1. (a) Except as provided in section 1.1 of this chapter, "public utility", as used in this chapter, means every corporation, company, partnership, limited liability company, individual, association of individuals, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by a court, that may own, operate, manage, or control any plant or equipment within the state for the:

   1. (1) conveyance of telegraph or telephone messages;
   2. (2) production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of heat, light, water, or power; or

   3. (3) collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and industrial waste.

      The term does not include a municipality that may acquire, own, or operate any of the foregoing facilities.

2. (b) "Municipal council", as used in this chapter, means the legislative body of any town or city in Indiana wherein the property of the public utility or any part thereof is located.
3. (c) "Municipality", as used in this chapter, means any city or town of Indiana.
4. (d) "Rate", as used in this chapter, means every individual or joint rate, fare, toll, charge, rental, or other compensation of any utility or any two (2) or more such individual or joint rates, fares, tolls, charges, rentals, or other compensation of any utility or any schedule or tariff thereof, but nothing in this subsection shall give the commission any control, jurisdiction, or authority over the rate charged by a municipally owned utility except as in this chapter expressly provided.
5. (e) "Service" is used in this chapter in its broadest and most inclusive sense and includes not only the use or accommodation afforded consumers or patrons but also any product or commodity furnished by any public or other utility and the plant, equipment, apparatus, appliances, property, and facility employed by any public or other utility in performing any service or in furnishing any product or commodity and devoted to the purposes in which such public or other utility is engaged and to the use and accommodation of the public.
6. (f) "Commission", as used in this chapter, means the commission created by IC 8-1-1-2 .

7. (g) "Utility", as used in this chapter, means every plant or equipment within the state used for:

   1. (1) the conveyance of telegraph and telephone messages;
   2. (2) the production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of heat, light, water, or power, either directly or indirectly to the public; or

   3. (3) collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and industrial waste.

      The term does not include a municipality that may acquire, own, or operate facilities for the collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and industrial waste. A warehouse owned or operated by any person, firm, limited liability company, or corporation engaged in the business of operating a warehouse business for the storage of used household goods is not a public utility within the meaning of this chapter.

8. (h) "Municipally owned utility", as used in this chapter, includes every utility owned or operated by a municipality.

9. (i) "Indeterminate permit", as used in this chapter, means every grant, directly or indirectly from the state, to any corporation, company, partnership, limited liability company, individual, association of individuals, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by a court, of power, right, or privilege to own, operate, manage, or control any plant or equipment, or any part of a plant or equipment, within this state, for the:

   1. (1) production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of heat, light, water, or power, either directly or indirectly to or for the public;
   2. (2) collection, treatment, purification, and disposal in a sanitary manner of liquid and solid waste, sewage, night soil, and industrial waste; or

   3. (3) furnishing of facilities for the transmission of intelligence by electricity between points within this state;

      which shall continue in force until such time as the municipality shall exercise its right to purchase, condemn, or otherwise acquire the property of such public utility, as provided in this chapter, or until it shall be otherwise terminated according to law.

10. (j) "Communications service provider", as used in this chapter, has the meaning set forth in IC 8-1-2.6-13 .

11. (k) "Court reporter", as used in this chapter, means an individual using:

    1. (1) manual or stenographic shorthand;
    2. (2) electronic tape recording;
    3. (3) digital recording; or

    4. (4) another method;

       as approved in the Indiana Rules of Court, to make a record of a proceeding.

       Formerly: Acts 1913, c.76, s.1a; Acts 1955, c.37, s.1; Acts 1957, c.313, s.1. As amended by P.L.59-1984, SEC.8; P.L.384-1987(ss), SEC.5; P.L.8-1989, SEC.38; P.L.8-1993, SEC.105; P.L.91-1995, SEC.2; P.L.27-2006, SEC.3; P.L.145-2015, SEC.1; P.L.9-2025, SEC.4.

As amended by P.L.59-1984, SEC.8; P.L.384-1987(ss), SEC.5; P.L.8-1989, SEC.38; P.L.8-1993, SEC.105; P.L.91-1995, SEC.2; P.L.27-2006, SEC.3; P.L.145-2015, SEC.1; P.L.9-2025, SEC.4.