Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, March 15, 2024
(1) This rule and
the other rules contained in chapter govern promotional practices of all gas
and electric utilities under the jurisdiction of the Public Service
Commission.
(2) On written
application by a utility the commission may grant variances from the rules
contained in this chapter for good cause shown. The utility filing the
application shall show proof of service of a copy of the application on each
public utility providing the same or competing utility service in all or any
portion of the service area of the filing utility.
(3) Nothing contained in the rules of this
chapter shall be construed to prohibit or restrict any industrial development
or Missouri Community Betterment Program activities by any utility.
(4) Nothing contained in this chapter shall
be construed to prohibit market research studies, pilot programs, test
marketing programs or other activities to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of
potential demand-side resources.
(5) Nothing contained in this chapter shall
be construed to prohibit the provision of consideration that may be necessary
to acquire cost-effective demand-side resources.
(6) The following terms, when used in this
chapter, shall have the following meanings:
(A) Affiliate shall include any person who,
directly or indirectly, controls or is controlled by or is under common control
with a public utility;
(B)
Appliance or equipment shall mean any device which consumes electric or gas
energy and any ancillary device required for its operation;
(C) Consideration shall be interpreted in its
broadest sense and shall include any cash, donation, gift, allowance, rebate,
discount, bonus, merchandise (new or used), property (real or personal), labor,
service, conveyance, commitment, right or other thing of value;
(D) Cost-effective means that the present
value of life-cycle benefits is greater than the present value of life-cycle
costs to the provider of an energy service;
(E) Demand-side resource means any
inefficient energy-related choice that can be influenced cost-effectively by a
utility. The meaning of this term shall not be construed to include
load-building programs;
(F) Energy
service means the need that is served or the benefit that is derived by the
ultimate consumer's use of energy;
(G) Financing shall include acquisition of
equity or debt interests, loans, guarantees of loans, advances, sale and
repurchase agreements, sale and leaseback agreements, sales on open account,
conditional or installment sales contracts or other investments or extensions
of credit;
(H) Inefficient
energy-related choice means any decision that causes the life-cycle cost of
providing an energy service to be higher than it would be for an available
alternative choice;
(I) Life-cycle
means the expected useful lifetime of appliances, equipment or
buildings;
(J) Load-building
program means an organized promotional effort by a utility to persuade
energy-related decision makers to choose the form of energy supplied by that
utility instead of other forms of energy for the provision of energy service or
to persuade customers to increase their use of that utility's form of energy,
either by substituting it for other forms of energy or by increasing the level
or variety of energy services used. This term is not intended to include the
provision of technical or engineering assistance, information about filed rates
and tariffs or other forms of routine customer service.
(K) Person shall include any individual,
group, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other
organization;
(L) Promotional
practices shall mean any consideration offered or granted by a public utility
or its affiliate to any person for the purpose, express or implied, of inducing
the person to select and use the service or use additional service of the
utility or to select or install any appliance or equipment designed to use the
utility service, or for the purpose of influencing the person's choice or
specification of the efficiency characteristics of appliances, equipment,
buildings, utilization patterns or operating procedures. The term promotional
practices shall not include the following activities:
1. Making any emergency repairs to appliances
or equipment of customers;
2.
Providing appliances or equipment incidental to demonstrations of sixty (60)
days or less in duration;
3.
Providing light bulbs, street or outdoor lighting service, wiring, service pipe
or other service equipment or appliances, in accordance with tariffs filed with
and approved by the commission;
4.
Providing appliances or equipment to an educational institution for the purpose
of instructing students in the use of the appliances or equipment;
5. Merchandising appliances or equipment at
retail and, in connection therewith, the holding of inventories, making and
fulfillment of reasonable warranties against defects in material and
workmanship existing at the time of delivery and financing; provided that the
merchandising shall not violate any prohibition contained in
4 CSR
240-14.020;
6. Inspecting and adjusting of appliances or
equipment by a public utility;
7.
Repairing and other maintenance to appliances or equipment by a public utility
if charges are at cost or above;
8.
Providing free or below-cost energy audits or other information or analysis
regarding the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of improvements in the
efficiency characteristics of appliances, equipment, buildings, utilization
patterns or operating procedures;
9. Offering to present or prospective
customers by a public utility technical or engineering assistance;
and
10. Advertising or publicity by
a public utility which is under its name and on its behalf and which does not
in any manner, directly or indirectly, identify, describe, refer to, mention or
relate to any architect, builder, engineer, subdivider, developer or other
similar person, or which mentions no less than three (3) existing projects,
developments or subdivisions.
(M) Public utility or utility shall mean any
electrical corporation or gas corporation as defined in section
386.020, RSMo;
and
*Original authority: 386.040, RSMo 1939; 386.250, RSMo
1939, amended 1963, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991; 386.610, RSMo 1939; and
393.140, RSMo 1939, amended 1949, 1967.
