Connecticut Statutes

§ 16-1 — Definitions.

Connecticut § 16-1
JurisdictionConnecticut
Title 16Public Service Companies
Ch. 277Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Office of Consumer Counsel. Miscellaneous Provisions

This text of Connecticut § 16-1 (Definitions.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-1 (2026).

Text

(a)Terms used in this title and in chapters 244, 244a, 244b, 245, 245a and 245b shall be construed as follows, unless another meaning is expressed or is clearly apparent from the language or context:
(1)“Authority” means the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and “department” means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection;
(2)“Utility commissioner” means a utility commissioner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority;
(3)“Public service company” includes electric distribution, gas, telephone, pipeline, sewage, water and community antenna television companies and holders of a certificate of cable franchise authority, owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling plants or parts of plants or equipment, but shall not include towns, cities, boroughs,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Housatonic Cable Vision Co. v. Department of Public Utility Control
622 F. Supp. 798 (D. Connecticut, 1985)
16 case citations
Northeastern Telephone Co. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co.
477 F. Supp. 251 (D. Connecticut, 1978)
9 case citations
Wheelabrator Lisbon Inc. v. State of Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control
526 F. Supp. 2d 295 (D. Connecticut, 2006)
5 case citations
Beckenstein v. Hartford Electric Light Co.
479 F. Supp. 417 (D. Connecticut, 1979)
4 case citations
University of Conn. v. Dep., Pub. Ut., No. Cv 99 04978265 (Mar. 24, 2000)
2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 4864-bu (Connecticut Superior Court, 2000)
The New Eng. Tel. v. Dept. of Pub. Util., No. Cv 00-0499729 (Jan. 4, 2001)
2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 111 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2001)
Connecticut Res. v. Dept., Public Util., No. Cv 99 0493967s (Apr. 24, 2000)
2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 4908 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2000)
Conn. Lgt Pwr v. Dept, Pub. Util Ctrl, No. Cv 98 0492697s (Mar. 9, 1999)
1999 Conn. Super. Ct. 3044 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1999)
Southern New England Telephone Co. v. Global Naps, Inc.
458 F. Supp. 2d 23 (D. Connecticut, 2006)

Legislative History

(1949 Rev., S. 5390; February, 1965, P.A. 175, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 546, S. 1; 691, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 768, S. 208; P.A. 73-267; P.A. 75-486, S. 2, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 79-214, S. 1; 79-610, S. 7; P.A. 80-482, S. 39, 348; 80-483, S. 65, 186; P.A. 81-297, S. 3; 81-329, S. 1, 11; 81-358, S. 2; 81-439, S. 2, 14; P.A. 85-246, S. 8; 85-509, S. 1, 11; P.A. 86-403, S. 33, 132; P.A. 87-323, S. 4; 87-415, S. 7, 13; P.A. 91-310, S. 3; P.A. 92-137, S. 2; P.A. 93-149; P.A. 94-83, S. 1, 16; P.A. 95-79, S. 47, 189; P.A. 98-28, S. 1, 117; P.A. 99-222, S. 1, 19; 99-286, S. 1, 19; P.A. 00-53, S. 11, 12; P.A. 01-49, S. 1; 01-204, S. 7, 29; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 73, 131; P.A. 03-135, S. 1, 2; 03-163, S. 2; 03-221, S. 1, 2; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-1, S. 1, 2; P.A. 06-74, S. 1, 2; P.A. 07-242, S. 44; 07-253, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-5, S. 58; P.A. 08-77, S. 1; 08-185, S. 4; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7, S. 186; P.A. 11-80, S. 1, 14; P.A. 13-5, S. 1, 30, 31; 13-298, S. 1, 2, 38; 13-303, S. 1–4; P.A. 14-94, S. 1; 14-134, S. 1; P.A. 15-107, S. 2, 3; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 102; P.A. 16-135, S. 3; P.A. 17-144, S. 2; P.A. 18-50, S. 27; P.A. 23-102, S. 36; 23-170, S. 8; 23-204, S. 185.) History: 1965 act added definition of community antenna television company; 1967 acts included sewage plants in definition of “public service company” and defined “sewage company”, redefined “water company” to include companies owning, controlling etc. streams and wells and to delete phrase “for general domestic use in any town, city or borough ... within this state” and defined “consumer”; 1969 act defined “commissioner of transportation”; P.A. 73-267 included motor bus companies in definition of “public service company”; P.A. 75-486 replaced definition of “commission” with definition of “authority”; P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 included definition of division of public utility control, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-214 defined “cogeneration technology” and excluded persons owning or operating facilities producing one or less megawatt from definition of “public service company”; P.A. 79-610 defined “department”, deleted railroad and motor bus companies from definition of “public service company” and added reference to leasing in definitions of “railroad company” and “water company”; P.A. 80-482 replaced definition of “division” with definition of “department” re public utility control, deleting previous definition of “department” as “department of transportation”; P.A. 80-483 added reference to leasing in definitions of “street railway company” and “sewage company”; P.A. 81-297 excluded telegraph company functions concerning intrastate money order service from definition of public service company; P.A. 81-329 added definitions of “telephone company” and “domestic telephone company”; P.A. 81-358 excluded homeowners and condominium associations providing water to members only from definition of water company; P.A. 81-439 excluded private power producers from definitions of public service company and electric company; P.A. 85-246 redefined “public service company” to omit references to street railway companies and deleted a reference to street railway companies in definition of “motor bus”; P.A. 85-509 made existing section Subsec. (a), added definitions of “community antenna television service”, “community antenna television system”, “video programming” and “noncable communications service” in Subsec. (a), clarified definition of “community antenna television company” to apply to an antenna television system and added Subsec. (b) re the meaning of the terms “utility”, “public utility” and “public service company”; P.A. 86-403 made a technical change to Subsec. (a); (Revisor's note: In 1987 the definitions in Subsec. (a) were numbered editorially by the Revisors for ease of reference); P.A. 87-323 redefined “water company” to specifically exclude certain homeowners associations; P.A. 87-415 redefined “telephone company” to exclude entities which provide only those telecommunications services authorized under Secs. 16-247f to 16-247h, inclusive; P.A. 91-310 redefined “electric company”, “gas company” and “water company” to specifically exclude municipal utilities; P.A. 92-137 redefined “community antenna television company” to include municipalities which own or operate electric plants; P.A. 93-149 redefined “community antenna television system” to include municipalities which own or operate electric plants only if they obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a community antenna television system; P.A. 94-83 amended Subsec. (a) by clarifying reference to the Communications Act of 1934 in Subdivs. (16) and (18), redefined “telephone company” in Subdiv. (23) and adding new Subdiv. (25) defining “telecommunications company”, and amended Subsec. (b) by clarifying reference to the Communications Act of 1934, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-79 redefined “telecommunications company” to include a limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; P.A. 98-28 amended Subsec. (a), redefining “public service company” by adding electric distribution companies and exempting wholesale generators, by making minor changes in definitions of “electric company” and “renewable fuel resources” and added new Subdivs. (26) to (37), defining “class I renewable energy source”, “class II renewable energy source”, “electric distribution services”, “electric distribution company”, “electric supplier”, “electric aggregator”, “electric generation services”, “electric transmission services”, “generation entity or affiliate”, “participating municipal electric utility”, “person” and “regional independent system operator”, effective July 1, 1998 (Revisor's note: In Subdiv. (22) the Revisors editorially changed the phrase “... subdivisions (26) and (27) of this section” to “... subdivisions (26) and (27) of this subsection”); P.A. 99-222 amended Subsec. (a) by inserting new Subdiv. (38) defining “certified telecommunications provider”, effective June 29, 1999; P.A. 99-286 amended Subsec. (a) by making technical changes and by defining “certified telecommunications provider” in words identical to those in P.A. 99-222, effective July 19, 1999; P.A. 00-53 amended Subsec. (a) by redefining “electric aggregator” in Subdiv. (31) to include regional water authorities, and by adding a new Subdiv., designated as (39), defining “gas registrant”; P.A. 01-49 amended Subsec. (a) by making technical changes in Subdivs. (15) and (16); P.A. 01-204 amended Subsec. (a) by redefining “Class I renewable energy source” in Subdiv. (26) to include biomass gasification plants, effective July 11, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 revised effective date of P.A. 01-204 but without affecting this section; P.A. 03-135 redefined “Class I renewable energy source” in Subdiv. (26) to include “ocean thermal power, wave or tidal power, low emission advanced renewable energy conversion technologies” and certain run-of-the-river hydropower facilities, to revise the type of biomass that falls under the definition and include, as an exception, “energy derived from a biomass facility that began operation before July 1, 1998” provided “the average emission rate for such facility is equal to or less than .075 pounds of nitrogen oxides per million BTU of heat input for the previous calendar quarter”, and to include “any electrical generation, including distributed generation, generated from a Class I renewable energy source”, redefined “Class II renewable energy source” in Subdiv. (27) to limit the type of biomass facility included in the definition to a facility “that began operation before July 1, 1998, provided the average emission rate for such facility is equal to or less than .2 pounds of nitrogen oxides per million BTU of heat input for the previous calendar quarter” and to change the type of hydropower facility included in the definition to certain run-of-the-river hydropower facilities, and added new Subdivs. (40) and (41), defining “distributed generation” and “federally mandated congestion costs”, effective July 1, 2003; P.A. 03-163 redefined “gas company” in Subdiv. (9) to exclude a person manufacturing gas through the use of a biomass gasification plant, effective June 26, 2003; P.A. 03-221 redefined “Class I renewable energy source” in Subdiv. (26) to delete provisions re the date that a biomass facility began operation, to make the emission rate applicable to all biomass facilities, and to add an exception for biomass facilities with a capacity of less than five hundred kilowatts, and redefined “federally mandated congestion costs” in Subdiv. (41) by replacing “imposed” with “approved” and adding “including, but not limited to, locational marginal pricing and reliability must run contracts”, effective July 1, 2003; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-1 amended Subsec. (a) by amending Subdiv. (40) to change the definition of “distributed generation” to “customer-side distributed resources”, to designate existing language as Subpara. (A), to add a unit rating limit in Subpara. (A), and to add Subpara. (B) re reduction in demand, by amending Subdiv. (41) to change the definition of “federally mandated congestion costs” to “federally mandated congestion charges” and to add additional qualifying payments and costs, and by adding Subdivs. (42) to (44), inclusive, defining “combined heat and power system”, “grid-side distributed resources” and “Class III renewable energy source”, effective July 21, 2005; P.A. 06-74 amended Subsec. (a)(26) to insert “sustainable” prior to each occurrence of “biomass facility”, to delete language re biomass gasification plants, to make conforming changes, and to delete language within exception for biomass facilities re biomass cultivated and harvested in a sustainable manner, and added new Subdiv. (45) in Subsec. (a) defining “sustainable biomass”; P.A. 07-242 amended Subsec. (a)(44) to change term from “Class III renewable energy source” to “Class III source” and redefine the term, effective June 4, 2007; P.A. 07-253 redefined “public service company”, “community antenna television company”, “community antenna television service” and “community antenna television system”, defined “video service”, “certified competitive video service provider”, “certificate of video franchise authority” and “certificate of cable franchise authority” and made technical changes in Subsec. (a), and added holder of a certificate of cable franchise authority and made technical changes in Subsec. (b); June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-5 amended Subsec. (a)(45)(C) to change exception from biomass used in a facility approved before October 1, 2005, to biomass used in a facility certified as a Class I renewable energy source until department certifies that a biomass gasification plant is operational, effective October 6, 2007; P.A. 08-77 added Subsec. (a)(50) defining “thermal energy transportation company”, effective April 30, 2008; P.A. 08-185 redefined “sustainable biomass” in Subsec. (a)(45) by adding as exception renewable energy facilities certified prior to December 31, 2007, and volume-reduction facilities in Subpara. (C), adding Subpara. (D) re certain other renewable energy facilities, and adding provision re amount of biomass shall not apply to a biomass gasification plant, effective June 12, 2008; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7 added Subsec. (a)(51) defining “the Connecticut Television Network”, effective October 5, 2009; P.A. 11-80 amended Subsec. (a)(1) to redefine “authority” as Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and “department” as Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, rather than Public Utilities Control Authority and Department of Public Utility Control, amended Subsec. (a)(2) to replace “commissioner” with “director” as the defined term, amended Subsec. (a)(30), (41), (48) and (49) to replace “Department of Public Utility Control” with “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority”, amended Subsec. (a)(35), (38), (45) and (47) to replace “department” with “authority”, amended Subsec. (a)(45)(A) to replace “Renewable Energy Investment Fund” with “Clean Energy Fund”, and added Subsec. (a)(52) defining “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-5 amended Subsec. (a)(25) to redefine “telecommunications company” by replacing “department” with “authority”, amended Subsec. (a)(30) to redefine “electric supplier” by deleting former Subpara. (E) re electric distribution company in its provision of electric generation services and amended Subsec. (a)(41) to make a technical change in definition of “federally mandated congestion charges”, effective May 8, 2013; P.A. 13-298 amended Subsec. (a)(8) to redefine “electric company” by adding Subparas. (G) and (H) re entity approved to submeter and municipality, state or federal governmental entity authorized to distribute electricity across a public highway or street and amended Subsec. (a)(9) to redefine “gas company” by adding Subpara. (A) and (B) designators in existing provisions re person manufacturing gas through use of a biomass gasification plant and re municipal gas utility and adding Subpara. (C) re entity approved to submeter, effective July 1, 2013, and amended Subsec. (a)(2) to replace “director” with “utility commissioner” and make a technical change and amended Subsec. (a)(52) to add “or the commissioner's designee” in definition of “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective July 8, 2013; P.A. 13-303 amended Subsec. (a)(26) to redefine “Class I renewable energy source” by replacing “energy derived from” with “electricity derived from”, inserting clause designators, including geothermal, anaerobic digestion or other biogas derived from biological sources and thermal electric direct energy conversion from a certified Class I renewable energy source, revising the type of run-of-the-river hydropower facility and biomass facility that fall under the definition and adding provision re eligibility of any megawatt hours of electricity claimed or counted by a load-serving entity, province or state towards compliance with renewable portfolio standards or renewable energy policy goals in another province or state other than Connecticut, amended Subsec. (a)(44) to redefine “Class III source” by adding provision re eligibility of programs supported by ratepayers, amended Subsec. (a)(45) to replace “sustainable biomass” with “sustainable biomass fuel” and to delete former Subparas. (C) and (D) re eligibility as sustainable biomass and added Subsec. (a)(53) defining “large-scale hydropower”, effective June 5, 2013; pursuant to P.A. 14-94, “Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority” in Subsec. (a)(31), effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 14-134 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting former Subdivs. (3), (6) to (8), (19) and (20) re definitions of “Commissioner of Transportation”, “railroad company”, “street railway company”, “electric company”, “public service motor vehicle” and “motor bus”, redesignating existing Subdivs. (4), (5), (9) to (18) and (21) to (53) as Subdivs. (3) to (47), redefining “public service company” in redesignated Subdiv. (3), replacing “electric company” with “electric distribution company” in redesignated Subdiv. (12)(D), redefining “electric distribution company” or “distribution company” in redesignated Subdiv. (23), redefining “generation entity or affiliate” in redesignated Subdiv. (28), and making conforming changes, effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 15-107 amended Subsec. (a)(35) by adding “subsection (f) of section 16a-3j and” and added Subsec. (a)(48) to define “energy storage system”, effective June 19, 2015; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 amended Subsec. (a) by adding Subdiv. (49) defining “distributed energy resource” and Subdiv. (50) defining “grid-side system enhancement”, effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 16-135 added Subsec. (c) re owner of electric vehicle charging station, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 17-144 amended Subsec. (a)(21) to redefine “Class II renewable energy source,” effective June 27, 2017; P.A. 18-50 amended Subsec. (a)(20) by redefining “Class I renewable energy source”; P.A. 23-102 amended Subsec. (a) by redefining “utility commissioner” in Subdiv. (2) and redefining “Class I renewable energy source” in Subdiv. (20), effective June 29, 2023; P.A. 23-204 amended Subsec. (a)(20) by adding January 1, 2018 date re run-of-the-river hydropower facilities, effective June 12, 2023; pursuant to P.A. 23-170, “Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “MIRA Dissolution Authority”, effective July 1, 2023. Cited. 147 C. 229; 152 C. 563; 159 C. 327; 162 C. 51; 166 C. 232; 169 C. 344; 174 C. 556; 183 C. 128; 214 C. 609; 216 C. 627. Cited. 12 CA 499; 20 CA 474; 43 CA 196.

Nearby Sections

15
View on official source ↗

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Connecticut § 16-1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/statute/ct/16-1.