§ 378:44 — Definitions

In this subdivision:
I. "Billing aggregator" means a person, other than a service provider, who forwards a charge for a product or service offered by a service provider to the utility company for billing to the customer.
II. "Commission" means the public utilities commission.
III. "Cramming" means a submission or inclusion of unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges for products or services on a customer's utility bill. Cramming shall not include tariffed charges or charges required or otherwise allowed by law.
IV. "Customer" means the party identified in the account records of the utility company, a person contractually or otherwise lawfully authorized to represent such party, or a person identified in such records as authorized to change the services subscribed to or to charge services to the account.
V. "Electric distribution company" means the company franchised by the commission to provide retail electric delivery service, provided, however, that municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives for which certificates of deregulation are on file with the commission pursuant to RSA 301:57 shall not be considered electric distribution companies.
VI. "Gas distribution company" means the company franchised by the commission to provide retail gas delivery service.
VII. "Local exchange carrier" means the company that provides local telephone exchange service.
VIII. "Service provider" means a person that offers a product or service to a customer and directly or indirectly sends the billable charges or credits to the utility company for billing to the customer. A customer's energy supplier shall not be deemed to be a service provider.
IX. "Utility company" means the local exchange carrier, electric distribution company, or gas distribution company who renders the utility bill to the customer for telephone, electric, or gas services, respectively.

Legislative History

1999, 168:1. 2002, 12:2, eff. Mar. 25, 2002.