69-2-301. Definitions. As used in this part, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Approval authority" means the commission for a regulated utility, the board of trustees for an electric cooperative, the city council or city commission for a municipal utility, or the appropriate body responsible for corporate governance of any other type of electric facilities provider.

(2) "Commission" has the same meaning as provided in 69-1-101.

(3) "Department" means the department of natural resources and conservation, as provided in 2-15-3301.

(4) "Electric cooperative" means a cooperative organized under Title 35, chapter 18, or a similar state law for providing electricity to the public in Montana.

(5) "Electric facilities" means any equipment used for the transmission or distribution of electricity to the public, including but not limited to generation and energy storage resources, substations, switchyards, poles, towers, transformers, conductors, and relaying, sectionalizing, and protective equipment, such as arrestors.

(6) "Electric facilities provider" means any of the following that engages in electric transmission and distribution activities as defined in this section:

(a) an operator, regulated utility, or electric cooperative;

(b) a municipally owned utility;

(c) an entity owning electric facilities in the state without regard to the jurisdiction of the commission; or

(d) a transmitting utility under the jurisdiction of the federal energy regulatory commission.

(7) "Electric transmission and distribution activities" means a condition, activity, or facility directly related to the conveyance and distribution of electrical energy to a person, facility, transmission, or distribution system in the state.

(8) "Jointly owned electric facility" means an identified set of electric facilities that is jointly owned by multiple parties and operated by a designated operator.

(9) "Operator" means the person or entity designated by the owners of a jointly owned electric facility as defined in this section as responsible for the operation and maintenance of jointly owned electric facilities.

(10) "Regulated utility" means a public electric utility regulated by the commission under Title 69, chapter 3.

(11) "Wildfire" has the same meaning as "forest or range fire" as defined in 50-63-104 and, for the purposes of this part, a fire ignited by electric facilities or activities associated with electric transmission and distribution activities, regardless of whether the fire's ignition occurs within an incorporated municipality.

(12) "Wildfire mitigation plan" means an electric facilities provider's written plan, including any related components, that identifies risks associated with wildfire and strategies to mitigate or reduce those risks.