Alternative Retail Electric Supplier (ARES) - An entity, other than a jurisdictional utility, which sells electricity to retail electric customers.
ATC (Around the Clock) - Products that are “around the clock” mean that the energy price does not change every hour, or during the “on-peak/off-peak” hours.
Bandwidth – The area just above or below the customer’s historical energy usage pattern. Usually, this area is 15% above and 15% below the usage pattern.
Biomass – Energy resources derived from organic matter. These include wood, agricultural waste and other living-cell material that can be burned to produce heat energy. They also include algae, sewage and other organic substances that may be used to make energy through chemical processes.
Bundled Service – Full service including generation, transmission and distribution.
Capacity – The generation resources available to meet local requirements.
Combination Price – A type of BSE product in which the customer’s price is a blend of both a fixed-price and an indexed-price.
Compact Fluorescent Bulb – Light bulbs that combine the energy efficiency of fluorescent lighting with the convenience of a standard incandescent bulb. Most produce a similar color of light as a standard incandescent bulb.
Demand – A customer-specific value that reflects the peak amount of energy required at any given point during the day.
Direct Access Service Request (DASR) - An electronic request made by a retail electric supplier, metering service provider or a customer self-manager on behalf of a retail customer for delivery services or metering services from the utility. The DASR begins the process of switching the customer from one electric power and energy supplier or metering provider to another.
Direct Supply (DS) – The energy supply purchased in the wholesale market.
Data Requests - Requests that come from customers, customer agents, metering service providers or from retail electric suppliers, with customer authorization, to the utility for customer-specific historical billing and usage data.
Delivery Services Tariffs - The tariffs filed with and approved by the ICC that identify the services, terms, conditions and charges for delivery services under jurisdiction of the ICC.
Deregulation – The elimination of regulation from a previously regulated industry. A deregulated industry is one that was formerly a monopoly regulated and controlled by the government and has since become open to competition from the private sector.
Distribution System - The lower voltage, smaller capacity network of wires and equipment that connects the transmission system to the customer.
DSM (Demand-Side Management) - The energy supplier works with the customer to help lower their energy costs by increasing efficiency in energy usage. So, rather than simply serving as the source of energy supply, they work to decrease the amount of energy that the customer requires - without impacting productivity.
DST (Delivery Service) - Those services provided by the electric utility that are necessary in order for the transmission and distribution systems to function so that retail customers located in the electric utility’s service area can receive electric power and energy from suppliers other than the electric utility, and shall include, without limitation, standard metering and billing services.
Electric Utility – A Company or organization that distributes electricity to customers within a specific geography.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - The format for the interchange of data electronically, in this case generally pursuant to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Utility Industry Group (UIG) standard, with some modifications.
EDI Transaction - The exchange of data in EDI format, in accordance with one of the approved transaction sets.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) - EFT is a method of transferring funds electronically between bank accounts to pay invoices.
Eligible Switch Date –The earliest date that an account is eligible to switch to another supply option.
Energy Consumption – The amount of energy consumed in the form in which it is acquired by the user. The term excludes electrical generation and distribution losses.
Energy Efficiency – Using less energy to perform the same function.
Energy Imbalance - The difference that occurs between scheduled energy usage and the actual usage of energy during an hour.
Energy Provider – A company that supplies energy in the form of electricity, natural gas or green power to customers.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) - The federal organization that regulates electric power and energy in interstate commerce.
Fixed Rate – A per unit cost that does not change, allowing customers to pay the same rate (or cost per unit of energy) for several years.
FRCQ (Fixed Rate Contract Quantity) - The portion of the contracted energy bill that is a fixed price.
General Account Agent - An individual or entity that has been designated by a customer to act on behalf of the customer in arranging and managing tariffed services provided by the Company in regard to one or more designated account(s).
Generation – The act of changing other forms of energy, such as fossil fuels, nuclear or renewable energy, into electricity.
Green Power – Energy that is generated from renewable sources such as wind, hydro (water), solar and biomass.
Indexed Price – The rate the customer is charged that is different for each hour of the day. This type of price can be determined by either “Real Time” or “Day Ahead.”
ISO (Independent System Operator) - An organization that is independent of any market participant and that has control of the transmission system, and has continuous, instantaneous information on the state of the transmission system.
Intermediate Peak Demand (kW)- The highest average intermediate-peak kilowatts (kW) load between monthly meter readings. Intermediate-peak hours are defined in contract with ARES or in utility tariff.
Intermediate Peak Usage (kWh)- Total kilowatt-hours (kWh) used during intermediate-peak hours for the billing period. Intermediate-peak hours are defined in contract with ARES or in utility tariff.
kW (KiloWatt) – One thousand (1,000) watts. A unit of measure of the amount of electricity needed to operate given equipment.
kWh (KiloWatt Hour) – The most commonly-used unit of measure to explain the amount of electricity consumed over time. It means one kiloWatt of electricity supplied for one hour.
Letter of Authorization (LOA) - An agreement signed by the customer that empowers the retail electric supplier to be the customer's supplier of retail electricity, or that empowers the metering service provider to be the customer's supplier of metering service.
Load or Demand - Usually refers to the amount of electricity used at one time by a customer or group of customers. Load may also refer to the demand placed on the electric system at a given time.
Load Profile - A graph or tabulation that represents the electric load or demand of a customer or group of customers over some period of time.
Load Serving Entity (LSE) - Any entity (or duly designated agent of such an entity), including a load aggregator or power marketer, serving end users.
Megawatt - A measure of demand that equals 1,000 kilowatts. The demand quantities on bills are measured in megawatts or in kilowatts.
Megawatt-hour - A measure of electric energy usage equal to 1,000 kilowatt hours, it represents the delivery of one megawatt of power for a period of one hour. A kilowatt-hour will light a 100-watt bulb for 10 hours or operate a 1,000 watt appliance for one hour. The usage quantities on bills are measured in kilowatt-hours or in megawatt-hours.
MISO (Midwest Independent System Operator) - a Regional Transmission Operator.
Monopoly – A business environment in which one seller controls all market sales. Utility companies no longer act as monopolies in states where the energy industry has been deregulated.
NERC (The North American Electric Reliability Council) - a non-profit entity that sets industry guidelines.
Off-Peak Demand (kW) - The highest average off-peak kilowatts (kW) load between monthly meter readings. Off-peak hours are defined in contract with ARES or in utility tariff.
Off-Peak Usage (kWh) - Total kilowatt-hours (kWh) used during off-peak hours for the billing period. Off-peak hours are defined in contract with ARES or in utility tariff.
On-Peak Demand (kW) - The highest average on-peak kilowatts (kW) load between monthly meter readings. On-peak hours are defined in contract with ARES or in utility tariff.
On-Peak Usage (kWh) - Total kilowatt-hours (kWh) used during on-peak hours for the billing period. On-peak hours are defined in contract with ARES or utility tariff. On-peak hours represent the times of the day when the demand for electricity is highest.
Open Access - A key component of the restructuring process that allows customers to obtain access to a utility’s delivery services, separate from the purchase of electric power and energy and to purchase their power and energy from qualified suppliers.
Peak Demand (kW) - The highest average kilowatts (kW) load during any fifteen-minute period between monthly meter readings.
Peak Load Contribution (PLC) - A customers contribution to a zone’s normalized summer peak load, as estimated by the zone’s electrical distribution company (EDC). PLC is used to determine a load serving rntity’s (LSE’s) obligation peak load.
Peak Reactive Power (kVAR) – When combined with peak demand (kW), one can determine how much total power is supplied. Total supplied power is measured in kVAR.
PJM (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland) - a Regional Transmission Operator.
PSC (Public Service Commission) - State-run PSCs provide a regulatory environment under which electric, gas, telecommunication and water utilities operate.
PUC (Public Utility Commission) - State-run PUCs provide a regulatory environment under which electric, gas, telecommunication and water utilities operate.
Power – Electricity for use as energy.
Reliability - The ability of an electric system to deliver electric power and energy to customers continuously under different conditions.
Renewable Energy – Resources that constantly renew themselves or that are regarded as practically inexhaustible. These include solar, wind, geothermal, hydro (water) and wood.
Retail Electric Supplier (RES) - The term that includes both an ARES (see above) and a jurisdictional utility other than the host utility that sells electricity to retail electric customers in the host utility’s service area.
RTO (Regional Transmission Operator) - An organization that is independent of any market participant and that has control of the transmission system, and has continuous, instantaneous information on the state of the transmission system.
Solar Power – Electricity generated from the sun.
Supply Voltage - The voltage of the feeder line (primary or higher) from which a customer is supplied.
Tariff - A document that contains the terms, conditions, and prices for electric services. There may be separate tariffs for different services and products.
Tax Credit – A financial credit provided by the government to reward citizens or businesses for taking a desired action.
Total Usage (kWh) - The total amount of kilowatt-hours (kWh) used during one billing period.
Transmission – The high voltage system used to transport power across the central area to points of delivery on the distribution system.
Trigger – A mechanism within some BSE contracts by which the customer selects a fixed price for energy, and agrees to execute the contract when (or if) the price reaches that level within an agreed upon time period.
Variable Rate – A rate that fluctuates with the market.
