As used in this chapter, any person, firm, copartnership, voluntary association, joint-stock association, company, or corporation, wherever organized or incorporated, is:
(A) A telephone company, when engaged in the business of transmitting telephonic messages to, from, through, or in this state;
(B) A for-hire motor carrier, when engaged in the business of transporting persons or property by motor vehicle for compensation, except when engaged in any of the operations in intrastate commerce described in divisions (B)(1) to (9) of section4921.01of the Revised Code, but including the carrier's agents, officers, and representatives, as well as employees responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching drivers and employees concerned with the installation, inspection, and maintenance of motor-vehicle equipment and accessories;
(C) An electric light company, when engaged in the business of supplying electricity for light, heat, or power purposes to consumers within this state, including supplying electric transmission service for electricity delivered to consumers in this state, but excluding a regional transmission organization approved by the federal energy regulatory commission.
An electric light company does not include a self-generator or mercantile customer self-power system.
(D) A gas company, when engaged in the business of supplying artificial gas for lighting, power, or heating purposes to consumers within this state or when engaged in the business of supplying artificial gas to gas companies or to natural gas companies within this state, but a producer engaged in supplying to one or more gas or natural gas companies, only such artificial gas as is manufactured by that producer as a by-product of some other process in which the producer is primarily engaged within this state is not thereby a gas company. All rates, rentals, tolls, schedules, charges of any kind, or agreements between any gas company and any other gas company or any natural gas company providing for the supplying of artificial gas and for compensation for the same are subject to the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission.
(E) A natural gas company, when engaged in the business of supplying natural gas for lighting, power, or heating purposes to consumers within this state. Notwithstanding the above, neither the delivery nor sale of Ohio-produced natural gas or Ohio-produced raw natural gas liquids by a producer or gatherer under a public utilities commission-ordered exemption, adopted before, as to producers, or after, as to producers or gatherers, January 1, 1996, or the delivery or sale of Ohio-produced natural gas or Ohio-produced raw natural gas liquids by a producer or gatherer of Ohio-produced natural gas or Ohio-produced raw natural gas liquids, either to a lessor under an oil and gas lease of the land on which the producer's drilling unit is located, or the grantor incident to a right-of-way or easement to the producer or gatherer, shall cause the producer or gatherer to be a natural gas company for the purposes of this section.
All rates, rentals, tolls, schedules, charges of any kind, or agreements between a natural gas company and other natural gas companies or gas companies providing for the supply of natural gas and for compensation for the same are subject to the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission. The commission, upon application made to it, may relieve any producer or gatherer of natural gas, defined in this section as a gas company or a natural gas company, of compliance with the obligations imposed by this chapter and Chapters 4901., 4903., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923. of the Revised Code, so long as the producer or gatherer is not affiliated with or under the control of a gas company or a natural gas company engaged in the transportation or distribution of natural gas, or so long as the producer or gatherer does not engage in the distribution of natural gas to consumers.
Nothing in division (E) of this section limits the authority of the commission to enforce sections4905.90to4905.96of the Revised Code.
(F) A pipe-line company, when engaged in the business of transporting natural gas, oil, or coal or its derivatives through pipes or tubing, either wholly or partly within this state, but not when engaged in the business of the transport associated with gathering lines, raw natural gas liquids, or finished product natural gas liquids;
(G) A water-works company, when engaged in the business of supplying water through pipes or tubing, or in a similar manner, to consumers within this state;
(H) A heating or cooling company, when engaged in the business of supplying water, steam, or air through pipes or tubing to consumers within this state for heating or cooling purposes;
(I) A messenger company, when engaged in the business of supplying messengers for any purpose;
(J) A street railway company, when engaged in the business of operating as a common carrier, a railway, wholly or partly within this state, with one or more tracks upon, along, above, or below any public road, street, alleyway, or ground, within any municipal corporation, operated by any motive power other than steam and not a part of an interurban railroad, whether the railway is termed street, inclined-plane, elevated, or underground railway;
(K) A suburban railroad company, when engaged in the business of operating as a common carrier, whether wholly or partially within this state, a part of a street railway constructed or extended beyond the limits of a municipal corporation, and not a part of an interurban railroad;
(L) An interurban railroad company, when engaged in the business of operating a railroad, wholly or partially within this state, with one or more tracks from one municipal corporation or point in this state to another municipal corporation or point in this state, whether constructed upon the public highways or upon private rights-of-way, outside of municipal corporations, using electricity or other motive power than steam power for the transportation of passengers, packages, express matter, United States mail, baggage, and freight. Such an interurban railroad company is included in the term "railroad" as used in section4907.02of the Revised Code.
(M) A sewage disposal system company, when engaged in the business of sewage disposal services through pipes or tubing, and treatment works, or in a similar manner, within this state.
As used in division (E) of this section, "natural gas" includes natural gas that has been processed to enable consumption or to meet gas quality standards or that has been blended with propane, hydrogen, biologically derived methane gas, or any other artificially produced or processed gas.
As used in this section, "gathering lines" has the same meaning as in section4905.90of the Revised Code, and "raw natural gas liquids" and "finished product natural gas liquids" have the same meanings as in section4906.01of the Revised Code.
As used in this section, "self-generator" has the same meaning as in section4928.01of the Revised Code, and "mercantile customer self-power system" has the same meaning as in section4928.73of the Revised Code.
Last updated May 22, 2025 at 5:16 PM