into in connection with recovery bonds. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• Animal: means a warm- or cold-blooded animal used in food or fiber production, agriculture, research, testing, or education, including poultry, fish, and insects. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Animal facility: includes a vehicle, building, structure, or premises where an animal is kept, tested, handled, housed, exhibited, bred, or offered for sale and includes a research facility where research or testing on animals is conducted. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• assignee: means a legally recognized entity to which an electrical utility assigns, sells, or transfers, other than as a security, all or a portion of its interest in or right to storm recovery property. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• code: means The Uniform Commercial Code, Title 36 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• commission: means the Public Service Commission of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• commission: means the Public Service Commission of this State. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• commissioner: means one of the members of the Public Service Commission of this State. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consent: means assent in fact, whether express or apparent. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• consolidated political subdivision: means a consolidated political subdivision existing pursuant to the Constitution of this State and shall not be deemed a city, town, county, or other governmental unit merged thereinto. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• corporation: includes all bodies corporate, joint-stock companies or associations, domestic or foreign, their lessees, assignees, trustees, receivers, or other successors in interest, having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships; but it shall not include municipalities as hereinafter defined. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• corridor rights: means those rights an electric supplier has to serve customers which rights arise from the provisions of § 58-27-620(1)(b), (c), and (d). See South Carolina Code 58-27-610
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Crop operation: includes a vehicle, building, structure, or premises where a crop is raised, maintained, tested, handled, housed, exhibited, or offered for sale and includes a research facility where research on or testing of crops is conducted. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Customer-generator lessee: means the lessee of a renewable electric generation facility which:
  
  (1) generates electricity from a renewable energy resource;
  
  (2) has an electrical generating system with a capacity of:
  
  (a) not more than the lesser of one thousand kilowatts (1,000 kW AC) or one hundred percent of contract demand if a nonresidential customer; or
  
  (b) not more than twenty kilowatts (20 kW AC) if a residential customer;
  
  (3) is located on a premises or residence owned, operated, leased, or otherwise controlled by the customer-generator lessee that is also the premises or residence served by the renewable electric generation facility;
  
  (4) is interconnected and operates in parallel phase and synchronization with the retail electric provider for the premises or residence and has been approved by that retail electric provider;
  
  (5) is intended only to offset part or all of the customer-generator lessee's own retail electrical energy requirements for each respective premises or residence or to enable the customer-generator lessee to obtain a credit for or engage in the sale of energy from the renewable electric generation facility to that customer-generator lessee's retail electric provider or its designee; and
  
  (6) meets all applicable safety, performance, interconnection, and reliability standards established by the commission or the retail electric provider, the National Electrical Code, the National Electrical Safety Code, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Underwriters Laboratories, the federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and any local governing authorities. See South Carolina Code 58-27-2600
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Deprive: means :
  
  (a) to withhold an animal or other property from the owner permanently or for such an extended time that a major portion of the value or enjoyment of the animal or property is lost to the owner;
  
  (b) to restore the animal or other property only upon payment for reward or other compensation; or
  
  (c) to dispose of an animal or other property in a manner that makes recovery of the animal or property by the owner unlikely. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Effective consent: includes consent by a person legally authorized to act for the owner. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• electric supplier: means any electrical utility other than a municipality, any electric cooperative other than an electric cooperative engaged primarily in the business of furnishing electricity to other electric cooperatives for resale to other electric consumers, and any consolidated political subdivision owning or operating an electric plant or system for furnishing of electricity to the public for compensation. See South Carolina Code 58-27-610
• electrical utility: is a s defined in § 58-27-10(7). See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• electrical utility: includes municipalities to the extent of their business, property, rates, transactions, and operations without the corporate limits of the municipality, persons and corporations, their lessees, assignees, trustees, receivers, or other successors in interest owning or operating in this State equipment or facilities for generating, transmitting, delivering, or furnishing electricity for street, railway, or other public uses or for the production of light, heat, or power to or for the public for compensation; but it shall not include an electric cooperative or a consolidated political subdivision and shall not include a person, corporation, or municipality furnishing electricity only to himself or itself, their residents, employees, or tenants when such current is not resold or used by others. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• 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.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• financing costs: includes all of the following:
  
  (a) interest and acquisition, defeasance, or redemption premiums payable on recovery bonds;
  
  (b) any payment required under an ancillary agreement and any amount required to fund or replenish a storm reserve account or other accounts established under the terms of any indenture, ancillary agreement, or other financing documents pertaining to recovery bonds;
  
  (c) any other cost related to issuing, supporting, repaying, refunding, and servicing storm recovery bonds, including servicing fees, accounting and auditing fees, trustee fees, legal fees, consulting fees, structuring adviser fees, administrative fees, placement and underwriting fees, independent director and manager fees, capitalized interest, rating agency fees, stock exchange listing and compliance fees, security registration fees, filing fees, information technology programming costs, and any other costs necessary to otherwise ensure the timely payment of recovery or other amounts or charges payable in connection with the bonds, including costs related to obtaining the financing order;
  
  (d) any taxes and license fees or other fees imposed on the revenues generated from the collection of a storm recovery charge or otherwise resulting from the collection of storm recovery charges, in any such case whether paid, payable, or accrued;
  
  (e) any state and local taxes, franchise, gross receipts, and other taxes or similar charges, including regulatory assessment fees, whether paid, payable, or accrued;
  
  (f) any costs incurred by the commission or the Office of Regulatory Staff for any outside consultants, including counsel and advisors, retained in connection with the securitization of storm recovery costs. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• financing order: means an order that authorizes the issuance of storm recovery bonds; the imposition, collection, and periodic adjustments of a storm recovery charge; the creation of storm recovery property; and the sale, assignment, or transfer of storm recovery property to an assignee. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• financing party: means bondholders and trustees, collateral agents, any party under an ancillary agreement, or any other person acting for the benefit of bondholders. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• financing statement: is a s defined in § 36-9-102. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• industrial premises: means the premises of a person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of manufacture, processing, assembling, fabrication or related work. See South Carolina Code 58-27-610
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• line: means any electric conductor operating at a nominal voltage level of 25 KV or less, measured phase-to-phase, except (a) in the case of overhead construction, a conductor from the pole or tower nearest the premises of a consumer to such premises, or a conductor from a line tap to such premises, and (b) in the case of underground construction, a conductor from the transformer (or junction point, if there be one) nearest, on or in the premises of the consumer to such premises; provided, the term "line" shall include any electric conductor operating at a nominal voltage level in excess of 25 KV and less than 48 KV where it is established to the satisfaction of the other electric suppliers in the county or counties where such conductor is located, or in the absence of such agreement, to the satisfaction of the Public Service Commission, that the primary purpose and use of such conductor is for the distribution of electric power and not for the transmission of bulk power from one area to another; and, provided, further, that the term "line" shall include any other electric conductor operating at a nominal voltage level in excess of 25 KV and less than 48 KV, except that, until it is determined that such conductor is a distribution line in accordance with the preceding proviso, the service rights with respect to premises located wholly within three hundred feet of such conductor shall not be exclusive. See South Carolina Code 58-27-610
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• municipality: includes a city, town, county, township, or any other corporation existing, created, or organized as a governmental unit under the Constitution or laws of this State except a consolidated political subdivision. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• Owner: means a person who has title to the property, possession of the property, whether lawful or not, or a greater right to possession of the property than the actor. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: includes all individuals, partnerships, or associations other than corporations. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Person: means an individual, corporation, association, nonprofit corporation, joint-stock company, firm, trust, partnership, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or other legal entity. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• pledgee: means a financing party to which an electrical utility or its successors or assignees mortgages, negotiates, pledges, or creates a security interest or lien on all or any portion of its interest in or right to storm recovery property. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• Possession: means actual care, custody, control, or management. See South Carolina Code 47-21-20
• premises: means the building, structure or facility to which electricity is being or is to be furnished; provided, that two or more buildings, structures or facilities which are located on one tract or contiguous tracts of land and are utilized by one electric consumer for farming, business, commercial, industrial, institutional or governmental purposes, shall together constitute one "premises" except that any such building, structure or facility shall not, together with any other building, structure or facility, constitute one "premises" if the electric service to it is separately metered and the charges for such service are calculated independently of charges for service to any other building, structure or facility. See South Carolina Code 58-27-610
• public: means the public generally or any limited portion of the public, including a person, corporation, or municipality. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• rate: means and includes every compensation, charge, toll, rental, and classification, or any of them, demanded, observed, charged, or collected by any electrical utility for any electric current or service offered by it to the public and any rules, regulations, practices, or contracts affecting any such compensation, charge, toll, rental, or classification. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• regulatory staff: means the executive director or the executive director and the employees of the Office of Regulatory Staff. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Retail electric provider: means an electrical utility as defined in § 58-27-10 and also means other entities that provide retail electric service in South Carolina, but excluding electric cooperatives organized under the laws of a state other than South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 58-27-2600
• securities: means and includes stock, stock certificates, bonds, notes, debentures, or other evidences of indebtedness and any assumption or guaranty thereof. See South Carolina Code 58-27-10
• 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.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• storm: means , individually or collectively, a named tropical storm or hurricane, a tornado, ice storm or snowstorm, flood, an earthquake, or other significant weather or natural disaster. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• storm recovery activity: means an activity or activities by an electrical utility, its affiliates, or its contractors directly and specifically in connection with the restoration of service and infrastructure associated with electric power outages affecting customers of an electrical utility as the result of a storm or storms, including activities related to mobilization, staging, and construction, reconstruction, replacement, or repair of electric generation, transmission, distribution, or general plant facilities. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• storm recovery bonds: means bonds, debentures, notes, certificates of participation, certificates of beneficial interest, certificates of ownership, or other evidences of indebtedness or ownership that are issued by an electrical utility or an assignee pursuant to a financing order, the proceeds of which are used directly or indirectly to recover, finance, or refinance commission-approved storm recovery costs and financing costs, and that are secured by or payable from storm recovery property. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• storm recovery charge: means the amounts authorized by the commission to repay, finance, or refinance storm recovery costs and financing costs and that are nonbypassable charges (i) imposed on and part of all retail customer bills, (ii) collected by an electrical utility or its successors or assignees, or a collection agent, in full, separate and apart from the electrical utility's base rates, and (iii) paid by all existing or future retail customers receiving transmission or distribution service, or both, from the electrical utility or its successors or assignees under commission-approved rate schedules or under special contracts, even if a customer elects to purchase electricity from an alternative electricity supplier following a fundamental change in regulation of electrical utilities in this State. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• storm recovery costs: means :
  
  (a) all incremental costs, including capital costs, appropriate for recovery from existing and future retail customers receiving transmission or distribution service from an electrical utility that an electrical utility has incurred or expects to incur as a result of the applicable storm that are caused by, associated with, or remain as a result of undertaking storm recovery activity;
  
  (b) storm recovery costs shall be net of applicable insurance proceeds, tax benefits, income tax savings, and any other amounts intended to reimburse the electrical utility for storm recovery activities such as government grants, or aid of any kind and where determined appropriate by the commission, and may include adjustments for capital replacement and operating costs previously considered in determining normal amounts in the electrical utility's most recent general rate proceeding. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• storm recovery property: means :
  
  (a) All rights and interests of an electrical utility or successor or assignee of the electrical utility under a financing order, including the right to impose, bill, charge, collect, and receive storm recovery charges authorized under the financing order and to obtain periodic adjustments to such charges as provided in the financing order. See South Carolina Code 58-27-1105
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• 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}