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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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F
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
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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
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H
HB: House bill, used in naming federal and state legislation
HVAC: Heating/ventilating and air conditioning
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I
ICAP: Installed capacity
INGAA:
Interstate Natural Gas Assn of America
IOU: Investor owned
utility
IPP: Independent power producer
ISO: Independent system operator
J
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K
kv: Kilovolt
kwh: kilowatt hour
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L
LADWP: Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
LDC: Local gas distributing company
LMP: Locational marginal pricing
LNG:
Liquified natural gas
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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
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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
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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)
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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)
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Q
Q1, Q2, Q3 & Q4: First, second, third and fourth
quarters in a firm's fincial year.
QF: qualifying facility under PURPA
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R
RFP: Request for proposals
RTO:
Regional transmission organization
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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
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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
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U
USDA: US Department of Agriculture
UTC:
United Telecom Council
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V
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W
WECC: Western Electric Coordinating Council, the new name
for WSCC (Western Systems Coordinating Council), the NERC affiliate
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X
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Y
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Z
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