Hawaii Administrative Rules
Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND FINANCE
Division - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
Chapter 74 - STANDARDS FOR SMALL POWER PRODUCTION AND COGENERATION
Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 6-74-1 - Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

"Avoided costs" means the incremental or additional costs to an electric utility of electric energy or firm capacity or both which costs the utility would avoid by purchase from the qualifying facility.

"Avoided energy costs" means the energy costs consisting of cost of fuel and generation operating and maintenance costs as a minimum with fuel inventory, working cash, line loss costs considered when presented in a specific proposal from a qualifying facility to the electric utility.

"Back-up power" means electric energy or capacity supplied by an electric utility to replace energy ordinarily generated by a facility's own generation equipment during an unscheduled outage of the facility.

"Commission" means the public utilities commission of the State.

"Electric generating capacity" means the generating capacity of the qualifying facility as determined from the sum of the nameplate capacities on all electric generators installed at the qualifying facility.

"Emergency capacity" means capacity requested by and made available to an electric utility under utility dispatch by a qualifying facility, above and beyond the firm capacity agreed to.

"FERC" means the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"Firm capacity" means the scheduled amounts of capacity in kilowatts (kw) which a qualifying facility has a legally enforceable obligation to make available to an electric utility under utility dispatch within particular time periods, and which the electric utility agrees to accept.

"Interconnection costs" means the reasonable costs of connection, switching, metering, transmission, distribution, safety provisions and administrative costs incurred by the electric utility directly related to the installation and maintenance of the physical facilities necessary to permit interconnected operations with a qualifying facility, to the extent such costs are in excess of the corresponding costs which the electric utility would have incurred if it had not engaged in interconnected operations, but instead generated an equivalent amount of electric energy itself or purchased an equivalent amount of electric energy or capacity from other sources. Interconnection costs do not include any costs included in the calculation of avoided costs.

"Legally enforceable obligation" means a binding contract for purchase, which has been approved by the commission.

"Minimum purchase rate" means the avoided energy costs determined in accordance with this chapter as in effect on the date that a legally enforceable obligation between the qualifying facility and utility becomes effective and the rate shall remain constant thereafter for the period of the contract. Where there is no contract in excess of one year, the minimum purchase rate shall be one hundred per cent of the avoided energy costs in effect on the date the qualifying facility delivers energy to the utility.

"Purchase" means the purchase of electric energy or capacity or both from a qualifying facility by an electric utility.

"Qualifying facility" means a cogeneration facility or a small power production facility which is a qualifying facility under § 6-74-4 and subpart 2 of the regulations of the FERC regarding qualifying cogeneration and small power production facilities, 18 C.F.R. Part 292.

"Rate" means any price, rate, charge, or classification made, demanded, observed, or received with respect to the sale or purchase of electric energy or capacity, or any rule or practice respecting that rate, charge, or classification, or any contract pertaining to the sale or purchase of electric energy or capacity.

"Sale" means the sale of electric energy or capacity or both by an electric utility to a qualifying facility.

"State" means the State of Hawaii.

"Supplementary power" means electric energy or capacity supplied by an electric utility, regularly used by a qualifying facility in addition to that which the facility generates itself.

"System emergency" means a condition on a utility's system which is likely to result in imminent significant disruption of service to customers or is imminently likely to endanger life or property.

"Utility dispatch" means the sole and absolute right of the electric utility, through supervisory equipment or otherwise, to control, from moment to moment, within the limits of sound engineering practices, the rate of delivery of energy, firm capacity and emergency capacity offered by a qualifying facility and accepted by the electric utility.