New Mexico § 62-3-3 - Definitions

§ 62-3-3. Definitions

Unless otherwise specified, when used in the Public Utility Act: A. “ affiliated interest ” means a person who directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls

or is controlled by or is under common control with a public utility. Control includes instances when: (1) a person is an officer, director, partner, trustee or person of similar status

or function; (2) a person owns directly or indirectly or has a beneficial interest in ten percent

or more of voting securities of a person; (3) a person has a level of ownership of securities other than voting securities that

the commission establishes as creating a presumption of control; and (4) the possession of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management

and policies of a person exists in fact, notwithstanding the lack of ownership of

ten percent or more of the person's voting securities; B. “ commission ” means the public regulation commission; C. “ commissioner ” means a member of the commission; D. “ municipality ” means a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the state, and H-class

counties; E. “ person ” means an individual, firm, partnership, company, rural electric cooperative organized

under Laws 1937, Chapter 100 or the Rural Electric Cooperative Act, corporation or

lessee, trustee or receiver appointed by any court. “Person” does not mean a class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 or a class B county as described in Section 4-36-8 NMSA 1978 . “Person” does not mean a municipality as defined in this section unless the municipality

has elected to come within the terms of the Public Utility Act as provided in Section 62-6-5 NMSA 1978 . In the absence of voluntary election by a municipality to come within the provisions

of the Public Utility Act, the municipality shall be expressly excluded from the operation

of that act and from the operation of all its provisions, and no such municipality

shall for any purpose be considered a public utility; F. “ securities ” means stock, stock certificates, bonds, notes, debentures, mortgages or deeds of

trust or similar evidences of indebtedness issued, executed or assumed by a utility; G. “ public utility ” or “ utility ” means every person not engaged solely in interstate business and, except as stated

in Sections 62-3-4 and 62-3-4.1 NMSA 1978 , that may own, operate, lease or control: (1) any plant, property or facility for the generation, transmission or distribution,

sale or furnishing to or for the public of electricity for light, heat or power or

other uses; (2) any plant, property or facility for the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale

or furnishing to or for the public of natural or manufactured gas or mixed or liquefied

petroleum gas for light, heat or power or other uses; but “public utility” or “utility”

shall not include any plant, property or facility used for or in connection with the

business of the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale or furnishing of liquefied

petroleum gas in enclosed containers or tank truck for use by others than consumers

who receive their supply through any pipeline system operating under municipal authority

or franchise and distributing to the public; (3) any plant, property or facility for the supplying, storage, distribution or furnishing

to or for the public of water for manufacturing, municipal, domestic or other uses;

provided, however, that nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed to

apply to irrigation systems, the chief or principal business of which is to supply

water for the purpose of irrigation; (4) any plant, property or facility for the production, transmission, conveyance,

delivery or furnishing to or for the public of steam for heat or power or other uses; (5) any plant, property or facility for the supplying and furnishing to or for the

public of sanitary sewers for transmission and disposal of sewage produced by manufacturing,

municipal, domestic or other uses; provided that “public utility” or “utility” as

used in the Public Utility Act does not include any utility owned or operated by a

class A county as described in Section 4-36-10 NMSA 1978 either directly or through a corporation owned by or under contract with such a county;

or (6) any plant, property or facility for the sale or furnishing to or for the public

of goods or services to reduce the consumption of or demand for electricity or natural

gas, and is either a public utility under the definitions found in Paragraph (1) or

(2) of this subsection, or is an alternative energy efficiency provider as described

in Section 62-17-7 NMSA 1978; H. “ rate ” means every rate, tariff, charge or other compensation for utility service rendered

or to be rendered by a utility and every rule, regulation, practice, act, requirement

or privilege in any way relating to such rate, tariff, charge or other compensation

and any schedule or tariff or part of a schedule or tariff thereof; I. “ renewable energy ” means electrical energy generated by means of a low- or zero-emission generation

technology that has substantial long-term production potential and may include, without

limitation, the following energy sources: solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, landfill

gas, anaerobically digested waste biomass or fuel cells that are not fossil fueled. “Renewable energy” does not include fossil fuel or nuclear energy; J. “ service ” or “ service regulation ” means every rule, regulation, practice, act or requirement relating to the service

or facility of a utility; K. “ Class I transaction ” means the sale, lease or provision of real property, water rights or other goods

or services by an affiliated interest to a public utility with which it is affiliated

or by a public utility to its affiliated interest; L. “ Class II transaction ” means: (1) the formation after May 19, 1982 of a corporate subsidiary by a public utility

or a public utility holding company by a public utility or its affiliated interest; (2) the direct acquisition of the voting securities or other direct ownership interests

of a person by a public utility if such acquisition would make the utility the owner

of ten percent or more of the voting securities or other direct ownership interests

of that person; (3) the agreement by a public utility to purchase securities or other ownership interest

of a person other than a nonprofit corporation, contribute additional equity to, acquire

additional equity interest in or pay or guarantee any bonds, notes, debentures, deeds

of trust or other evidence of indebtedness of any such person; provided, however,

that a public utility may honor all agreements entered into by such utility prior

to May 19, 1982; or (4) the divestiture by a public utility of any affiliated interest that is a corporate

subsidiary of the public utility; M. “ corporate subsidiary ” means any person ten percent or more of whose voting securities or other ownership

interests are directly owned by a public utility; N. “ public utility holding company ” means an affiliated interest that controls a public utility through the direct or

indirect ownership of voting securities of that public utility; O. “ voting securities ” means securities that carry the present right to vote for the election of directors

or other members of the governing body ultimately responsible for the management of

the organization; and P. “ future test period ” means a twelve-month period beginning no later than the date a proposed rate change

is expected to take effect.