Glossary
Affiliated Retail Electric Provider. A Retail Electric Provider (REP) that is affiliated with or the successor in interest of an electric utility certificated to serve an area.
Aggregator. A person joining two or more customers, other than municipalities and political subdivision corporations, into a single purchasing unit to megotiate the purchase of electricity from retail electric providers. Aggregators may not sell or take title to electricity. Retail electric providers are not aggregators.
Ampere. The unit of measurement of electrical current produced in a circuit by 1 volt acting through a resistance of 1 ohm.
Ancillary Services. A service necessary to facilitate the transmission of electric energy including load following, standby power, back up power, reactive power, and any other services the commission may determine by rule.
Broker. An entity that arranges the sale and purchase of electric energy, transmission, and other services between buyers and sellers, but does not take title to any of the power sold.
Btu (British Thermal Unit). A standard unit for measuring the quantity of heat energy equal to the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit.
Bundled Utility Service. All generation, transmission, and distribution services provided by one entity for a single charge. This would include ancillary services and retail services.
Circuit. A conductor or a system of conductors through which electric current flows.
City-Owned Utility. A non-profit utility that is owned and operated by the city it serves. In Texas, city-owned utilities may opt into the competitive retail electric marketplace. See also “municipally owned utility.
Commercial. The commercial sector is generally defined as non-manufacturing business establishments, including hotels, motels, restaurants, wholesale businesses, retail stores, and health, social, and educational institutions. 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.
Commercial Customer. One of the three commonly used designations for classes of customers. The others are residential and industrial. Commercial customers are not involved in manufacturing. Examples of commercial customers are retail stores, restaurants and educational institutions.
Competitive Power Supplier. A competitive power supplier (also known as an electricity supplier, power producer, power generator, power seller, power marketer or power broker) is a company or group that sells electricity.
Competitive Retailer (REP). A Retail Electric Provider, or a Municipally Owned Utility, or an Electric Cooperative that has the right to offer electric energy and related services at unregulated prices directly to retail customers who have customer choice, without regard to geographic location.
Competitive Transition Charge. A non-by passable charge levied on each customer of a distribution utility, including those who are served under contracts with non-utility suppliers, for recovery of a utility's transition costs.
Congestion. A condition that occurs when insufficient transfer capacity is available to implement all of the preferred schedules for electricity transmission simultaneously.
Consumption (Fuel). The amount of fuel used for gross generation, providing standby service, start-up and/or flame stabilization.
Contract Price. Price of fuels marketed on a contract basis covering a period of 1 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.
Critical Loads. Loads for which electric service is considered crucial for the protection or maintenance of public health and safety, including but not limited to hospitals, police stations, fire stations, critical water and wastewater facilities, and customers with special in-house life-sustaining equipment.
Current (Electric). A flow of electrons in an electrical conductor. The strength or rate of movement of the electricity is measured in amperes.
Customer Choice. The freedom of a retail customer to purchase electric services, either individually or through voluntary aggregation with other retail customers, from the provider or providers of the customer's choice and to choose among various fuel types, energy efficiency programs, and renewable power suppliers.
Customer Class. A group of customers with similar electric service characteristics (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial, sales for resale) taking service under one or more rate schedules.
Delivery. The movement of Electric Power and Energy through Company's electric lines and other equipment, including transformers, from the Point of Supply to the Point of Delivery.
Delivery System. Company's electric lines, Meters, and other equipment, including transformers, used in the delivery of Electric Power and Energy
Demand. The rate at which energy is delivered to loads and scheduling points by generation, transmission, and distribution facilities.
Demand (Electric). The rate at which electric energy is delivered to or by a system at a given instant, or averaged over a designated period, usually expressed in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (MW).
Demand Bid. A bid into the power exchange indicating a quantity of energy or an ancillary service that an eligible customer is willing to purchase and, if relevant, the maximum price that the customer is willing to pay.
Demand-Side Management. The planning, implementation, and monitoring of utility activities designed to encourage consumers to modify patterns of electricity usage, including the timing and level of electricity demand. It refers only to energy and load-shape modifying activities that are undertaken in response to utility-administered programs. It does not refer to energy and load-shape changes arising from the normal operation of the marketplace or from government-mandated energy-efficiency standards. Demand-Side Management (DSM) covers the complete range of load-shape objectives, including strategic conservation and load management, as well as strategic load growth.
Deregulation. Removal or relaxation of regulations or controls governing a business or service operation such as utilities.
Direct Access. The ability of a retail customer to purchase commodity electricity directly from the wholesale market rather than through a local distribution utility.
Distribution Service Provider. A distribution company, formerly known as an electric utility company, is the local company that delivers electricity to your home or business. Your distribution company will continue to read your meter, maintain local wires and poles, and restore your power in the event of an outage.
Distribution System. The portion of an electric system that is dedicated to delivering electric energy to an end user.
Do Not Call List. The PUC will establish a list for customers who do not want to receive telemarketing calls from REP’s.
EDI. Electronic Data Interchange
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 Service Identifier (ESI ID). An ESI ID is a unique number within the Texas electric market assigned to each delivery point-of-service by the TDSP. This number stays with the residence it is assigned to (it does not move with the customer). To find your ESI I.D., look at a current electric bill for that same service address.
Electric Service Provider. An entity that provides electric service to a retail or end-use customer.
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). A private industry group that monitors electric energy supply in the state. Refers to the independent organization and, in a geographical sense, refers to the area served by electric utilities, municipally owned utilities, and electric cooperatives that are not synchronously interconnected with electric utilities outside the state of Texas.
Electric Utility. A corporation, person, agency, authority, 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 cogenerators or small power producers under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) are not considered electric utilities.
Electricity Facts Label. A standardized format, as described in § 25.475 (e) of this title (relating to Information Disclosures to Residential and Small Commercial Customers), for disclosure that summarizes the price, contract terms, fuel sources, and environmental impact associated with an electricity product.
Energy. The capacity for doing work as measured by the capability of doing work (potential energy) or the conversion of this capability to motion (kinetic energy). Energy has several forms, some of which are easily convertible and can be changed to another form useful for work. Most of the world's convertible energy comes from fossil fuels that are burned to produce heat that is then used as a transfer medium to mechanical or other means in order to accomplish tasks. Electrical energy is usually measured in kilowatthours, while heat energy is usually measured in kilowatt-hours, while heat energy is usually measured in British Thermal Units
Energy Charge. That portion of the charge for electric service based upon the electric energy (kWh) consumed or billed.
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 Source. The primary source that provides the power that is converted to electricity through chemical, mechanical, or other means. Energy sources include coal, petroleum and petroleum products, gas, water, uranium, wind, sunlight, geothermal, and other sources.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A quasi-independent regulatory agency within the Department of Energy having jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, oil pipeline rates, and gas pipeline certification.
Forced Outage. The shutdown of a generating unit, transmission line or other facility, for emergency reasons or a condition in which the generating equipment is unavailable for load due to unanticipated breakdown.
Fuel. Any substance that can be burned to produce heat; also, materials that can be fissioned in a chain reaction to produce heat.
Fuel Factor. An electric utility is allowed to recover its costs for the fuel used to generate electricity, such as coal, natural gas, wind, water, nuclear, etc, though the fuel factor. The cost is set by the PUC and charged on each customer’s bill, based on Kilowatt-hour usage. A utility is prohibited from making a profit on fuel costs
Futures Market. Arrangement through a contract for the delivery of a commodity at a future time and at a price specified at the time of purchase. The price is based on an auction or market basis. This is a standardized, exchange-traded, and government regulated hedging mechanism.
Gas. A fuel burned under boilers and by internal combustion engines for electric generation. These include natural, manufactured and waste gas.
Generation (Electricity). The process of producing electric energy by transforming other forms of energy; also, the amount of electric energy produced, expressed in watt-hours (Wh).
Generation Company. A regulated or non-regulated entity (depending upon the industry structure) that operates and maintains existing generating plants. The generation company may own the generation plants or interact with the short-term market on behalf of plant owners. In the context of restructuring the market for electricity, the generation company is sometimes used to describe a specialized "marketer" for the generating plants formerly owned by a vertically-integrated utility.
Gigawatt (GW). One billion watts.
Gigawatthour (GWh). One billion watt-hours.
Grid. The layout of an electrical distribution system.
Hedging Contracts. Contracts which establish future prices and quantities of electricity independent of the short-term market. Derivatives may be used for this purpose.
Intermediate Load (Electric System). The range from base load to a point between base load and peak. This point may be the midpoint, a percent of the peak load, or the load over a specified time period.
Interruptible Load. Refers to program activities that, in accordance with contractual arrangements, can interrupt consumer load at times of seasonal peak load by direct control of the utility system operator or by action of the consumer at the direct request of the system operator. It usually involves commercial and industrial consumers. In some instances the load reduction may be affected by direct action of the system operator (remote tripping) after notice to the consumer in accordance with contractual provisions. For example, loads that can be interrupted to fulfill planning or operation reserve requirements should be reported as Interruptible Load.
Investor-Owned Utility. A class of utility whose stock is publicly traded and which is organized as a tax-paying business, usually financed by the sale of securities in the capital market. It is regulated and authorized to achieve an allowed rate of return.
Kilowatt (kW). One thousand watts.
Kilowatt hour (kWh). A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard unit of measure for electricity. One kilowatt-hour is equal to 1,000 watt-hours. The total number of kilowatt-hours charged to your bill is determined by your electricity use.
Load (Electric). The amount of electric power delivered or required at any specific point or points on a system. The requirement originates at the energy-consuming equipment of the consumers.
Load Factor. The ratio, usually stated as a percentage, of actual kWh used during a designated time period to the maximum kW of Demand times the number of hours occurring in the designated time period. Formula is total kWh/peak kW/number of hours in month. The load factor indicates to what degree energy has been consumed compared to a maximum demand or utilization of units relative to total system capability.
Local Distribution Utility (LDU) (AKA: TDSP, T&D, Wires Company, Utility). The company that delivers electricity to a customer’s home or business along the poles and wires (formerly a local electric utility)
Market-Based Pricing. Electric service prices determined in an open market system of supply and demand under which the price is set solely by agreement as to what a buyer will pay and a seller will accept. Such prices could recover less or more than full costs, depending upon what the buyer and seller see as their relevant opportunities and risks.
Market Clearing Price. The price at which supply equals demand for the Day Ahead and/or Hour Ahead Markets.
Maximum Demand. The greatest of all demands of the load that has occurred within a specified period of time.
Mcf. One thousand cubic feet.
Megawatt (MW). One million watts.
Megawatt hour (MWh). One million watt-hours.
Meter or Metering Equipment. A device, or devices, together with any required auxiliary equipment, for measuring the amount of Electric Power and Energy delivered.
Meter Reading. The process whereby Company determines the information recorded by Metering Equipment. Such reading may be obtained manually, through telemetry, or by estimation, in accordance with the procedures and practices authorized under this Tariff.
MMcf. One million cubic feet.
Municipal-owned Utility (MOU). Any utility owned, operated, and controlled by a municipality of a nonprofit corporation whose directors are appointed by one or more municipalities. Whether or not a municipal utility is open to customer choice and competition is decided by the municipality's public officials. In Texas, municipally owned utilities may opt into the competitive retail electric marketplace. See also “City-Owned Utility”.
Natural Gas. A naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon gases found in porous geological formations beneath the earth's surface, often in association with petroleum. The principal constituent is methane.
Ohm. The unit of measurement of electrical resistance. The resistance of a circuit in which a potential difference of 1 volt produces a current of 1 ampere.
Open Access. A regulatory mandate to allow others to use a utility's transmission and distribution facilities to move bulk power from one point to another on a nondiscriminatory basis for a cost-based fee.
Outage. The period during which a generating unit, transmission line, or other facility is out of service.
Peak Demand. The maximum load during a specified period of time.
Peaking Capacity. Capacity of generating equipment normally reserved for operation during the hours of highest daily, weekly, or seasonal loads. Some generating equipment may be operated at certain times as peaking capacity and at other times to serve loads on an around-the-clock basis.
Petroleum. A mixture of hydrocarbons existing in the liquid state found in natural underground reservoirs, often associated with gas. Petroleum includes fuel oil No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6; topped crude; Kerosene; and jet fuel.
Petroleum (Crude Oil). A naturally occurring, oily, flammable liquid composed principally of hydrocarbons. Crude oil is occasionally found in springs or pools but usually is drilled from wells beneath the earth's surface.
Power. The rate at which energy is transferred. Electrical energy is usually measured in watts. Also used for a measurement of capacity.
Power Marketers. Business entities engaged in buying, selling, and marketing electricity. Power marketers do not usually own generating or transmission facilities. Power marketers, as opposed to brokers, take ownership of the electricity and are involved in interstate trade. These entities file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for status as a power marketer.
Power Pool. An association of two or more interconnected electric systems having an agreement to coordinate operations and planning for improved reliability and efficiencies.
Price. The amount of money or consideration-in-kind for which a service is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
Pricing Options. Among the different competitive power suppliers there are several types of pricing options being offered. Some may charge the same price for every kilowatt-hour of electricity that you use; whereas others will charge different rates depending on the time of consumption or the amount consumed.
Price to Beat. A price for electricity, as determined pursuant to the Pulic Utility Regulatory Act §39.202, charged by an affiliated retail electric provider to eligible residential and small commercial customers in its service territory.
Proprietary Customer Information. Any customer information compiled by a retail electric provider, an electric utility, a transmission and distribution business unit as defined in §25.275(c)(16) of this title (relating to Code of Conduct for Municipally Owned Utilities and Electric Cooperatives Engaged in Competitive Activities) on a customer in the course of providing electric service or by an aggregator on a customer in the course of aggregating electric service that makes possible the identification of any individual customer by matching such information with the customer's name, address, account number, type or classification of service, historical electricity usage, expected patterns of use, types of facilities used in providing serice, individual contract terms and conditions, price, current charges, billing records, or any information that the customer has expressly requested not to be disclosed. Information that is redacted or organized in such a way as to make it impossible to identify the customer to whom the information relates does not constitute proprietary customer information.
Provider of Last Resort (POLR). A Retail Electric Provider certified in Texas that has been designated by the commission to provide a basic, standard retail service package in accordance with §25.43 of this title (relating to Provider of Last Resort (POLR)) to customers that are not being served by a REP for reasons other than non-payment.
Public Aggregator. A public aggregator is an organization established by a city, town, or county to purchase electricity in bulk for its citizens in order to increase their buying power. Participation is voluntary; consumers can opt-out if they choose and return to the standard offer service within 180 days.
Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC). The state agency that regulates electric telecommunications service. Under Electric Choice, the PUC will regulate the delivery of electricity and enforce customer protections.
Regional Transmission Group. A utility industry concept that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission embraced for the certification of voluntary groups that would be responsible for transmission planning and use on a regional basis.
Regulation. The governmental function of controlling or directing economic entities through the process of rulemaking and adjudication.
Reliability. Electric system reliability has two components--adequacy and security. Adequacy is the ability of the electric system to supply to aggregate electrical demand and energy requirements of the customers at all times, taking into account scheduled and unscheduled outages of system facilities. Security is the ability of the electric system to withstand sudden disturbances, such as electric short circuits or unanticipated loss of system facilities. The degree of reliability may be measured by the frequency, duration, and magnitude of adverse effects on consumer services.
Renewable Resources – Renewable Energy. Energy derived from renewable energy technologies. Naturally, but flow-limited resources that can be replenished. They are virtually inexhaustible in duration but limited in the amount of energy that is available per unit of time. Renewable energy resources include: biomass, hydro, geothermal, solar and wind. In the future, they could also include the use of ocean thermal, wave, and tidal action technologies. Utility renewable resource applications include bulk electricity generation, on-site electricity generation, distributed electricity generation, non-grid-connected generation, and demand-reduction (energy efficiency) technologies.
REP Affiliate. The REP owned by the same company as your Local Distribution Utility (LDU).
REP (Retail Electric Provider). A person or company that sells electricity to customers in Texas. They must be certified by the PUC.
Residential Customer. Retail customers classified as residential by the applicable tariff or in the absence of classification under a residential rate class, those retail customers that are primarily end users consuming electricity at the customer's place of residence for personal, family or household purposes and who are not resellers of electricity. The residential sector is defined as private household establishments which consume energy primarily for space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking and clothes drying. Apartment houses are also included.
Restructuring. The process of replacing a monopoly system of electric utilities with competing sellers, allowing individual retail customers to choose their electricity supplier but still receive delivery over the power lines of the local utility. It includes the reconfiguration of the vertically-integrated electric utility.
Retail. Sales covering electrical energy supplied for residential, commercial, and industrial end-use purposes. Other small classes, such as agriculture and street lighting, also are included in this category.
Retail Customer. The separately metered end-use customer who purchases and ultimately consumes electricity.
Retail Competition. The concept under which multiple sellers of electric power can sell directly to end-use customers and the process and responsibilities necessary to make it occur.
Retail Electric Provider (REP). A person or company that sells electricity to customers in Texas. They must be certified by the PUC.
Retail Market. A market in which electricity and other energy services are sold directly to the end-use customer.
Rural Electric Cooperative (Co-op). Customer owned electric utility that distributes electricity to members and that receives lower-cost financing through the federal government. In Texas, co-ops can choose to opt into the competitive retail market.
Scheduled Outage. The shutdown of a generating unit, transmission line, or other facility, for inspection or maintenance, in accordance with an advance schedule.
Slamming. Switching electric providers without a customer’s approval.
Stranded Costs. Prudent costs incurred by a utility which may not be recoverable under market-based retail competition. Examples are undepreciated generating facilities, deferred costs, and long-term contract costs.
System (Electric). Physically connected generation, transmission, and distribution facilities operated as an integrated unit under one central management, or operating supervision.
Texas Electric Choice. The customer education program conducted by the PUC.
Transformer. An electrical device for changing the voltage of alternating current.
Transition Charge. The transition charge, also known as stranded costs, are the costs of past utility investments including power plants and power contracts. These charges were included in electric rates before competition. Because these costs cannot be fully recovered in a competitive market, stranded costs are temporary expenses that are included in the transition charge on your electric bill. These charges will be reduced over time.
Transmission. The movement or transfer of electric energy (at high voltage levels) over an interconnected group of lines and associated equipment between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery to consumers, or is delivered to other electric systems. Transmission is considered to end when the energy is transformed for distribution to the consumer. This portion of the electric utility industry has not been opened to competition and will continue to be regulated by state and federal government.
Transmission Distribution Service Provider (TDSP). An electric utility, municipally-owned utility, or electric cooperative that owns or operates facilities used for the transmission and distribution of electricity.
Transmission System (Electric). An interconnected group of electric transmission lines and associated equipment for moving or transferring electric energy in bulk between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery over the distribution system lines to consumers, or is delivered to other electric systems.
Usage. This is the amount of electricity you used during the billing period listed in kilowatt-hours. This will be listed on your electric bill as KWH used.
Utility Distribution Companies. The entities that will continue to provide regulated services for the distribution of electricity to customers and serve customers who do not choose direct access. Regardless of where a consumer chooses to purchase power, the customer's current utility, also known as the utility distribution company, will deliver the power to the consumer's home, business, or farm.
Watt. The electrical unit of power. The rate of energy transfer equivalent to 1 ampere flowing under a pressure of 1 volt at unity power factor.
Watt-hour (Wh). An electrical energy unit of measure equal to 1 watt of power supplied to, or taken from, an electric circuit steadily for 1 hour.
Wholesale Power Market. The purchase and sale of electricity from generators to resellers (who sell to retail customers), along with the ancillary services needed to maintain reliability and power quality at the transmission level.
Wholesale Transmission Services. The transmission of electric energy sold, or to be sold, at wholesale in interstate commerce (from EPACT).
Wires Charge. A broad term which refers to charges levied on power suppliers or their customers for the use of the transmission or distribution wires.
