[§269G-1]  Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

     "Ancillary agreement" means a bond insurance policy, letter of credit, reserve account, surety bond, swap arrangement, hedging arrangement, liquidity or credit support arrangement, or other similar agreement or arrangement entered into in connection with the issuance of bonds that is designed to promote the credit quality and marketability of the bonds or to mitigate the risk of an increase in interest rates.

     "Assignee" means a legally recognized entity to which an electric utility assigns, sells, or transfers, other than as security, all or a portion of the electric utility's interest in or right to infrastructure resilience property.  "Assignee" includes a corporation, limited liability company, general partnership or limited partnership, public authority, trust, financing entity, or any other legal entity to which an assignee assigns, sells, or transfers, other than as security, its interest in or right to infrastructure resilience property.

     "Bond" means any bond, note, certificate of participation or beneficial interest, or other evidence of indebtedness or ownership that is issued by the financing entity under a financing order, the proceeds of which are used directly or indirectly to recover, finance, or refinance financing costs of any infrastructure resilience costs, and that are directly or indirectly secured by or payable from infrastructure resilience property.

     "Commission" means the public utilities commission.

     "Consumer" means any individual, governmental body, trust, business entity, or nonprofit organization that consumes electricity that has been transmitted or distributed by means of electric transmission or distribution facilities, whether those electric transmission or distribution facilities are owned by the consumer, the electric utility, or any other party.

     "Electric utility" means a public utility that exists for the furnishing of electrical power.

     "Executive officer" means any person who performs policy making functions and is employed by an electric utility subject to the approval of the board of directors, and includes the president, secretary, treasurer, and any vice president in charge of a principal business unit, division, or function of the electric utility.

     "Financing costs" means the costs to issue, service, repay, or refinance bonds, whether incurred or paid upon issuance of the bonds or over the life of the bonds, if they are approved for recovery by the commission in a financing order.  "Financing costs" may include any of the following:

     (1)  Principal, interest, and redemption premiums that are payable on bonds;

     (2)  A payment required under an ancillary agreement;

     (3)  An amount required to fund or replenish reserve accounts or other accounts established under an indenture, ancillary agreement, or other financing document related to the bonds;

     (4)  Taxes, franchise fees, or license fees imposed on a financing entity as a result of the issuance of the financing order; the assignment, sale, or transfer of any infrastructure resilience property; or the sale of the bonds, or imposed on the infrastructure resilience charges, or otherwise resulting from the collection of the infrastructure resilience charge, in any such case whether paid, payable, or accrued;

     (5)  Costs related to issuing and servicing bonds or the application for a financing order, including without limitation servicing fees and expenses, trustee fees and expenses, legal fees and expenses, accounting fees, administrative fees, underwriting and placement fees, financial advisory fees, original issue discount, capitalized interest, rating agency fees, and any other related costs that are approved for recovery in the financing order;

     (6)  Costs related to the engagement of services of a financial advisor by the commission; and

     (7)  Other costs as specifically authorized by a financing order.

     "Financing entity" means an electric utility or an entity to which an electric utility or an affiliate of an electric utility sells, assigns, or pledges all or a portion of the electric utility's interest in infrastructure resilience property, including an affiliate of the electric utility or any unaffiliated entity, in each case as approved by the commission in a financing order.

     Subject to section 269G-6(c), an entity to which an electric utility sells, assigns, or pledges all or a portion of the electric utility's interest in infrastructure resilience property may include any governmental entity that is able to issue bonds that are exempt from federal tax pursuant to section 103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including the State or a political subdivision thereof or any department, agency, or instrumentality of the State or political subdivision; provided that the bonds issued shall not constitute a general obligation of the State or any political subdivision thereof or any department, agency, or instrumentality of the State or political subdivision and shall not constitute a pledge of the full faith and credit of the entity or of the State or any political subdivision thereof, but shall be payable solely from the funds provided under this chapter.

     "Financing order" means an order of the commission under this chapter that has become final and no longer subject to appeal as provided by law and that authorizes the issuance of bonds and the imposition, adjustment from time to time, and collection of infrastructure resilience charges, and that shall include a procedure to require the expeditious approval by the commission of periodic adjustments to infrastructure resilience charges and to any associated fixed recovery tax amounts included in that financing order to ensure recovery of all infrastructure resilience costs and the costs associated with the proposed recovery, financing, or refinancing thereof, including the costs of servicing and retiring the bonds contemplated by the financing order.

     "Financing party" means any holder of the bonds; any party to or beneficiary of an ancillary agreement; and any trustee, collateral agent, or other person acting for the benefit of any of the foregoing.

     "Fixed recovery tax amounts" means those nonbypassable rates and other charges, including but not limited to distribution, connection, disconnection, and termination rates and charges, that are needed to recover federal and state taxes associated with infrastructure resilience charges authorized by the commission in a financing order, but are not approved as financing costs financed from proceeds of bonds.

     "Infrastructure resilience charges" means the nonbypassable charges, including but not limited to distribution, connection, disconnection, and termination rates and charges, that are authorized in a financing order authorized under this chapter to be imposed on and collected from all existing and future consumers of an electric utility or any successor to recover principal, interest, and other financing costs relating to the bonds issued by its financing entity.

     "Infrastructure resilience costs" means an electric utility's costs to implement its wildfire risk mitigation plan and other investments in infrastructure improvements, modernization, and replacement needed to reduce wildfire risks and increase reliability and resilience to natural disasters and weather-related events, as approved by the commission.

     "Infrastructure resilience property" means the property right created pursuant to this chapter, including but not limited to the right, title, and interest of an electric utility, financing entity, or its assignee:

     (1)  In and to the infrastructure resilience charge established pursuant to a financing order, including the right to impose, bill, collect, and receive the infrastructure resilience charges under the financing order and all rights to obtain adjustments to the infrastructure resilience charge in accordance with section 269G-3 and the financing order; and

     (2)  To be paid the amount that is determined in a financing order to be the amount that the electric utility or its assignee is lawfully entitled to receive pursuant to this chapter and the proceeds thereof, and in and to all revenues, collections, claims, payments, moneys, or proceeds of, or arising from, the infrastructure resilience charge that is the subject of a financing order.

"Infrastructure resilience property" does not include a right to be paid fixed recovery tax amounts.  "Infrastructure resilience property" shall constitute a current property right, notwithstanding the fact that the value of the property right will depend on consumers using electricity or, in those instances where consumers are customers of the electric utility, the electric utility performing certain services.

     "Investor-owned electric utility" means an electric utility that is owned by shareholders and overseen by a board of directors elected by shareholders.

     "Public utility" has the same meaning as in section 269-1.

     "True-up adjustment" means a formulaic adjustment to the infrastructure resilience charges as they appear on consumer bills that is necessary to correct for any overcollection or undercollection of the infrastructure resilience charges authorized by a financing order and to otherwise ensure the timely and complete payment and recovery of infrastructure resilience costs over the authorized repayment term.

     "Wildfire risk mitigation plan" means a plan, which may include a natural hazard mitigation report, in which an electric utility addresses how the electric utility will mitigate the risk to its equipment in the event of a wildfire. [L 2025, c 258, pt of §3]