Note: This glossary uses several acronyms and abbreviations defined in our listing.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ

A

Abrogating - Terminating existing transmission or power supply contracts.

Access charge - A charge levied on a power supplier, or its customer, for access to a utility’s transmission or distribution system. It is a charge for the right to send electricity over another’s wires.

Acid rain - A term generally used to describe rain (and snow) with acidity lower than pH 5.6 (7 is neutral - the lower the number, the greater the amount of acid - normal rain is about 5.8). The acidity of precipitation in the United States due to acidic gases, other than carbon dioxide, is about 60 percent sulfuric acid, 30 percent nitric acid, and 10 percent other acids. The pollution is alleged to generally come from burning fossil fuels.

Action Committee for Rural Electrification (ACRE) - A voluntary political action group that supports candidates for national offices.

Active solar energy - Solar radiation is collected by using equipment which enables the user to transfer, distribute, or store the energy collected for use as required.

Adopt-an-Urban Congressman - A program through which representatives of local cooperatives call on urban members of the U.S. Congress to explain concerns of rural America; coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Affidavit - A written declaration of work done by an electrician.

Aggregator - An entity that combines the needs of several smaller customers into a larger block of power in order to get a better price.

Aggregate load - Similar businesses or groups that come together to form buying groups to negotiate a better rate for power.

Agribusiness - Includes all forms of business involved in agriculture, from producing, processing, storing and distributing commodities to manufacturing and distributing farm equipment or supplies.

Air conditioning hours - The number of hours in a 24-hour period in which the temperature exceeded 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Air-to-air heat pump - (see air source heat pump)

Air source heat pump - A system that can supply both space heating and cooling. In the heating cycle, the heat pump removes heat from the outside air and pumps it indoors. When cooling, the heat pump absorbs heat from the indoors and rejects it to the outside. Also called air-to-air heat pump.

All-requirements customer - An electric utility that purchases all of its wholesale electric power from a single supplier.

All-requirements power contract - A contract primarily used by municipal electric and rural electric systems that describes a formal agreement entered into by a power supply system and its member distribution systems. In this contract the distribution systems agree to purchase all of their wholesale power needs from the power supply system at rates prescribed in the agreement and adjusted periodically to meet the power supply system’s cost of providing the power.

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)- Three or four-wheel vehicle designed for off-road use. May be used by electric utilities for line inspection and other tasks.

Allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC) - Funds listed in the income account as a subdivision of “other income.” They represent amounts concurrently credited for interest charged to the cost of constructing new plants, based generally on the amount expended to date on particular projects.

Alternating current (AC) - A flow of electricity through a conductor that continuously reverses its direction of flow. Each change is called a cycle. The number of cycles during a given time period is called frequency. The standard frequency in the U.S. is 60 cycles per second (60 hertz) – current flows in a standard, alternating current circuit changes direction 60 times every second.

Alternative fuels - Sources of heat energy other than coal, nuclear power, natural gas or oil used to generate electricity; usually renewable materials such as wind, wood chips, solar power or garbage.

Ambient temperature - The temperature in the surrounding area.

American Institute for Cooperation (AIC) - Chartered as a university in 1925, it is the educational and research organization for cooperatives. Affiliated with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

American Public Power Association (APPA) - A national service organization whose membership includes about 1,400 of the country’s 2,225 publicly-owned electric utility systems. Its members include municipalities, state power authorities, and power districts that generate, transmit, and/or distribute electric power.

Ammeter - An instrument that measures electric current in amps.

Ampacity - The current-carrying capacity, expressed in amperes, of an electric conductor under stated thermal conditions.

Ampere - A unit measuring the strength or force of electric current. It is proportional to the quantity of electrons flowing through a conductor, past a given point, in one second. This term is commonly used to indicate the size of circuit breakers and fuses. Amperes equal watts divided by volts: a 1,000-watt heater at 120 volts draws 8.33 amps.

Ampere’s Law - Magnetic field strength produced by an electric current.

Amperes Interrupting Current (AIC) - All over-current protection devices (fuses and circuit breakers) must have an interrupting rating.

Amplitude modulation - A radio broadcast system. AM is acceptable in all references.

Ancillary services - Those services necessary to support the transmission of electric power (replacement of losses, load regulation, etc.).

And/or issue - Charging the user incremental costs to improve the system or the average system cost (not both) when building additional transmission to serve a utility requiring access.

Annual electrical consumption - The amount of kilowatt-hours of electricity used by a consumer over a twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December 31 of the reporting year.

Annual meeting - Once-a-year gathering of members held according to a cooperative’s bylaws for the purpose of electing directors and conducting other cooperative business.

Annual system demand - The highest system demand occurring during a 12-month period.

Anthracite coal - A hard, high-rank coal with high-fixed carbon, which enables it to burn without much smoke emission.

Apparent power - Proportional to the mathematical product of voltage times current in any circuit. Designated kilovolt-amperes (kva) comprised of both real and reactive power. Power used to do work plus power stored during part of a cycle by inductance and capacitance and then returned to the power source.

Apprentice - A person who is in the process of learning a skill or trade, through a combination of employment, training, education, and practical experience under the direction of a qualified individual.

Arc - A discharge of electricity through a gas, a flow of current across an insulated medium.

Area coverage - The provision of electric service to everyone within a designated service area. Cooperatives agreed to provide area coverage in return for fixed interest financing from RUS.

Arrester - A device that limits surge voltages on equipment by discharging or diverting surge current, thereby preventing the build up of excessive voltage on the equipment.

Ash - The noncombustible residue of burned coal. Ash occurs in raw coal as clay, pyrite, or other mineral matter.

Atomic Industrial Forum Inc. (AIF) - Membership: industrial firms, labor, service and research organizations, education, and government agencies with interests in peaceful uses of nuclear energy (including generation of electricity).

Auxiliary equipment - Accessory equipment necessary for operating a generating station. This includes pumps, stokers, fans, pulverizers, etc.

Available but not needed capability - Net capability of main generating units that are operable but not considered necessary to carry load, and cannot be connected to load within 30 minutes.

Average cost - The revenue requirement of a utility divided by the utility’s sales.

Average demand - The amount of energy being consumed in an electric system over an interval in time, as determined by dividing the total number of kilowatt-hours by the number of units of time in the interval.

Average revenue per kilowatt-hour - The average revenue per kilowatt-hour of electricity sold by sector (residential, commercial, industrial, or other) and geographic area (State, Census division, and national) is calculated by dividing the total monthly revenue by the corresponding total monthly sales for each sector and geographic area.

Avoided costs - Costs a utility would otherwise have to pay to generate electricity if purchased from another source.

AWG - American Wire Gauge. The standard for measuring wire in America.

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B

Backup power - Power that is needed when regularly used generating units are not in service: during short-term emergencies or longer unplanned outages, and during periods of scheduled maintenance when the units must be shut down. Short-term backup power is generally called emergency power. Long-range backup power is often provided for in reserve sharing agreements.

Baghouses - Fabric filters used to eliminate fly-ash pollutants in the electric generating process.

Ballast - Device used to maintain current in circuit by varying resistance in response to changes in voltage.

Banks for Cooperatives (BCs) - Financial institutions that, as a part of the Farm Credit System, offer a complete line of credit and leasing services to agricultural cooperatives, rural utilities, and other eligible customers. The three BCs are: the Co-Bank National Bank for Cooperatives, headquartered in Denver, Colo.; the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn.; and the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives, headquartered in Springfield, N.Y.

Barrel (Bbl) - A volumetric unit of measure for crude oil and petroleum products equivalent to 42 U.S. gallons.

Base bill - A charge calculated through multiplication of the rate from the appropriate electric rate schedule by the level of consumption.

Baseload - The minimum amount of electric power delivered or required from a generating system over a specified period of time; usually measured in megawatts (1,000 kilowatts).

Baseload capacity - The generating equipment normally operated to serve loads on an around-the-clock basis.

Baseload plant - This is the kind of generating plant that provides the basic power that is needed year round. A baseload plant runs most of the hours of the year.

Base rate - The portion of the total electric rate that covers the cost of doing business unrelated to fuel expenses.

Basis - (trading terminology) The difference between the cash or product that is being hedged and the price of the futures contract being used as a risk management tool.

Bcf - The abbreviation for 1 billion cubic feet.

Bifurcating - Dividing customer contracts into two separate agreements, one for power sales and one for transmission service.

Billing demand - (see demand)

Biomass conversion - The production of fuel or energy from organic waste, whether it be plant material, animal manure, municipal sewage sludge, or a solid waste.

Bituminous coal - The coal ranked below anthracite. It generally has a high heat content and is soft enough to be readily ground for easy combustion. Bituminous accounts for the bulk of all coal mined in the United States.

Blackout - A temporary loss of electricity in an area because of the failure of generation or transmission equipment.

Block-rate - A charge for electricity under with the cost per kilowatt-hour changes as more kilowatt-hours are sold.

Block-rate schedule - A rate schedule showing different charges for various blocks of power or energy.

Boiler - A device for generating steam for power, processing, or heating purposes or for producing hot water for heating purposes or hot water supply. Heat from an external combustion source is transmitted to a fluid contained within the tubes in the boiler shell. This fluid is delivered to an end-use at a desired pressure, temperature, and quality.

Bond ratings - Values assigned to debt-securities, usually on the basis of earnings and fiscal soundness of the issuing companies. Two principal bond rating agencies are Moody’s Investor Service and Standard & Poor’s Corporation.

Bonding - The electrical interconnecting of conductive parts, designed to maintain a common electrical potential.

Bonds - A security certifying a loan of money at a specified rate of interest and for a specified period of time.

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) - One of five regional federal agencies marketing electricity generated primarily from federal dams. Based in Portland, Ore., BPA sells power in six northwestern states. (See power marketing administrations)

Bottom ash - Slag or other residue remaining in the boiler after coal is burned. (See ash, fly ash, slag)

Branch lines - Distribution lines connect to a main feeder line to carry electricity to one or more customers.

Breeder reactor - The conventional, nuclear generating plant which produces heat by splitting atoms of uranium-235. A breeder reactor uses plutonium and produces a different form of plutonium in the process. A commercial breeder reactor, while providing heat to generate electricity, will make enough different plutonium to refuel itself and another breeder reactor every 10 to 15 years.

British thermal unit (Btu) - The amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one pound of water, one degree Fahrenheit.

Brownout - A condition resulting from lower than normal voltage, duration can be minutes or even hours. Caused by weather, animals, or motor vehicles interfering with distribution equipment.

Btu equivalent of fuels burned - The aggregate heat content of all energy; calculated so that any kind and quantity of fuel burned may be expressed as an equivalent quantity of some other kind of fuel burned.

Btu heat loss - The amount of heat that escapes in one hour's time through walls, ceilings, floors, windows, and doors.

Bulk marketing - Marketing electric energy and demand management, metering services, and billing services for large industrial customers.

Bulk power - Large amount of electricity. It is transported over high-voltage transmission lines.

Bus - An electrical conductor which serves as a common connection for two or more electrical circuits.

Bus bar - Large rigid, bar shaped or tubular conductors that are used to form a bus arrangement.

Bus-bar cost - The total cost of generating electricity, not including substation and transmission losses.

Bylaws - Rules for operating a cooperative approved by the membership.

Bypass isolation switch - A manually operated device used in conjunction with a transfer switch to provide a means of directly connected load conductors to a power source, and of disconnecting the transfer switch.

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C

Cable - Strands of electrical conductor insulated from each other and laid together, often twisted around a central core. Cable may or may not have an insulated covering.

Cable jacket - A protective covering over the insulation, core, or sheath of a cable.

Call - (trading terminology) An options contract that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy futures at a specified price for a specified period of time.

Capacitor - A device that stores electrical charges and can be used to maintain voltage levels in power lines and improve electrical-system efficiency.

Capability - The maximum load that a generating unit, generating station, or other electrical apparatus can carry under specified conditions for a given period of time without exceeding approved limits of temperature and stress.

Capability, Net - The maximum load-carrying ability of the equipment, exclusive of station use, under specified conditions for a given time interval, independent of the characteristics of the load. (Capability is determined by design characteristics, physical conditions, adequacy of prime mover, temperature, headwater and tailwater elevations, and electrical use.)

Capability, Net Summer - The steady hourly output, which generating equipment is expected to supply to system load exclusive of auxiliary power, as demonstrated by tests at the time of summer peak demand.

Capability, Net Winter - The steady hourly output which generating equipment is expected to supply to system load exclusive of auxiliary power, as demonstrated by tests at the time of winter peak demand.

Capacitance - A physical property of all AC circuits that opposes a change in voltage; measured in farads.

Capacitance reactance - A measure of the opposition to current flow that is created by capacitance; measured in ohms.

Capacitor - Two electrodes, or sets of electrodes (often in the form of plates) separated from each other by an insulating material called the dielectric. Capacitors are used to store electrostatic charges.

Capacity - The amount of electric power delivered or required for which a generator, turbine, transformer, transmission circuit, apparatus, station, or system is rated by the manufacturer. Capacity is also used synonymously with capability.

Capacity charge - An element in a two-part pricing method used in capacity transactions (energy charge is the other element). The capacity charge, sometimes called demand charge, is assessed on the amount of capacity being purchased.

Capacity purchased - The amount of energy and capacity available for purchase from outside the system.

Capital credits - Money (income left over after expenses are paid) credited to member consumers of a cooperative, sometimes called patronage capital or equity capital.

Capital expenditures - Construction costs of new utility plants. These include costs of plant additions, improvements, and replacements, as well as expenditures for the purchase or acquisition of existing utility plant facilities.

Capital intensive - Having a high assets to sales ratio. Utilities often have $3 to $4 of assets for every $1 of sales while another manufacturer may have only 80 cents of assets for every $1 of sales.

Capital Term Certificate (CTC) - An unsecured, subordinated debt obligation of the CFC purchased by members as fifty-year investments. These investments are made as a condition of membership and for receiving a long-term loan. CTCs represent debt of CFC, which is subordinated to all other indebtedness, including that incurred in the capital markets through the sale of CFC bonds and commercial paper, and through bank loans.

Capitalization - The total of a company¹s long-term debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity.

Capitalization ratios - The ratios of long-term debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity to total capitalization.

Captive shipper - An industry, utility, farmer or other individual or entity who must rely on a single railroad line for shipping goods or receiving raw materials.

Ceiling cable - A resistance heating system that radiates heat by heating air in the room by convection.

Central station service - Electricity provided by a utility rather than generated by the user.

Chain reaction - A self-sustaining series of fissions which occur when a neutron splits an atom, releasing sufficient neutrons to cause many other atoms to split in the same way.

Charge - The basis of electric energy, manifested in current, voltage, and electric field as positive or negative elements that attracts unlike and repels like charged bodies.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - Chemicals used as refrigerants and propellants in aerosol cans. Studies have shown that these compounds are destroying the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere.

Circuit - The path of electric current from the power source, through the conductors, through the device using the power, back through the conductors, and back to the source of power. The two types of circuits are:

• Series circuit - A circuit in which electricity has only one path.

• Parallel circuit - A circuit in which electricity has multiple paths.

Circuit breaker - A time-delay circuit interrupter, which opens the circuit when the current flow exceeds the breaker/rating for a short period of time.

Circuit recloser - A device that protects electric lines by momentarily interrupting service when a fault occurs, then restoring power automatically when the fault is cleared. This keeps outages from occurring when temporary problems happen, like branches touching a line.

Class rate schedule - An electrical rate given to similar classes of electric users such as residential or commercial.

Clean Air Act - A national law passed in 1963 and amended several times since, giving the U.S. Government broad powers to limit air pollution.

Clean-air technology - Involves a new generation of emission-control devices that can remove pollutants at coal-fired power plants more efficiently and reliably than scrubbers.

Clean-coal technology - A broad term covering any type of new technology for reducing emissions from coal-fired power plants. It is being developed as an alternative to scrubbers, which use as much as 5 percent of the total power the plant generates and produces solid waste that must be discarded.

Coal - A black or brownish-black solid combustible substance formed by the partial decomposition of vegetable matter without access to air.

Coal gasification - The conversion of coal to a gas that is suitable for use as a fuel.

Coal liquefaction -The process of converting coal to a liquid for use as synthetic petroleum.

Coal slurry - A process by which coal is ground fine enough to be suspended into a solution of water so it may be transported in an underground pipeline from a place close to where it is mined to the final destination for use.

Coefficient of performance (COP) - The ratio of the rate of heat delivered versus the rate of energy input in consistent units, or a complete, operating heat pump system under designated operating conditions.

Cogeneration - Consumers who have the capability of producing their own power and energy requirements, and selling their excess electricity back to the local electric company. Cogeneration is the dual use of steam (thermal and electrical) produced by an industrial process, such as a wood processing plant. The Department of Energy has encouraged the development of cogeneration resources.

Cogenerator - A generating facility that produces electricity and another form of useful thermal energy (such as heat or steam), used for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling purposes. To receive status as a qualifying facility (QF) under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), the facility must produce electric energy and another form of useful thermal energy through the sequential use of energy, and meet certain ownership, operating, and efficiency criteria established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Coincident demand - (see demand)

Coincidental peak load - The sum of two or more peakloads that occur in the same time interval.

Cold reserve - Thermal generating units available for service but not maintained at operating temperature.

Combination company - A company which provides more than one type of service, such as electric and gas service. If more than 95 percent of a company’s utility plant is devoted to one type of service, or if more than 95 percent of its operating revenues are derived from one type of service, it is not classified as a combination company.

Combined cycle - An electric generating technology in which electricity is produced from otherwise lost waste heat exiting from one or more gas (combustion) turbines. The exiting heat is routed to a conventional boiler or to a heat recovery steam generator for utilization by a steam turbine in the production of electricity. This process increases the efficiency of the electric generating unit.

Combined cycle unit - An electric generating unit that consists of one or more combustion turbines and one or more boilers with a portion of the required energy input to the boiler(s) provided by the exhaust gas of the combustion turbine(s).

Combined pumped-storage plant - A pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant that uses both pumped water and natural streamflow to produce electricity.

Commercial Consumer - A business establishment using electricity.

Commercial customer - A company in a non-manufacturing business. The utility may classify commercial service as all consumers whose demand or annual use exceeds some specified limit. The limit may be set by the utility based on the rate schedule of the utility.

Common mortgage (REA-CFC) - A mortgage held by REA and CFC used to secure loans made concurrently by the two agencies.

Common Use - Simultaneous use by two or more utilities of the same kind.

Comparability - The concept that transmission tariffs charged to third parties for transmission use must be the same as the transmission provider charges itself for comparable service, under similar terms and conditions.

Competitive transition charge (CTC) - A charge on an electric bill to recover a utility company's fixed cost for serving individual customers.

Conductor - A material that allows an electric current to pass through it. Also, the wire that carries electricity in an electric distribution or transmission system.

Congressional Budget Office - The arm of Congress that prepares fiscal estimates and budgets.

Connection charge - A one-time charge paid by a consumer for expenses involved in connecting the electrical service to the consumer’s home or business.

Conservation - Wise use of resources. (See efficiency)

Construction work in progress (CWIP) - A sub-account in the utility plant section of the company’s balance sheet representing the sum of the balances of work orders for utility plants in the process of construction, but not yet placed in service.

Consumption (fuel) - The amount of fuel used for gross generation, providing standby service, start-up and/or flame stabilization.

Contract demand - (see demand)

Contract price - Price of fuels marketed on a contract basis covering a period of one or more years. Contract prices reflect market conditions at the time the contract was negotiated and therefore remain constant throughout the life of the contract or are adjusted through escalation clauses. Generally, contract prices do not fluctuate widely.

Contract receipts - Purchases based on a negotiated agreement that generally covers a period of one or more years.

Cooperative electric utility - A system in which consumers of electricity own their own distribution system, which in turn owns the wholesale power supplier.

Cooperative Benefit Administrators, Inc. (CBA) - A wholly owned subsidiary of NRECA that processes and administers medical, dental and disability claims.

Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) - Common name for National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation. (See National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation)

Cooperative Month - An annual October commemoration of the importance of cooperative organizations.

COP - Coefficient of Performance. A measurement of a heat pump in the heating mode. The ratio of how much heat energy that is moved compared to how much energy is consumed in moving it.

Cost - The amount paid to acquire resources, such as plant and equipment, fuel, or labor services.

Cost-based rates - When consumers are on cost-based rates, each rate classification (residential, commercial, irrigation, etc.) pays its fair share of the electric company¹s costs; there is no subsidization between rate classifications. The total costs are divided into rate components based on the costs each class imposes on the cooperative.

Cost of service - The total amount required to provide a member consumer with electric service, not including the cost of energy used.

Cost-of-service study - Identifies what it costs the electric company to serve its various classes of consumers and provides the basis for evaluating different discount and incentive programs. The result of preparing this study is the development of “cost-based” rates.

Cove heater - A heating system installed on the wall near the ceiling, combining radiant and convective heat.

Critical mass - The point at which fuel in a nuclear reactor becomes capable of sustaining a chain reaction.

Current - The flow of electrons through a conductor.

Customer charge - Sometimes used to recover fixed costs for serving individual customers. These fixed costs are recovered through a flat charge to the customer, regardless of the amount of energy used. (See connection charge, facilities charge or service charge)

Customer choice - A term used interchangeably with retail wheeling in the electric utility industry. It allows retail customers to select the power supplier or generator they buy electricity from.

Customer classifications - Customers are categorized and charged by type of rate classification. These may include: residential, commercial, industrial, public street and highway lighting, public authorities, railroads and railways.

Customer transition charge - A charge on an electric bill to recover a utility company’s fixed cost for serving individual customers.

Cyberspace - A general reference to doing things electronically by computer over the Internet.

Cycle - In alternating current, the current goes from zero voltage to a maximum in one direction, back to zero and then to maximum in the other direction and back to zero again constituting a cycle.

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D

DC - Direct current.

Debt service coverage (DSC) - Ratio of margins, interest, and depreciation to debt service.

Debt-to-equity ratio - The amount a system owes in relation to the amount it owns.

Declining block rates - Residential rates in which the charge per kWh declines with increased use.

De-energized - Free from any electrical connection to a source of potential difference and from electric charge; not having a potential different from that of the earth.

Degree day - Used to estimate energy requirements for heating and cooling a building, this is a measure of the deviation of the mean daily temperature from a given standard, with each variance from the standard during a single day recorded as one degree day.

Delivery point - The point, usually a substation, to which electricity is transmitted from its generating sources.

Delta connection - A connection used in three-phased systems in which three coils (or three resistors) are connected end-to-end so that they effectively form a triangle.

Demand - The amount of electricity a customer takes at any given moment (varies from hour to hour, day to day, and season to season). This usage, which is expressed in kilowatts (not in kilowatt-hours), is called the “demand” on the system. Seasonal demands are affected by the number of hours of daylight, temperature extremes, and activities such as agricultural processes. These are five different types:

• Billing demand - The demand, which is used to determine the demand charges in accordance with the provisions of a rate schedule or contract.

• Coincident demand - Any demand that occurs simultaneously with any other demand; also, the sum of any set of coincident demands. Refers to the maximum demand which occurs at a specific time. For example, it may represent a distribution system’s demand at the time of its power supplier’s peak or an individual consumer’s demand at the time of his respective substation peak. The coincident demands are normally used in cost-of-service studies to allocate demand-related costs to consumer categories.

• Contract demand - The demand (kW) for which a consumer agrees to pay whether the electrical power is used or not, which the seller must make available at all times.

• Maximum demand - The greatest of all demands of the load that has occurred within a specified period of time.

• Non-coincident demand - The highest demand over any given time frame, usually a month or a year, without regard to any other system¹s demand.

Demand charge - Electric rates paid by large retail customers and by wholesale customers (such as electric distribution cooperatives), which include separate charges for demand and energy. The demand charge is based on the customer’s maximum kilowatt demand on the system. The energy charge is based on the number of kilowatt-hours used.

Demand interval - A term used to describe any period of time during which the flow of electric energy is averaged in order to determine energy demand.

Demand meter - A meter that measures and records the kilowatt level (rate) at which electric energy is delivered to a system.

Demand option - A measure that an electric company or consumer may take to modify the demand levels or reshape the daily or seasonal load curve. Demand options encompass both economic and load control measures. For example, economic measures would include time-of-use rates, which offer a discount designed to attract loads to the off-peak period. An example of load control would be irrigation systems, which agree to have their power interrupted under agreed-upon conditions in exchange for a lower demand rate.

Demand ratchet - When applied, the current month¹s demand is compared with the previous 11 months’ demand and if a specified percentage of each of the 11 months or seasonal peak exceeds the present month¹s demand, the highest figure is used. Any figure can be used as the percentage, such as 60 percent, 75 percent or 100 percent. By using a demand ratchet, a strong price signal is given to encourage demand reduction at the critical times on the electric system. Coupled with the proper load management program, a demand ratchet can provide an effective means to limit capacity requirements as well as an incentive to use power in the off-peak months.

Demand rate - A rate combining a charge for the peak demand placed on the system, plus the charge for energy used during the billing period. A charge for electric service based on the size of a consumer’s installation or maximum kilowatt demand.

Density - The average number of consumers per mile of power line.

Department of Energy (DOE) - A federal department in Washington, D.C., created by President Carter by bringing together various energy-related agencies.

Depreciation - Defined in the REA Uniform Systems of Accounts as “the loss in service value of depreciable plant not restored by current maintenance resulting from causes against which no insurance is carried, such as wear and tear, decay, action of the elements, inadequacy, obsolescence, changes in the art, changes in demand, and requirements of public authorities.”

Deregulation - Reduction or elimination of government oversight of a segment of a private industry - usually a basic public service such as electricity, telecommunications or transportation services.

Design conditions - Cooling loads vary with inside and outside conditions. A set of conditions specific to a local climate is necessary to calculate the expected cooling load for a home.

Dielectric - A nonconductor of electricity. The property of an insulating material for opposing electrical fields.

Dip - (see sag)

Direct access - The ability of a retail customer to purchase commodity electricity directly from the wholesale market rather than through a local distribution utility.

Direct current (DC) - Electricity that flows through a circuit in a single direction. This current is maintained by a constant voltage.

Disaggregation - Separating a vertically integrated utility into smaller, individually owned transmission, distribution and generation units.

Disconnecting or isolating switch - A mechanical switching device used for changing the connections in a circuit, or for isolating a circuit or equipment from a source of power.

Dispatching - The operating control of an integrated electric system involving such operations as the assignment of load to specific generating stations to result in the most reliable and economical use of fuel supply. Also, the control of operations and maintenance of high voltage lines, substations and equipment, the operation of principal tie lines and switching, and the schedule of energy transactions with other connecting electric utilities.

Displacement power - Power from one generating source displaces power from another generating source. Usually this permits power from the latter source to be transmitted to more distant loads.

Dispersed generation - Small, decentralized generators such as diesel or combustion turbines, designed to supplement or replace power generated at large generating plants. Typically located at or near the point of use.

Distribution - That part of an electrical system that delivers power from a substation to the end user (customer). May include substations.

Distribution cooperative - An electric cooperative that purchases wholesale power and delivers it to member-owners.

Distribution lines - The conductors that deliver power from the substation to the service transformers. May be either overhead or underground.

Distribution system - That portion of a power system that functions to deliver power from a substation to the end user (customer). Typically consists of both overhead and underground components and may include substations.

Diversity - The effect of various types of electrical load on a utility system’s total demand for electricity. Loads, which create demand at different times, allow for more efficient use of available generating capacity.

Diversity interchange - Occurs when interconnected utilities experience peak loads at different times.

Diversification - Movement by a business into a new product or service outside its core business. In recent years many electric utilities have added a wide range of other services, which may be related to their energy-supply function - such as natural gas, propane, electric surge suppression and energy-efficient appliances - or complimentary services, such as home and business security, television programming and internet services.

Down - Denotes an electrical system component, or apparatus that is not operating.

Dragline - A large mobile excavator used in a strip mine to remove dirt and other material covering coal seams.

Drip-loop - An intentional sag placed in conductors that connect to overhead conductors; the drip loop will prevent rainwater from entering the weatherhead.

Drop-out - A momentary loss of voltage, possibly as short as part of a half cycle.

Dry-bulb temperature - The temperature measured by a standard thermometer.

DSC - Debt Service Coverage - Patronage capital and margins, plus depreciation and amortization expense, plus interest expense, divided by long-term debt service.

Dual-fuel heating - A system in which another heat source takes over when electricity is cut off at peak periods of electric use. Designed to keep costs down by making it unnecessary for a utility to call on more expensive sources of power during periods of high demand for electricity.

Dual fuel - A heating system that combines two fuel sources - electricity as a primary and propane, oil or other fuel as a secondary source (or vice versa). This is accomplished by either adding an electric heating unit to a gas furnace or adding propane or oil appliances as a backup system to an electric appliance.

Duct work - Passages usually made of sheet metal through which hot or cool air is blown in forced-air systems.

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E

Earth, earth - Capitalize when referring to Earth as a planet. Use lowercase when referring to soil, ground, etc.

Earth-coupled heat pump - An efficient electrical device for heating and cooling a home or other building by moving heat into or out of the structure. It uses an antifreeze solution or refrigerant in a pipe buried in the ground to collect or disperse heat (see geothermal system, ground-source heat pump, heat pump, water-source heat pump).

Easement - A right purchased from property owner(s) that allows utility companies to construct, operate, maintain and control facilities, such as transmission lines, on the property.

ECAR - East Central Reliability Coordination Agreement - One of ten regional electric power planning and pooling organizations that are members of the North American Electric Reliability Council.

Economic dispatch - Determines the share of the minute-by-minute load demand that each committed unit has, so that the overall system operating cost is minimized.

Economic Regulatory Administration (ERA) - ERA administers the department’s regulatory programs, other than those assigned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. These functions include oil pricing, allocation, and import programs designed to ensure price stability and equitable supplies of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas liquids among a wide range of domestic users.

Economies of scale - A condition achieved when costs are reduced due to operation or output at a higher volume. For services, there may be economies of scale in delivering to a larger number of customers, allowing fixed costs to be spread over a larger number.

Ecowatts - An umbrella term for substituting electricity for conventional fossil fuels in a wide range of transportation and industrial uses, in order to obtain net energy savings and environmental gains.

Edison Electric Institute (EEI) - EEI members include investor-owned electric power companies and electric utility holding companies. Focuses on economics, industrial relations, and statistics of the electric industry. Acts as liaison with the federal government in all areas of electric utility operation and concern. Publications available. Library open to public by appointment.

Effectively grounded - Intentionally connected to earth through a ground connection or connections of sufficiently low impedance and having sufficient current-carrying capacity to prevent the buildup of voltages that may result in undue hazard to connected equipment or to persons.

Efficiency - Making maximum use of a resource. Requires less sacrifice than conservation, but stresses getting the most benefit out of each unit of a resource used.

Effective values - AC values for current and voltage based on the relationship that one ampere, peak value, of AC current produces the same heating effect as .707 amperes of DC current; also called RMS values.

EIA - The Energy Information Administration. An independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that develops surveys, collects energy data and analyzes and models energy issues.

Electric broker - An entity, which matches up producers of electricity with customers. Does not take ownership of or financial position in the transaction.

Electric Circus - A Federal Rural Electrification Administration traveling show that demonstrated uses of electricity to rural people from 1938 to 1942.

Electric continuity - An unbroken low-impedance path through which electrons flow.

Electric cooperative - A non-profit, member-owned electric utility company. Some cooperatives are G & T’s. As with other co-op businesses, any margin is returned to the consumers according to the amount of business conducted with the co-op.

Electric current - The flow of electrons in a conductor between two points having a difference in potential, generally expressed in amperes.

Electric energy - As commonly used in the electric utility industry, the use of power over time, commonly measured in kilowatt-hours.

Electric merchant - Term used with the advent of electric utility restructuring to denote an entity, which provides electricity and serves wholesale and retail customers.

Electric marketer - An entity, which purchases and resells electric energy and capacity to customers. Assumes ownership of the electric energy and/or capacity.

Electric plant (physical) - A facility containing prime movers, electric generators, and auxiliary equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, and/or fission energy into electric energy.

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) - A non-profit, research organization financed by electric utilities for the purposes of research and development of energy resources.

Electric rate schedule - A statement of the electric rate and the terms and conditions governing its application, including attendant contract terms and conditions that have been accepted by a regulatory body with appropriate oversight authority.

Electric thermal storage (ETS) - A type of heater that uses electricity during periods of low use to heat a ceramic material in an insulated cabinet to high temperatures, then releases the stored heat when electric use is high.

Electrocution - Death caused by electrical current through the heart, usually over 50 milliamperes.

Electric utility - A corporation, person, agency or other legal entity or instrumentality that owns and/or operates facilities within the United States, its territories or Puerto Rico for the generation, transmission, distribution or sale of electric energy primarily for use by the public and files forms listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 141. Facilities that qualify as co generators or small power producers under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) are not considered electric utilities.

Electricity - Electric current or power that results from the movement of electrons in a conductor from a negatively charged point to a positively charged point.

Electrification Council (EC) - Members include the electric industry trade associations and independent manufacturers. Conducts training programs and provides educational materials to industrial and commercial power consumers. Interests include the efficient production, use, and management of energy.

Electromagnetic field laboratory studies - research which involves exposing cells, tissues, and animals to electric or magnetic fields under a variety of controlled conditions.

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) - Electric and magnetic fields often occur together, hence the term electromagnetic fields. They are found throughout nature and can be grouped by wavelength or frequency. The counterparts have the following definitions:

• Electric fields - Created by voltage. Anytime something electric is plugged in it has an electric field, even if it is not in use. An electric field, in some instances, can be felt when the hair on your neck stands up during a lightning storm, for example. An electric field can be blocked by trees, walls, or buildings.

• Magnetic fields - Created by current. Anything that carries electricity (such as power lines) and anything that uses electricity (such as home appliances in use) has a magnetic field. A magnetic field cannot be felt, and it passes through most objects.

Electron - Any of the negatively charged particles that form a part of all atoms.

Electronic meter reading - A system that uses a hand-held computer to record and store electric-use information from consumers’ meters then transmits that information to a central computer that prepares bills.

Electrostatic precipitator - An electronic pollution control device that removes particles of fly ash from a power plant's waste gases. The device first charges particles in the gas stream and then collects them on an oppositely charged surface.

Ellis Award - Award presented annually by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to an electric cooperative employee or director for outstanding service; named for Clyde T. Ellis, NRECA’s first general manager.

Embedded cost - Investments already made in a system to provide service, resulting in fixed costs such as debt and depreciation.

Embedded costs exceeding market prices (ECEMP) - Embedded costs of utility investments exceeding market prices are: costs incurred pursuant to a regulatory or contractual obligation; costs that are reflected in cost-based rates; and cost-based rates that exceed the price of alternatives in the market place. ECEMPs may become “stranded costs” where they exceed the amount that can be recovered through the asset’s sale.

Eminent domain - The power of a government body to condemn and use private property for public use with just compensation to the property owner.

Energy - The capacity for doing work; may be natural or manufactured. Electrical energy is usually measured in kilowatt-hours.

Energy audit - A study of residential, commercial or industrial buildings to show energy users how to save money by using energy more efficiently.

Energy Awareness Month - Sponsored each October by the U.S. Department of Energy and about 30 other organizations, including NRECA; designed to promote greater public awareness of the importance of (1) energy resources, (2) efficiency in energy use and (3) energy conservation.

Energy brokers - Companies that act as middlemen in an electronic marketplace in which electric power is priced, purchased and traded.

Energy charge - The part of an electric bill based on the amount of electricity used.

Energy deliveries - Energy generated by one electric utility system and delivered to another system through one or more transmission lines.

Energy efficiency - Refers to programs that are aimed at reducing the energy used by specific end use devices and systems, typically without affecting the services provided. These programs reduce overall electricity consumption (reported in megawatt-hours), often without explicit consideration for the timing of program-induced savings. Such savings are generally achieved by substituting technically more advanced equipment to produce the same level of end-use services (e.g. lighting, heating, motor drive) with less electricity. Examples include high-efficiency appliances, efficient lighting programs, high-efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems or control modifications, efficient building design, advanced electric motor drives, and heat recovery systems.

Energy efficiency ratio (EER) - The ratio of heating/cooling capacity (output) in Btus, divided by power input in watts. It is expressed as Btu/watt. The higher the EER, the more efficient the unit.