RestructuringToday.com
Home | Benefits | Praise | Free trial | Subscribe | Tell a colleague | FAQ | Contact us | Subscriber login
 SUBSCRIBE TODAY
Gain immediate access to all of our articles, features, discussion group, archives plus. Click here for details.
 Search

 ABOUT
 Benefits
 Praise
 Free trial
 Subscribe
 Guarantee
 FAQ
 Contact us
 NEWS
 Today's headlines
 Most viewed
 Article archive
 Issue archive
 Sample articles
 RSS feed
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
 TOOLS
 Search
 Glossary
 Events
 Audio archive
 Discussion Forum
 Ask the editor
 Tell a colleague
 Get Acrobat Reader
 Manage account
 PRAISE

Here's what your colleagues are saying ...


"I like the no-nonsense style. You're not out there trying to figure out what the right thing to say is. You're telling it like it is. The industry needs a lot more of that." 

Robert Schoenberger
CEO
Unitil


"The only real newsletter for the deregulated space."

Ananda Goswami
Marketing Director
EC Infosystems


"[RT] is up-to-date.  I tell my clients things about their business they don't even know -- new hires, new internal systems, etc!"

Mark Laver
Assoc Vice President
Ipsos Reid


"[RT] provides good information that I can actually use day-to-day."

Anita Grace
Procurement Specialist
Capgemini Energy


"[RT has] insight not found in other publications."

James Mackey
Vice President
JPMorgan


"[RT has] wide coverage of major events around the country, including some announcements that are not normally picked up by competitors."

William Derasmo
Partner
Troutman Sanders

[more]

home | Glossary
 

Glossary of terms & abbreviations

This is the official list of terms and abbreviations used in Restructuring Today.  It's part of our commitment to deliver the most concise, easy-to-read news possible.  Not everyone knows them all -- so we put a link to this page at the end of every issue.

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


A

ABC: Aggregators, brokers and consultants -- a term used in competitive power and gas markets to identify entities that influence the markets
AGA: American Gas Assn
ALJ: Administrative law judge, a hearing examiner within a regulatory agency, a fact finder
AMI/AMR:  Advanced or automated metering infrastructure, automated or advanced meter reading
APPA: American Public Power Assn
API: American Petroleum Institute
ATC: Available transfer capability

[back to top]


B

BCF: Billion cubic feet
BPA: Bonneville Power Administration
BPL:  Broadband over power lines
BTU:  British thermal unit, a measure of energy used often for natural gas

[back to top]


C

CFO: Chief financial officer
CFTC: Commodities Futures Trading Commission
CHP:  Combined heat & power generation
CIO: Chief information officer
C&I: Commercial and industrial
CO2: Carbon dioxide

[back to top]


D

DG: Distributed generation
dkt: Dekatherm = one mmbtu = Roughly one mcf
DOE: Department of Energy
DPUC (Connecticut): Dept of Public Utility Control
DR: Demand response, a program or technology that cuts the demand for power as a form of load management or to offset the need for added generation
DSM: Demand side management, see DR

[back to top]


E

EBITDA:  Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
EEI: Edison Electric Institute
EIA: Energy Information Administration
ELCON: Electricity Consumers Resource Council
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
EPRI: Electric Power Research Institute
EPSA: Electric Power Supply Assn
ERCOT: Electric Reliability Council of Texas.  It's an ISO that's referred to informally as the Texas power market -- although ERCOT doesn't cover all of Texas.

[back to top]


F

FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[back to top]


G

G&T: Generation and transmission
GAAP: Generally accepted accounting principles
GHG: Greenhouse gas
GRI: Gas Research Institute
gw:  Gigawatt
gwh: gigawatt hour = 1,000 mwh

[back to top]


H

HB: House bill, used in naming federal and state legislation
HVAC: Heating/ventilating and air conditioning

[back to top]


I

ICAP: Installed capacity
INGAA: Interstate Natural Gas Assn of America
IOU: Investor owned utility
IPP: Independent power producer
ISO: Independent system operator

J

[back to top]


K

kv: Kilovolt
kwh: kilowatt hour

[back to top]


L

LADWP: Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
LDC: Local gas distributing company
LMP: Locational marginal pricing
LNG: Liquified natural gas

[back to top]


M

MAPP: Mid-Continent Area Power Pool
mcf: Thousand cubic feet
mmbtu: Million btu (generally equal to mcf)
mw: Megawatt = 1 million watts, enough power to supply 330 homes for one hour on a hot summer's afternoon
mwh: Megawatt hour

[back to top]


N

NAESB: North American Energy Standards Board (replaced GISB)
NARUC: National Assn of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the association of state utility regulators
NAESB: North American Energy Standards Board
NEMA: National Energy Marketers Assn
NERC: North American Electricity Reliability Council
NIMBY: Not in my back yard, a sentiment held by some in the general public, for example, and faced by those charged with siting infrastructure such as transmission power lines. Also referred to as NIMBYism.
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (www.noaa.gov)
NOPR: See NPRM
NOx: Oxides of nitrogen, an air pollutant
NPCC: Northeast Power Coordinating Council
NPRM: Notice of proposed rulemaking
NRC: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRECA: National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn

[back to top]


O

OASIS: Open access same time information system
Ofgem: The UK's Office of the Gas & Electricity markets
OMB: Office of Management & Budget (White House)

[back to top]


P

Peaker: A power generator meant to be turned on only when demand hits a peak threshhold


PJM: The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland regional transmission organization (RTO) and reliability region (www.pjm.com)
POLR: Provider of last resort
ppm/ppb: parts per million/billion
PSC: Public service commission
PUC: Public utilities commission
PUHCA: Public Utilities Holding Company Act
PURPA: Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act
PV: Photovoltaic, a type of solar power generation system that uses solar cells to turn sunlight into electricity
PX: Power Exchange (California trading center)

[back to top]


Q

Q1, Q2, Q3 & Q4: First, second, third and fourth quarters in a firm's fincial year.

QF: qualifying facility under PURPA

[back to top]


R

RFP: Request for proposals
RTO: Regional transmission organization

[back to top]


S

SB: Senate bill, used in naming federal and state legislation
SEC: Securities & Exchange Commission
SERC: Southeastern Electric Reliability Council
Soulder season: Time between the peak season and the off season in any industry, also called "shoulder period"
SMD: Standard market design -- FERC's wise but toppled plan to open wholesale markets to competition
SMA: Standard market assessment
SO2: Sulphur dioxide, an air pollutant
SOS: Standard offer service
SPP: Southwest Power Pool

[back to top]


T

T&D: Transmission and distribution
tcf: Trillion cubic feet
Therm: Tenth of an mmbtu
TURN: The Utility Reform Network, California ratepayer group
TVA: Tennessee Valley Authority

[back to top]


U

USDA: US Department of Agriculture
UTC: United Telecom Council

[back to top]


V

[back to top]


W

WECC: Western Electric Coordinating Council, the new name for WSCC (Western Systems Coordinating Council), the NERC affiliate

[back to top]


X

[back to top]


Y

[back to top]


Z

[back to top]

 TWO WEEK FREE TRIAL
Sign up for a
RISK-FREE TRIAL



[see privacy policy]

Previous Month May 2008 Next Month
S M T W T F S
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Platts Northeast Power Markets Forum
 Discussion Forum

Post your comments and thoughts about stories and connect with other utility industry professionals in our private, subscriber-only discussion forum (see recent posts below):


· Mass Mw Wind Power
· Mass MW Windpower boosts efficiency?
· DR Gaming
· KVAR
· Texas market growth
· CO2 capture with chilled ammonia
· Following the spin -- missing the facts
· Facts for Kelliher
· Panel probes road ahead for climate change
· Comment on PNNL's demand response testers saved 1
· Insufficient customer choice in retail elec market
· Dozens of former state regulators sign pro-competi
· Go for it! Post a message, question or comment
· Tell us what you think about the new website!