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Energy wordbook

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Glossary:

A: Ampere
AAL: all aluminum (electricity conductor)
AAQS: Ambient Air Quality Standards
ABAG: Association of Bay Area Governments
AC: Alternating Current
AC: alternating current
ACBM: Acronym for "asbestos-containing building material".
Account classification: The way in which suppliers of electricity, natural gas, or fuel oil classify and bill their customers.
Account of others: Energy deliveries for the account of others are deliveries to customers by transporters that do not own the energy but deliver it for others for a fee.
Accounting system: A method of recording accounting data for a utility or company or a method of supplying accounting information for controlling, evaluating, planning and decision-making.
ACE: Army Corps of Engineers
Acid mine drainage: This refers to water pollution that results when sulfur-bearing minerals associated with coal are exposed to air and water and form sulfuric acid and ferrous sulfate.
Acid rain: Also called acid precipitation or acid deposition. A precipitation containing harmful amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids because of fossil fuel burning.
Acquisition (foreign crude oil): All transfers of ownership of foreign crude oil to a firm, irrespective of the terms of that transfer.
Acquisition (minerals): The procurement of the legal right to explore for and produce discovered minerals, if any, within a specific area.
Acquisition costs, mineral rights: Direct and indirect costs incurred to acquire legal rights to extract natural resources.
Acre-foot: The volume of water that will cover an area of 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot.
Acreage: An area, measured in acres, that is subject to ownership or control by those holding total or fractional shares of working interests.
ACSR: aluminum covered steel reinforced (electricity conductor)
Active power: The component of electric power that performs work, typically measured in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts(MW). Also known as "real power". Cf. Reactive Power. See Power, Reactive Power, Apparent Power.
Active solar: As an energy source, energy from the sun collected and stored using mechanical pumps or fans to circulate heat-laden fluids or air between solar collectors and a building.
Actual peak reduction: The actual reduction in annual peak load (measured in kilowatts) achieved by customers that participate in a utility demand-side management (DSM) program.
Adequacy (electric): The ability of the electric system to supply the aggregate electrical demand and energy requirements of the end-use customers at all times. NERC definition.
Adjustable speed drives: Drives that save energy by ensuring the motor's speed is properly matched to the load placed on the motor. See polyphase motors, motor oversizing, and motor rewinding.
Adjusted electricity: A measurement of electricity that includes the approximate amount of energy used to generate electricity.
Adjustment bid: A bid auction conducted by the independent system operator or power exchange to redirect supply or demand of electricity when congestion is anticipated.
Administrative and general expenses: Expenses of an electric utility relating to the overall directions of its corporate offices and administrative affairs, as contrasted with expenses for specialized functions.
Advance royalty: A royalty required to be paid in advance of production from a mineral property that may or may not be recoverable from future production.
Advances from municipality: The amount of loans and advances made by the municipality to the utility department when such loans and advances are subject to repayment but not subject to current settlement.
Advances to municipality: The amount of loans and advances made by the utility department to the municipality or its other departments when such loans or advances are subject to current settlement.
Adverse water conditions: Reduced stream flow, lack of rain, or low water supply behind a pondage or reservoir dam resulting in a reduced gross head that limits the production of hydroelectric power.
AEI: Advanced Energy Initiative
AEO: Annual Energy Outlook, DOE/EIA publication
AFC: Application for Certification
Affiliate: An entity which is directly or indirectly owned, operated, or controlled by another entity. See Firm.
Afforestation: Planting of new forests on lands that have not been recently forested.
Aftermarket converted vehicle: A standard conventionally fueled, factory-produced vehicle to which equipment has been added that enables the vehicle to operate on alternative fuel.
Aftermarket vehicle converter: An organization or individual that modifies OEM vehicles after first use or sale to operate on a different fuel (or fuels).
AFUDC: Allowance for Funds Used During Construction
AFV: Alternative-Fuel Vehicle
AFY: acre-feet per year
AGA: American Gas Association
Agglomerating character: Agglomeration describes the caking properties of coal. Agglomerating character is determined by examination and testing of the residue.
Agglutinating: Refers to the binding qualities of a coal. The agglutinating value is an indication of how well a coke made from a particular coal will perform in a blast furnace. It is also called a caking index.
Aggregate ratio: The ratio of two population aggregates (totals). For example, the aggregate expenditures per household is the ratio of the expenditures in each category to the households in the category.
Aggregator: Any marketer, broker, public agency, city, county, or special district that combines the loads of multiple end-use customers in negotiating the electricity services for these customers.
Agriculture, mining, and construction (consumer category): Companies engaged in agriculture, mining (other than coal mining), or construction industries.
Agriculture: An energy-consuming subsector of the industrial sector that consists of all facilities and equipment engaged in growing crops and raising animals.
AGW: Anthropogenic global warming
AHM: Acutely Hazardous Materials
Air cleaner: A device using filters or electrostatic precipitators to remove indoor-air pollutants such as tobacco smoke, dust, and pollen.
Air collector: A medium-temperature collector used predominantly in space heating, utilizing pumped air as the heat-transfer medium.
Air conditioning intensity: The ratio of air-conditioning consumption or expenditures to square footage of cooled floor space and cooling degree-days (base 65 degrees F).
Air conditioning: Cooling and dehumidifying the air in an enclosed space by use of a refrigeration unit powered by electricity or natural gas.
Air pollution abatement equipment: Equipment used to reduce or eliminate airborne pollutants.
AL: aluminum
Alcohol: The family name of a group of organic chemical compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Alkylate: The product of an alkylation reaction. It usually refers to the high-octane product from alkylation units. This alkylate is used in blending high octane gasoline.
Alkylation: A refining process for chemically combining isobutane with olefin hydrocarbons (e.g., propylene, butylene) through the control of temperature and pressure in the presence of anacid catalyst.
All-electric home: A residence in which electricity is used for the main source of energy for space heating, water heating, and cooking. Other fuels may be used for supplementary heating or other purposes.
Alternate energy source for primary heater: The fuel that would be used in place of the usual main heating fuel if the building had to switch fuels. (See Fuel-Switching Capability.)
Alternating current (AC): An electric current that reverses its direction at regularly recurring intervals.
Alternative fuel: Alternative fuels, for transportation applications, include the following:
Alternative-fuel vehicle (AFV): A vehicle designed to operate on an alternative fuel (e.g., compressed natural gas, methane blend, electricity).
Alternative-rate DSM program assistance: A DSM (demand-side management) program that offers special rate structures or discounts on energy bills in exchange for cutting peak demands or changing load shape.
American Indian Coal Lease: A lease granted to a mining company to produce coal from land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in exchange for royalties and other revenues.
AMI: Advanced Metering Infrastructure: Enegry meters that measure and record usage data at a minimum, in hourly intervals, and provide usage data to both consumers and energy companies at least once daily.
Amorphous silicon: An alloy of silica and hydrogen, with a disordered, noncrystalline internal atomic arrangement, that can be deposited in thin-film layers.
Amortization: The depreciation, depletion, or charge-off to expense of intangible and tangible assets over a period of time.
Ampere: The unit of measurement of electrical current produced in a circuit by 1 volt acting through a resistance of 1 Ohm.
AMR: Automated Meter Reading is a term denoting electricity meters that collect data for billing purposes only and transmit this data one way, usually from the customer to the distribution utility.
auger machine: a large, horizontal drill, generally 3 feet or more in diameter and up to about 100 feet long, that can remove coal at a rate of more than 25 tons per minute.
hydraulic shovel:: excavates and loads by means of a bucket attached to a rigid arm that is hinged to a broom.
Anaerobic decomposition: Decomposition in the absence of oxygen, as in an anaerobic lagoon or digester, which produces CO2 and CH4.
Anaerobic lagoon: A liquid-based organic waste management installation characterized by waste residing in water at a depth of at least 6 feet for periods of 30 to 200 days.
Ancillary services: Services that ensure reliability and support the transmission of electricity from generation sites to customer loads.
Annual operating factor: The annual fuel consumption divided by the product of design firing rate and hours of operation per year.
Annual requirement: The reporting company's best estimate of the annual requirement for energy, to make sales.
ANOPR: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
ANSI assembly identifier: The serial numbering scheme adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to ensure uniqueness of an assembly serial number.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute
Anthracite: The highest rank of coal; used primarily for residential and commercial space heating.
Anthropogenic: Made or generated by a human or caused by human activity. The term is used in the context of global climate change to refer to the result of human activities.
[any mixture of an alternative fuel (or fuels) and a petroleum-based fuel.
APCO: Air Pollution Control Officer
API gravity: American Petroleum Institute measure of specific gravity of crude oil or condensate in degrees.
API: The American Petroleum Institute, a trade association.
APPA: America Public Power Association
Appalachian Region: Consists of Alabama, Eastern Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Apparent consumption (coal): Coal production plus imports of coal, coke, and briquets minus exports of coal, coke, and briquets plus or minus stock changes.
Apparent consumption, natural gas (international): The total of an individual nation's dry natural gas production plus imports less exports.
Apparent consumption, petroleum (international): Consumption that includes internal consumption, refinery fuel and loss, and bunkering.
Apparent power: The product of the voltage (in volts) and the current (in amperes). It comprises both active and reactive power. See Power, Reactive Power, Real Power.
Appliance efficiency index: A relative comparison of trends in new-model efficiencies for major appliances and energy-using equipment.
Appliance efficiency standards: The National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 established minimum efficiency standards for major home appliances.
Appliance: A piece of equipment used to perform a particular energy-driven function. Examples are refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens, and televisions.
AQMD: Air Quality Management District
AQMP: Air Quality Management Plan
ARA: Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp
ARB (not CARB): California Air Resources Board
ARB: (California) Air Resources Board
Arbitrage: The simultaneous purchase and sale of identical or similar assets across two or more markets in order to profit from a temporary price discrepancy.
ARCO: Atlantic Richfield Company
[Area mining is practiced on relatively flat or gently rolling terrain and recovers coal by mining long strips successively; the material excavated from the strip being mined is deposited in the strip pit previously mined.
Aromatics: Hydrocarbons characterized by unsaturated ring structures of carbon atoms. Commercial petroleum aromatics are benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX).
As received coal: Coal in the condition as received by the user.
As-received condition or as-received basis (coal): Coal in the condition as received by the consumer or the laboratory analyzing the coal.
ASAE: American Society of Architectural Engineers
ASAT: Appliance Saturation
Asbestos: A group of naturally occurring minerals that separate into long, thin fibers. Asbestos was used for many years to insulate and fireproof buildings.
Ash: Impurities consisting of silica, iron, alumina, and other noncombustible matter that are contained in coal.
ASHRAE: American Society of Heating Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers
ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Asphalt (refined): See Asphalt.
Asphalt: A dark brown-to-black cement-like material obtained by petroleum processing and containing bitumens as the predominant component; used primarily for road construction.
Assembly identifier: A unique string of alphanumeric characters that identifies an assembly, bundle, or canister for aspecific reactor in which it has been irradiated.
Assembly type: Each assembly is characterized by a fabricator, rod-array size, and model type.
Assessment work: The annual or biennial work performed on a mining claim (or claims), after claim location and before patent, to benefit or develop the claim and to protect it from relocation by third parties.
Assistance for heating in winter: Assistance from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The purpose is to assist eligible households to meet the costs of home energy.
Assistance for weatherization of residence: The household received services free, or at a reduced cost, from the Federal, State, or local Government.
Associated natural gas: See Associated-dissolved natural gas and Natural gas.
Associated-dissolved natural gas: Natural gas that occurs in crude oil reservoirs either as free gas (associated) or as gas in solution with crude oil (dissolved gas). Also see Natural gas.
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials
at wt: The abbreviation for atomic weight.
ATC: Authority to Construct
Atmospheric crude oil distillation: The refining process of separating crude oil components at atmospheric pressure by heating and subsequent condensing of the fractions by cooling.
Auger mine: A surface mine in which the coal bed is removed by means of a large diameter drill. Usually operated only when the overburden becomes too thick for economical strip mining.
Auger mining: Recovers coal through the use of a large-diameter drill driven into a coalbed in the side of a surface mine pit. It usually follows contour surface mining.
Authorized cash distribution to municipality: The authorized cash distributions to the municipality from the earned surplus of the utility department.
Automatic set-back or clock thermostat: A thermostat that can be set to turn the heating/cooling system off and on at certain predetermined times.
Automobile and truck classifications: Vehicle classifications for automobiles and light duty trucks were obtained from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) mileage guide book.
Auxiliary generator: A generator at a site that provides power for the operation of the generating equipment itself, during periods when the plant is not operating and power is unavailable from the grid.
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 Annual Percent Change (Coal): The average annual percent change over a period of several years.
Average daily production: The ratio of the total production at a mining operation to the total number of production days worked at the operation.
Average delivered price: The weighted average of all contract price commitments and market price settlements in a delivery year.
Average household energy expenditures: A ratio estimate defined as the total household energy expenditures divided by the total number of households.
Average mine price: The ratio of the total value of the coal produced at the mine to the total production tonnage.
Average Number of Employees (coal): The average number of employees working in a specific year at coal mines and preparation plants. Includes maintenance, office, as well as production-related employees.
Average Open Market Sales Price (coal): The ratio, for a specified time period, of the total value of the open market sales of coal produced at the mine to the value of the total open market sales tonnage.
Average production per miner per day: The product of the average production per miner per hour at a mining operation and the average length of a production shift at the operation.
Average production per miner per hour: The ratio of the total production at a mining operation to the total direct labor hours worked at the operation.
Average Recovery Percentage (coal): The percentage of coal that can be recovered from known coal reserves at reporting mines, weight averaged for all mines in the reported geographic area.
Average revenue per kilowatthour: The average revenue per kilowatthour of electricity is calculated by dividing the total monthly revenue by the corresponding total monthly sales for each sector and geographic area.
Average stream flow: The rate, usually expressed in cubic feet per second, at which water passes a given point in a stream over a set period of time.
Average fuel consumption: A ratio estimate defined as total gallons of fuel consumed by all vehicles divided by the total number of vehicles or households.
Average miles traveled: A ratio estimate defined as total miles traveled by all vehicles, divided by the number of vehicles or households.
Average water conditions: The amount and distribution of precipitation within a drainage basin and the run off conditions present as determined by reviewing the area water supply records over a long period of time.
Aviation gasoline (finished): A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in aviation reciprocating engines.
Aviation gasoline blending components: Naphthas that will be used for blending or compounding into finished aviation gasoline (e.g., straight run gasoline, alkylate, reformate,benzene, toluene, and xylene).
B: Present value of future coil losses ($/watt)
BAAQMD: Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Backup fuel: In a central heat pump system, the fuel used in the furnace that takes over the space heating when the outdoor temperature drops below that which is feasible to operate a heat pump.
Backup generator: A generator that is used only for test purposes, or in the event of an emergency, such as a shortage of power needed to meet customer load requirements.
Backup power: Electric energy supplied by a utility to replace power and energy lost during an unscheduled equipment outage.
BACT: Best Available Control Technology
BAF: Basic American Foods
Balancing authority: The responsible entity that integrates resource plans ahead of time, maintains load-interchange-generation balance within a Balancing Authority Area, and supports Interconnection frequency.
Balancing item: Represents differences between the sum of the components of natural gas supply and the sum of the components of natural gas disposition.
BANANA: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody
BARCT: Best Available Retrofit Control Technology
Barrel: A unit of volume equal to 42 U.S. gallons.
Barrels per calendar day: The amount of input that a distillation facility can process under usual operating conditions.
Barrels per stream day: The maximum number of barrels of input that a distillation facility can process within a 24-hour period when running at full capacity under optimal crude and product slate conditions.
Base bill: A charge calculated by taking the rate from the appropriate electric rate schedule and applying it to the level of consumption.
Base gas: The quantity of natural gas needed to maintain adequate reservoir pressures and deliverability rates throughout the withdrawal season.
Base load capacity: The generating equipment normally operated to serve loads on an around-the-clock basis.
Base load plant: A plant, usually housing high-efficiency energy units, which is normally operated to take all or part of the minimum load of a system, and which produces electricity at an essentially constant rate.
Base load: The minimum amount of electric power delivered or required over a given period of time at a steady rate.
Base period: The period of time for which data used as the base of an index number, or other ratio, have been collected.
Base rate: A fixed kilowatthour charge for electricity consumed that is independent of other charges and/or adjustments.
Baseboard heater: As a type of heating equipment, a system in which either electric resistance coils or finned tubes carrying steam or hot water are mounted behind shallow panels along baseboards.
bbl/d: The abbreviation for barrel(s) per day.
bbl/sd: The abbreviation for barrel(s) per stream day.
bbl: barrel
bbl: The abbreviation for barrel(s).
BBLs: barrels of oil
BBRS: Board for Building Regulations and Standards
BC: Bill Calculator
BCDC: Bay Conservation and Development Commission
BCF: billion cubic feet
bcf: The abbreviation for billion cubic feet.
Bcfd: billion cubic feet per day
BCUC: British Columbia Utilties Commission
BDT: Bone Dry Tons
BEA: U.S. Bureau of Economic Affairs
[Bench sample* [
a face or channel sample taken of just that contiguous portion of a coalbed that is considered practical to mine, also known as a "bench".
Benzene (C6H6): An aromatic hydrocarbon present in small proportion in some crude oils and made commercially from petroleum by the catalytic reforming of naphthenes in petroleum naphtha.
BG: Biomass gassification
Bi-fuel vehicle: A motor vehicle that operates on two different fuels, but not on a mixture of the fuels. Each fuel is stored in a separate tank.
BIL: basic impulse insulation level
Bilateral agreement: A written statement signed by two parties that specifies the terms for exchanging energy.
Bilateral energy transaction: A transaction between two willing parties who enter into a physical or financial agreement to trade energy commodities.
Billing period: The time between meter readings. It does not refer to the time when the bill was sent or when the payment was to have been received.
Biodiesel: A fuel typically made from vegetable oils or animal fats or recycled grease. It can serve as a substitute for petroleum-derived diesel or distillate fuel.
Biofuels: Liquid fuels and blending components produced from biomass feedstocks, used primarily for transportation.
Biogenic emissions: Emissions that are naturally occurring and are not significantly affected by human actions or activity.
Biogenic: Produced by biological processes of living organisms. Note: EIA uses the term "biogenic" to refer only to organic nonfossil material of biological origin.
Biomass gas: A medium Btu gas containing methane and carbon dioxide, resulting from the action of microorganisms on organic materials such as a landfill.
Biomass waste: Organic non-fossil material of biological origin that is a byproduct or a discarded product.
Biomass-based diesel fuel: Biodiesel and other renewable diesel fuel or diesel fuel blending components derived from biomass, but excluding renewable diesel fuel coprocessed with petroleum feedstocks.
Biomass: Organic nonfossil material of biological origin constituting a renewable energy source.
Bitumen: A naturally occurring viscous mixture, mainly of hydrocarbons heavier than pentane, and that, in its natural occurring viscous state, is not recoverable at a commercial rate through a well.
Bituminous coal: A dense coal, usually black, sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material, used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation.
Black liquor: A by product of the paper production process, alkaline spent liquor, that can be used as a source of energy.
Black lung benefits: In the content of the coal operation statement of income, this term refers to all payments, including taxes, made by the company attributable to Black Lung.
Blast furnace: A furnace in which solid fuel (coke) is burned with an air blast to smelt ore.
Blast-furnace gas: The waste combustible gas generated in a blast furnace when iron ore is being reduced with coke to metallic iron. It is commonly used as a fuel within steel works.
Blending components: See Motor gasoline blending components.
Blending plant: A facility that has no refining capability but is either capable of producing finished motor gasoline through mechanical blending or blends oxygenates with motor gasoline.
BLM: Bureau of Land Management
BLM: Bureau of Land Management
Block-rate structure: An electric rates schedule with a provision for charging a different unit cost for various increasing blocks of demand for energy. A reduced rate may be charged on succeeding blocks.
BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics within the U.S. Department of Labor
BOE: Barrels of Oil Equivalent (used internationally)
BOE: Barrels of oil equivalent
Boiler fuel: An energy source to produce heat that is transferred to the boiler vessel in order to generate steam orhot water. Fossil fuel is the primary energy source used to produce heat for boilers.
Boiler: A device for generating steam for power, processing, or heating purposes; or hot water for heating purposes or hot water supply.
Boiling-water reactor (BWR): A light-water reactor in which water, used as both coolant and moderator, is allowed to boil in the core, typically to drive a turbine.
Bonded petroleum imports: Petroleum imported and entered into Customs bonded storage.
Bone coal: Coal with a high ash content; it is dull in appearance, hard, and compact.
Book value: The portion of the carrying value prorated in each accounting period, for financial reporting purposes, to the extracted portion of an economic interest in a wasting natural resource.
Booked costs: Costs allocated or assigned to inter-departmental or intra company transactions, and recorded in company books or records for accounting and/or regulatory purposes.
Borderline customer: A customer located in the service area of one utility, but supplied by a neighboring utility through an arrangement between the utilities.
Bottled gas, LPG, or propane: Any fuel gas supplied to a building in liquid form, such as liquefied petroleum gas, propane, or butane.
Bottled gas: See Liquefied petroleum gases.
Bottom ash: Residue mainly from the coal burning process that falls to the bottom of the boiler for removal and disposal.
Bottom-hole contribution: A payment that is required by agreement when a test well is drilled to a specified depth regardless of the outcome of the well and that is made in exchange for well and evaluation data.
Bottoming cycle: A waste-heat recovery boiler recaptures the unused energy and uses it to produce steam to drive a steam turbine generator to produce electricity.
bp: The abbreviation for boiling point.
BPA: Bonneville Power Administration
BPA: U.S. Bonneville Power Administration
BR: Biennial Report
bragline excavator: Removes overburden to expose the coal by means of a scoop bucket that is suspended from a long boom. The dragline digs by pulling the bucket toward the machine by means of a wire rope.
Branded product: A refined petroleum product sold by a refiner with the understanding that the purchaser has the right to resell the product under a trademark, trade name, service mark, or other identifier.
Break-even cutoff grade: The lowest grade of material that can be mined and processed considering all applicable costs, without incurring a loss or gaining a profit.
Breccia: A coarse-grained clastic rock, composed of angular broken rock fragments held together by a mineral cement or in a fine-grained matrix.
Breeder reactor: A reactor that both produces and consumes fissionable fuel, especially one that creates more fuel than it consumes.
Breeze: The fine screenings from crushed coke. Usually breeze will pass through a 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch screen opening. It is most often used as a fuel source in the process of agglomerating iron ore.
[Briquettes are made from compressed coal dust, with or without a binding agent such as asphalt.
British thermal unit: The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of liquid water by 1 degree Fahrenheit at the temperature at which water has its greatest density.
BT: Building Technologies
BTL: Biomass-to-liquid
Btu conversion factor: A factor for converting energy data between one unit of measurement and British thermal units (Btu).
Btu per cubic foot: The total heating value produced by the combustion of the amount of the gas that would occupy a volume of 1 cubic foot. (a.k.a. gross heating value, total heating value)
Btu: British thermal unit (Note: B is capitalized)
BTX: The acronym for the commercial petroleum aromatics-- benzene, toluene, and xylene.
bucket-wheel excavator: A continuous digging machine equipped with a broom on which is mounted a rotating wheel with buckets along its edge.
Budget plan: An agreement between the household and the utility company or fuel supplier that allows the household to pay the same amount for fuel for each month for a number of months.
Building shell (envelope) DSM program: A DSM program that promotes reduction of energy consumption through improvements to the building envelope. (Also see DSM, Demand-Side Management Programs.)
Building shell conservation feature: A building feature designed to reduce energy loss or gain through the shell or envelope of the building.
Built-in electric units: An individual-resistance electric-heating unit that is permanently installed in the floors, walls, ceilings, or baseboards and is part of the electrical installation of the building.
Bulk power transactions: The wholesale sale, purchase, and interchange of electricity among electric utilities.
Bulk sales: Wholesale sales of gasoline in individual transactions which exceed the size of a truckload.
Bulk station: A facility used primarily for the storage and/or marketing of petroleum products, which has a total bulk storage capacity of less than 50,000 barrels and receives its petroleum products by car or truck.
bulldozer: A tractor with a movable steel blade mounted on the front. It can be used to remove overburden that needs little or no blasting.
Bundled utility service: A means of operation whereby energy, transmission, and distribution services, as well as ancillary and retail services, are provided by one entity.
Bunker fuels: Fuel supplied to ships and aircraft, both domestic and foreign, consisting primarily of residual and distillate fuel oil for ships and kerosene-based jet fuel for aircraft.
BUREC: Bureau of Reclamation
Burn days: The number of days the station could continue to operate by burning coal already on hand assuming no additional deliveries of coal and an average consumption rate.
Burnup: Amount of thermal energy generated per unit mass of fuel, expressed as Gigawatt-Days Thermal per Metric Ton of Initial Heavy Metal (GWDT/MTIHM), rounded to the nearest gigawatt day.
Bus: An electrical conductor that serves as a common connection for two or more electrical circuits.
Butane (C4H10): A straight-chain or branch-chain hydrocarbon extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure.
Butylene (C4H8): An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery or petrochemical processes, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure.
Buy-back oil: Crude oil acquired from a host government whereby a portion of the government's ownership interest in the crude oil produced in that country may or should be purchased by the producing firm.
BWR: Boiling-Water Reactor
Bypassed footage: Bypassed footage is the footage in that section of hole that is abandoned as the result of remedial sidetrack drilling operations.
Byproduct: A secondary or additional product resulting from the feedstock use of energy or the processing of nonenergy materials.
C&I: commercial and industrial
C/gal: Cents per gallon
C4H: A mixture of light hydrocarbons that have the general formula C4Hn, where n is the number of hydrogen atoms per molecule. Examples include butane (C4H10) and butylene (C4H8).
CA ISO: See California ISO
CAA: U.S. Clean Air Act
CAAQS: California Ambient Air Quality Standards
CAFE: Corporate Average Fuel Economy
CAFE: Corporate Average Fuel Economy
Calcination: A process in which a material is heated to a high temperature without fusing, so that hydrates, carbonates, or other compounds are decomposed and the volatile material is expelled.
Calcium sulfate: A white crystalline salt, insoluble in water. Used in Keene's cement, in pigments, as a paper filler, and as a drying agent.
Calcium sulfite: A white powder, soluble in diluted sulfuric acid. Used in the sulfite process for the manufacture of wood pulp.
CalEPA: California Environmental Protection Agency
CalEPA: California Environmental Protection Agency
California ISO (not CAISO or Cal-ISO): California Independent System Operator
California power exchange: A State-chartered, non-profit corporation which provides day-ahead and hour-ahead markets for energy and ancillary services in accordance with the power exchange tariff.
CALMAC: California Measurement Advisory Committee
CALTRANS: California Department of Transportation
Canadian deuterium uranium reactor (CANDU): Uses heavy water or deuterium oxide (D2O), rather than light water (H2O), as the coolant and moderator.
Cannel coal: A compact, tough variety of coal, originating from organic spore residues, that is non-caking, contains a high percentage of volatile matter, ignites easily, and burns with a luminous smoky flame.
Capable of being fueled: A vehicle is capable of being fueled by a particular fuel(s) if that vehicle has the engine components in place to make operation possible on the fuel(s).
Capacity (purchased): The amount of energy and capacity available for purchase from outside the system.
Capacity charge: An element in a two-part pricing method used in capacity transactions (energy charge is the other element).
Capacity factor: The ratio of the electrical energy produced by a generating unit to the electrical energy that could have been produced at continuous full power.
Capacity transaction: The acquisition of a specified quantity of generating capacity from another utility for a specified period of time.
Capacity utilization: Capacity utilization is computed by dividing production by productive capacity and multiplying by 100.
Capacity: See Generator capacity and (installed) Generator name plate capacity.
CAPCOA: California Air Pollution Control Officers Association
Capital cost: The cost of field development and plant construction and the equipment required for industry operations.
Capital stock: Property, plant and equipment used in the production, processing and distribution of energy resources.
CAPM: Capital Asset Pricing Model
Captive coal: Coal produced to satisfy the needs of the mine owner, or of a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of the mine owner, rather than for open market sale.
Captive refinery MTBE plants: MTBE (methyltertiary butyl ether) production facilities primarily located within refineries.
Captive refinery oxygenate plants: Oxygenate production facilities located within or adjacent to a refinery complex.
CARB: California Air Resources Board
CARB: California Air Resources Board
Carbon black: An amorphous form of carbon, produced commercially by thermal or oxidative decomposition of hydrocarbons and used principally in rubber goods, pigments, and printer's ink.
Carbon budget: The balance of the exchanges (incomes and losses) of carbon between carbon sinks (e.g., atmosphere and biosphere) in the carbon cycle. Also see Carbon cycle and Carbon sink.
Carbon cycle: All carbon sinks and exchanges of carbon from one sink to another by various chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes. Also see Carbon sink.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of Earth's atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide equivalent: The amount of carbon dioxide by weight emitted into the atmosphere that would produce the same estimated radiative forcing as a given weight of another radiatively active gas.
Carbon flux: See Carbon budget.
Carbon intensity: The amount of carbon by weight emitted per unit of energy consumed.
Carbon output rate: The amount of carbon by weight per kilowatthour of electricity produced.
Carbon sequestration: The fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide in a carbon sink through biological or physical processes.
Carbon sink: A reservoir that absorbs or takes up released carbon from another part of the carbon cycle.
Carbon stocks: The quantity of carbon stored in biological and physical systems.
Carburetor: A fuel delivery device for producing a proper mixture of gasoline vapor and air and for delivering it to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine.
CARES: Conservation and Renewable Energy System
carryall scraper (or pan scraper): a self-loading machine, usually self-propelled, with a scraper-like retractable bottom, used to excavate and haul overburden.
Carrying costs: Costs incurred in order to retain exploration and property rights after acquisition but before production has occurred.
Cash and carry: Kerosene, fuel oil, or bottled gas (tank or propane) purchased with cash, by check, or by credit card and taken home by the purchaser.
Casinghead gas (or oil well gas): Natural gas produced along with crude oil from oil wells. It contains either dissolved or associated gas or both.
Cast silicon: Crystalline silicon obtained by pouring pure molten silicon into a vertical mold and adjusting the temperature gradient.
Catalyst coke: See Petroleum coke, catalyst.
Catalytic converter: A device containing a catalyst for converting automobile exhaust into mostly harmless products.
Catalytic cracking: The refining process of breaking down the larger, heavier, and more complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler and lighter molecules.
Catalytic hydrocracking: A refining process that uses low temperatures, high pressures, and one or more catalysts.
Catalytic hydrotreating: A refining process for treating petroleum fractions from atmospheric or vacuum distillation units (e.g., naphthas, middle distillates, reformer feeds, residual fuel oil, and heavy gas oil) and other petroleum (e.g., cat cracked naphtha,coker naphtha, gas oil, etc.) in the presence of catalysts and substantial quantities of hydrogen. Hydrotreating includes desulfurization, removal of substances (e.g., nitrogen compounds) that deactivate catalysts, conversion of olefins to paraffins to reduce gum formation in gasoline, and other processes to upgrade the quality of the fractions.
Catalytic reforming: A refining process using controlled heat and pressure with catalysts to rearrange certain hydrocarbon molecules.
CBC: California Building Code
CBECS: Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey
CBOB: conventional gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending
CCAA: California Clean Air Act
CCR: California Code of Regulations
CDD: See Cooling Degree Days.
CDF: California Department of Forestry
CDFG: California Department of Fish and Game
CEA: Canadian Electricity Association
CEC: California Energy Commission (Please note that the Energy Commission prefers to not use the acronym "CEC" because of possible confusion with other agencies or companies with the same acronym.
CED: California Energy Demand
CEERT: Coalition for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies
Cells to OEM (non-PV): Cells shipped to non-photovoltaic original equipment manufacturers such as boat manufacturers, car manufacturers, etc.
Cells: Refers to the un-encapsulated semi-conductor components of the module that convert the solar energy to electricity.
CEM: continuous emissions monitoring
Census division: Any of nine geographic areas of the United States as defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The divisions, each consisting of several States, are defined as follows:
Census Region/division: An hierarchical organization of the United States according to geographic areas and sub-areas as follows:
Census Region: Any of four geographic areas of the United States as defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The Regions, each consisting of various States selected according to population size and physical location, are defined as follows:
[Central Appalachian Region: Consists of Eastern Kentucky, Virginia, Southern West Virginia, and the Tennessee counties of: Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Cumberland, Fentress, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Roane, and Scott.
Central chiller: Any centrally located air conditioning system that produces chilled water in order to cool air. The chilled water or cold air is then distributed throughout the building, using pipes or air ducts or both. These systems are also commonly known as "chillers," "centrifugal chillers," "reciprocating chillers," or "absorption chillers." Chillers are generally located in or just outside the building they serve. Buildings receiving district chilled water are served by chillers located at central physical plants.
Central cooling: Cooling of an entire building with a refrigeration unit to condition the air. Typically central chillers and duct work are present in the centrally cooled building.
Central physical plant: A plant owned by, and on the grounds of, a multibuilding facility that provides district heating, district cooling, or electricity to other buildings on the same facility. To qualify as a central plant it must provide district heat, district chilled water, or electricity to at least one other building. The central physical plant may be by itself in a separate building or may be located in a building where other activities occur.
Central warm air furnace: A type of space heating equipment where a central combustor or resistance unit generally using gas, fuel oil, or electricity provides warm air through ducts leading to the various rooms. Heat pumps are not included in this category. A forced air furnace is one in which a fan is used to force the air through the ducts. In a gravity furnace, air is circulated by gravity, relying on the natural flow of warm air up and cold air down; the warm air rises through ducts and the cold air falls through ducts that return it to the furnace to be reheated and this completes the circulation cycle.
Centralized water heating system: Equipment, to heat and store water for other than space heating purposes, which provides hot water from a single location for distribution throughout a building. A residential type tank water heater is a good example of a centralized water heater.
CEQA: California Environmental Quality Act (pronouced SEE-qwah)
CERA: Cambridge Energy Research Associates (Chairman Daniel Yergin)
CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
Certificate requirement: The maximum annual volume allowed for sales to resale or direct sale customers under certificate authorizations by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Certificate: A type of permit for public convenience and necessity issued by a utility commission, which authorizes a utility or regulated company to engage in business, construct facilities, provide some services, or abandon service.
CESA: California Endangered Species Act
Cesspool: An underground reservoir for liquid waste, typically household sewage.
CEUS: Commercial End Use Survey
CF: Cubic Foot
CFB: circulating fluidized bed
CFC: See Chlorofluorocarbon.
CFCs: chloro-fluorocarbons
CFM: cubic feet per minute
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
CFS: Cubic Feet per Second
cfs: cubic feet per second
CH4: Methane
Chained dollars: A measure used to express real prices. Real prices are those that have been adjusted to remove the effect of changes in the purchasing power of the dollar; they usually reflect buying power relative to a reference year. Prior to 1996, real prices were expressed in constant dollars, a measure based on the weights of goods and services in a single year, usually a recent year. In 1996, the U.S. Department of Commerce introduced the chained-dollar measure. The new measure is based on the average weights of goods and services in successive pairs of years. It is "chained" because the second year in each pair, with its weights, becomes the first year of the next pair. The advantage of using the chained-dollar measure is that it is more closely related to any given period covered and is therefore subject to less distortion over time.
Characterization: Sampling, monitoring, and analysis activities to determine the extent and nature of contamination at a facility or site. Characterization provides the necessary technical information to develop, screen, analyze, and select appropriate clean-up techniques.
Charge capacity: The input (feed) capacity of the refinery processing facilities.
Chemical separation: A process for extracting uranium and plutonium from dissolved spent nuclear fuel and irradiated targets. The fission products that are left behind are high-level waste. Chemical separation is also known as reprocessing.
Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC): Any of various compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, and flourine used as refrigerants. CFCs are now thought to be harmful to the earth's atmosphere.
CHP: Combined Heat and Power
Christmas tree: The valves and fittings installed at the top of a gas or oil well to control and direct the flow of well fluids.
CIF (cargo, insurance and freight): CIF refers to cargos for which the seller pays for the transportation and insurance up to the port of destination.
CIF (cost, insurance, freight): This term refers to a type of sale in which the buyer of the product agrees to pay a unit price that includes the f.o.b. value of the product at the point of origin plus all costs of insurance and transportation. This type of a transaction differs from a "delivered" purchase, in that the buyer accepts the quantity as determined at the loading port (as certified by the Bill of Lading and Quality Report) rather than pay based on the quantity and quality ascertained at the unloading port. It is similar to the terms of an f.o.b. sale, except that the seller, as a service for which he is compensated, arranges for transportation and insurance.
Circuit-mile: The total length in miles of separate circuits regardless of the number of conductors used per circuit.
Circuit: A conductor or a system of conductors through which electric current flows.
Citygate: A point or measuring station at which a distributing gas utility receives gas from a natural gas pipeline company or transmission system.
CIV: customs import value
CIWMB: California Integrated Waste Management Board
Class rate schedule: An electric rate schedule applicable to one or more specified classes of service, groups of businesses, or customer uses.
Classes of service: Customers grouped by similar characteristics in order to be identified for the purpose of setting a common rate for electric service. Usually classified into groups identified as residential, commercial, industrial, and other.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): A Kyoto Protocol program that enables industrialized countries to finance emissions-avoiding projects in developing countries and receive credit for reductions achieved against their own emissions limitation targets. Also see Kyoto Protocol.
[Cleaned coal or prepared coal has been processed to reduce the amount of impurities present and improve the burning characteristics.
Climate change: A term used to refer to all forms of climatic inconsistency, but especially to significant change from one prevailing climatic condition to another. In some cases, "climate change" has been used synonymously with the term "global warming"; scientists, however, tend to use the term in a wider sense inclusive of natural changes in climate, including climatic cooling.
Clinker: Powdered cement, produced by heating a properly proportioned mixture of finely ground raw materials (calciumcarbonate, silica, alumina, and iron oxide) in a kiln to a temperature of about 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cloud condensation nuclei: Aerosol particles that provide a platform for the condensation of water vapor, resulting in clouds with higher droplet concentrations and increased albedo.
CLUP: Comprehensive Land Use Plan
CMSA: consolidated metropolitan statistical area
CNEL: Community Noise Equivalent Level
CNG: Compressed Natural Gas
cnt: Cent
CO control period ("seasons"): The portion of the year in which a CO nonattainment area is prone to high ambient levels of carbon monoxide. This portion of the year is to be specified by the Environmental Protection Agency but is to be not less than 4 months in length.
CO nonattainment area: Areas with carbon monoxide design values of 9.5 parts per million or more, generally based on data for 1988 and 1989.
CO2 or CO2 (Note: Make sure the 2 it is not too small to read.): Carbon dioxide
CO2: Carbon Dioxide
CO: Carbon Monoxide
CO: carbon monoxide
Coal analysis: Determines the composition and properties of coal so it can be ranked and used most effectively.
Coal bed degasification: This refers to the removal of methane or coal bed gas from a coal mine before or during mining.
Coal bed: A bed or stratum of coal. Also called a coal seam.
Coal Blending: The process of combining two or more coals with different characteristics to obtain coal with a certain quality, such as low sulfur content.
Coal briquets: Anthracite, bituminous, and lignite briquets comprise the secondary solid fuels manufactured from coal by a process in which the coal is partly dried, warmed to expel excess moisture, and then compressed into briquets, usually without the use of a binding substance. In the reduction of briquets to coal equivalent, different conversion factors are applied according to their origin from hard coal, peat, brown coal, or lignite.
Coal carbonized: The amount of coal decomposed into solid coke and gaseous products by heating in a coke oven in a limited air supply or in the absence of air.
Coal chemicals: Coal chemicals are obtained from the gases and vapor recovered from the manufacturing of coke. Generally, crude tar, ammonia, crude light oil, and gas are the basic products recovered. They are refined or processed to yield a variety of chemical materials.
Coal Classification: In the United States, coals are classified by rank progressively from lignite (least carbonaceous) to anthracite (most carbonaceous) based on the proximate analyses of various properties (fixed carbon, volatile matter, heating value, and agglomerating character), following methods prescribed by the American Society for Testing and Materials. The International Coal Classification of the Economic Commission for Europe recognizes two broad categories of coal, “brown coal” and “hard coal.” In terms of U.S. coal classification, the international classification of brown coal includes lignite and lower-ranked subbituminous coal, whereas hard coal includes all higher rank coals. See Coal Rank.
Coal coke: See Coke (coal).
Coal consumption: The quantity of coal burned for the generation of electric power (in short tons), including fuel used for maintenance of standby service.
Coal delivered: Coal which has been delivered from the coal supplier to any site belonging to the electric power company.
Coal exports: Amount of U.S. coal shipped to foreign destinations, as reported in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, "Monthly Report EM 545."
Coal face: This is the exposed area from which coal is extracted.
Coal financial reporting regions: A geographic classification of areas with coal resources which is used for financial reporting of coal statistics.
Coal fines: Coal with a maximum particle size usually less than one-sixteenth inch and rarely above one-eighth inch.
Coal gas: Substitute natural gas produced synthetically by the chemical reduction of coal at a coal gasification facility.
Coal gasification: The process of converting coal into gas. The basic process involves crushing coal to a powder, which is then heated in the presence of steam and oxygen to produce a gas. The gas is then refined to reduce sulfur and other impurities. The gas can be used as a fuel or processed further and concentrated into chemical or liquid fuel.
Coal grade: This classification refers to coal quality and use.
Coal imports: Amount of foreign coal shipped to the United States, as reported in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, "Monthly Report IM 145."
Coal liquefaction: A chemical process that converts coal into clean-burning liquid hydrocarbons, such as synthetic crude oil and methanol.
Coal mining productivity: Coal mining productivity is calculated by dividing total coal production by the total direct labor hours worked by all mine employees.
Coal Preparation Processes (Cleaning/Beneficiation/Processing): In its broadest sense, preparation is any processing of mined coal to prepare it for market, including crushing and screening or sieving the coal to reach a uniform size, which normally results in removal of some non-coal or waste material. The term coal preparation most commonly refers to processing, including crushing and screening, passing the material through one or more processes to remove impurities, sizing the product, and loading for shipment. Many of the processes separate rock, clay, and other minerals from coal in a liquid medium; hence, the term washing is widely used. In some cases, coal passes through a drying step before loading. See Coal Washing.
Coal preparation: The process of sizing and cleaning coal to meet market specifications by removing impurities such as rock, sulfur, etc. It may include crushing, screening, or mechanical cleaning.
Coal producing districts: A classification of coal fields defined in the Bituminous Coal Act of 1937. The districts were originally established to aid in formulating minimum prices of bituminous and subbituminous coal and lignite. Because much statistical information was compiled in terms of these districts, their use for statistical purposes has continued since the abandonment of that legislation in 1943. District 24 was added for the anthracite-producing district in Pennsylvania.
Coal production: The sum of sales, mine consumption, issues to miners, and issues to coke, briquetting, and other ancillary plants at mines. Production data include quantities extracted from surface and underground mines, and normally exclude wastes removed at mines or associated reparation plants.
Coal rank: The classification of coals according to their degree of progressive alteration from lignite to anthracite. In the United States, the standard ranks of coal include lignite, subbituminous coal, bituminous coal, and anthracite and are based on fixed carbon, volatile matter, heating value, and agglomerating (or caking) properties.
Coal sampling: The collection and proper storage and handling of a relatively small quantity of coal for laboratory analysis. Sampling may be done for a wide range of purposes, such as: coal resource exploration and assessment, characterization of their serves or production of a mine, to characterize the results of coal cleaning processes, to monitor coal shipments or receipts for adherence to coal quality contract specifications, or to subject a coal to specific combustion or reactivity tests related to the customer's intended use. During pre-development phases, such as exploration and resource assessment, sampling typically is from natural outcrops, test pits, old or existing mines in the region, drill cuttings, or drilled cores. Characterization of a mine's reserves or production may use sample collection in the mine, representative cuts from coal conveyors or from handling and loading equipment, or directly from stockpiles or shipments (coal rail cars or barges). Contract specifications rely on sampling from the production flow at the mining or coal handling facility or at the loadout, or from the incoming shipments at the receiver's facility. In all cases, the value of a sample taken depends on its being representative of the coal under consideration, which in turn requires that appropriate sampling procedures be carefully followed. For coal resource and estimated reserve characterization, appropriate types of samples include:
Coal stocks: Coal quantities that are held in storage for future use and disposition. Note: When coal data are collected for a particular reporting period (month, quarter, or year), coal stocks are commonly measured as of the last day of this period.
Coal sulfur: Coal sulfur occurs in three forms: organic, sulfate, and pyritic. Organic sulfur is an integral part of the coal matrix and cannot be removed by conventional physical separation. Sulfate sulfur is usually negligible. Pyritic sulfur occurs as the minerals pyrite and marcasite; larger sizes generally can be removed by cleaning the coal.
Coal synfuel: Coal-based solid fuel that has been processed by a coal synfuel plant; and coal-based fuels such as briquettes, pellets, or extrusions, which are formed from fresh or recycled coal and binding materials.
Coal type: The classification is based on physical characteristics or microscopic constituents. Examples of coal types are banded coal, bright coal, cannel coal, and splint coal. The term is also used to classify coal according to heat and sulfur content. See Coal grade.
Coal Washing: The treatment of coal to remove waste material such as: Dense (heavy) medium processes use a thick solution, usually a mixture of magnetite and water, to separate coal from impurities, such as sulfur, ash, and mercury, by gravity separation. Flotation processes treat fine-sized coal with an oil-based reagent that attracts air bubbles in a liquid medium; the coal floats to the surface as froth, leaving the refuse below. Hydraulic processes use currents of water to separate coal from impurities. Pneumatic processes use currents of air to separate coal from impurities.
Coal zone: A series of laterally extensive and (or) lenticular coal beds and associated strata that arbitrarily can be viewed as a unit. Generally, the coal beds in a coal zone are assigned to the same geologic member or formation.
coal-cutting machine: used in conventional mining to undercut, top cut, or shear the coal face so that coal can be fractured easily when blasted. It cuts 9 to 13 feet into the bed.
Coal-producing regions: A geographic classification of areas where coal is produced.
Coal-Producing States: The States where mined and/or purchased coal originates are defined as follows: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky Eastern, Kentucky Western, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania anthracite, Pennsylvania bituminous, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia Northern, West Virginia Southern, and Wyoming.
Coal: A readily combustible black or brownish-black rock whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time.
Coalbed Methane Well Gas: Methane produced from coal seams. Coalbed methane is formed during coalification, which is the geologic process that transforms organic material into coal.
COB: California/Oregon Border
Code of federal regulations: A compilation of the general and permanent rules of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government as published in the Federal Register. The code is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. Title 18 contains the FERC regulations.
Cofiring: The process of burning natural gas in conjunction with another fuel to reduce air pollutants.
Cogeneration system: A system using a common energy source to produce both electricity and steam for other uses, resulting in increased fuel efficiency.
Cogeneration: The production of electrical energy and another form of useful energy (such as heat or steam) through the sequential use of energy.
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).(See the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 292.)
COI: California Oregon Intertie
Coincidental demand: The sum of two or more demands that occur in the same time interval.
Coincidental peak load: The sum of two or more peak loads that occur in the same time interval.
Coke (coal): A solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit so that the fixed carbon and residual ash are fused together. Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Coke from coal is grey, hard, and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million Btu per ton.
Coke (petroleum): A residue high in carbon content and low in hydrogen that is the final product of thermal decomposition in the condensation process in cracking. This product is reported as marketable coke or catalyst coke. The conversion is 5 barrels (of 42 U.S. gallons each) per short ton.
Coke Battery: A series of coke ovens stacked in rows into which coal is loaded and processed into coke.
Coke breeze: The term refers to the fine sizes of coke, usually less than one-half inch, that are recovered from coke plants. It is commonly used for sintering iron ore.
Coke button: A button-shaped piece of coke resulting from standard laboratory tests that indicates the coking or free-swelling characteristics of a coal; expressed in numbers and compared with a standard.
Coke oven gas: The mixture of permanent gases produced by the carbonization of coal in a coke oven at temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Coke Oven: A chamber of brick or other heat-resistant material in which coal is heated to separate the coal gas, coal water, and tar. The coal gas and coal water fuse together with carbon and the remaining ash, forming a hard residue commonly referred to as coke. Coke is primarily used in steel production. There are two types of coke ovens: (1) beehive ovens, which were originally built round with a spherical top like an old-fashioned beehive, and have an opening in the top and various small openings for draft at the base. The ovens were developed into banks (rows) of joining cubicles. During the heating process of the coal, tar, gas, and other byproducts are lost. (2) Byproduct ovens, which were built in rectangular form with the front and back removable, and which are arranged so that all volatile byproducts can be pumped out.
Coke plants: Plants where coal is carbonized for the manufacture of coke in slot or beehive ovens.
Coking coal: Bituminous coal suitable for making coke. See coke (coal).
Coking: Thermal refining processes used to produce fuel gas, gasoline blendstocks, distillates, and petroleum coke from the heavier products of atmospheric and vacuum distillation. Includes:
Cold-deck imputation: A statistical procedure that replaces a missing value of an item with a constant value from an external source such as a value from a previous survey. See Imputation.
[Column sample: a channel or drill core sample taken to represent the entire geologic coalbed; it includes all partings and impurities that may exist in the coalbed.
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 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 heat and power (CHP) plant: A plant designed to produce both heat and electricity from a single heat source. Note: This term is being used in place of the term "cogenerator" that was used by EIA in the past. CHP better describes the facilities because some of the plants included do not produce heat and power in a sequential fashion and, as a result, do not meet the legal definition of cogeneration specified in the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA).
Combined household energy expenditures: The total amount of funds spent for energy consumed in, or delivered to, a housing unit during a given period of time and for fuel used to operate the motor vehicles that are owned or used on a regular basis by the household. The total dollar amount for energy consumed in a housing unit includes state and local taxes but excludes merchandise repairs or special service charges. Electricity, and natural gas expenditures are for the amount of those energy sources consumed. Fuel oil, kerosene, and LPG expenditures are for the amount of fuel purchased, which may differ from the amount of fuel consumed. The total dollar amount of fuel spent for vehicles is the product of fuel consumption and price.
Combined hydroelectric plant: A hydroelectric plant that uses both pumped water and natural streamflow for the production of power.
Combined pumped-storage plant: A pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant that uses both pumped water and natural stream flow to produce electricity.
Combustion chamber: An enclosed vessel in which chemical oxidation of fuel occurs.
Combustion: Chemical oxidation accompanied by the generation of light and heat.
Commercial building: A building with more than 50 percent of its floor space used for commercial activities. Commercial buildings include, but are not limited to, stores, offices, schools, churches, gymnasiums, libraries, museums, hospitals, clinics, warehouses, and jails. Government buildings are included except for buildings on military bases or reservations.
Commercial facility: An economic unit that is owned or operated by one person or organization and that occupies two or more commercial buildings at a single location. A university and a large hospital complex are examples of a commercial multi-building facility.
Commercial operation (nuclear): The phase of reactor operation that begins when power ascension ends and the operating utility formally declares the nuclear power plant to be available for the regular production of electricity. This declaration is usually related to the satisfactory completion of qualification tests on critical components of the unit.
Commercial sector: An energy-consuming sector that consists of service-providing facilities and equipment of businesses; Federal, State, and local governments; and other private and public organizations, such as religious, social, or fraternal groups. The commercial sector includes institutional living quarters. It also includes sewage treatment facilities. Common uses of energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking, and running a wide variety of other equipment. Note: This sector includes generators that produce electricity and/or useful thermal output primarily to support the activities of the above-mentioned commercial establishments.
[Commercial: Kerosene-type jet fuel intended for use in commercial aircraft.
Commingling: The mixing of one utility's generated supply of electric energy with another utility's generated supply within a transmission system.
Commissioned agent: An agent who wholesales or retails a refined petroleum product under a commission arrangement. The agent does not take title to the product or establish the selling price, but receives a percentage of fixed fee for serving as an agent.
Common equity (book value): The retained earnings and common stock earnings plus the balances in common equity reserves and all other common stock accounts. This also includes the capital surplus, the paid-in surplus, the premium on common stocks, except those balances specifically related to preferred or preference stocks; less any common stocks held in the treasury.
Compact fluorescent bulbs: These are also known as "screw-in fluorescent replacements for incandescent" or "screw-ins." Compact fluorescent bulbs combine the efficiency of fluorescent lighting with the convenience of a standard incandescent bulb. There are many styles of compact fluorescent, including exit light fixtures and floodlights (lamps containing reflectors). Many screw into a standard light socket, and most produce a similar color of light as a standard incandescent bulb. Compact fluorescent bulbs come with ballasts that are electronic (lightweight, instant, no-flicker starting, and 10to 15% more efficient) or magnetic (much heavier and slower starting).Other types of compact fluorescent bulbs include adaptive circulation and PL and SL lamps and ballasts. Compact fluorescent bulbs are designed for residential uses; they are also used in table lamps, wall sconces, and hall and ceiling fixtures of hotels, motels, hospitals, and other types of commercial buildings with residential-type applications.
Company automotive (retail) outlet: Any retail outlet selling motor fuel under the brand name of a company reporting in the EIA Financial Reporting System.
Company outlet: See Company-operated automotive outlet.
Company-lessee automotive outlet: One of three types of company automotive (retail) outlets. This type of outlet is operated by an independent marketer who leases the station and land and has use of tanks, pumps, signs, etc. A lessee dealer typically has a supply agreement with a refiner or a distributor and purchases products at dealer tank wagon prices. The term includes outlets operated by commissioned agents and is limited to those dealers who are supplied directly by a refiner or any affiliate or subsidiary company of a refiner.
Company-open automotive outlet: One of three types of company automotive (retail) outlets. This type of outlet is operated by an independent marketer who owns or leases (from a third party that is not a refiner) the station or land of a retail outlet and has use of tanks, pumps, signs, etc. An open dealer typically has a supply agreement with a refiner or a distributor and purchases products based on either rack or dealer tank wagon prices.
Company-operated automotive outlet: One of three types of company automotive (retail) outlets. This type of outlet is operated by salaried or commissioned personnel paid by the reporting company.
Company-operated outlet: See Company-operated retail outlet.
Company-operated retail outlet: Any retail outlet (i.e., service station) which sells motor vehicle fuels and is under the direct control of a firm that sets the retail product price and directly collects all or part of the retail margin. The category includes retail outlets operated by (1) salaried employees of the firm and/or its subsidiaries and affiliates, (2) licensed or commissioned agents, and/or (3) personnel services contracted by the firm.
Company: See Firm.
Competitive transition charge: A non-bypassable charge levied on each customer of the distribution utility, including those who are served under contracts with nonutility suppliers, for recovery of the utility's stranded costs that develop because of competition.
Completion (oil/gas production): The term refers to the installation of permanent equipment for the production of oil or gas. If a well is equipped to produce only oil or gas from one zone or reservoir, the definition of a "well" (classified as an oil well or gas well) and the definition of a "completion" are identical. However, if a well is equipped to produce oil and/or gas separately from more than one reservoir, a "well" is not synonymous with a "completion." (See Well.)
Completion date (oil/gas production): The date on which the installation of permanent equipment has been completed as reported to the appropriate regulatory agency. The date of completion of a dry hole is the date of abandonment as reported to the appropriate agency. The date of completion of a service well is the date on which the well is equipped to perform the service for which it was intended.
[Compliance coal is a coal, or a blend of coal, that meets sulfur dioxide emission standards for air quality without the need for flue-gas desulfurization.
Compliance coal: A coal or a blend of coals that meets sulfur dioxide emission standards for air quality without the need for flue gas desulfurization.
[Composite sample: a recombined coalbed sample produced by averaging together thickness-weighted coal analyses from partial samples of the coalbed, such as from one or more bench samples, from one or more mine exposures or outcrops where the entire bed could not be accessed in one sample, or from multiple drill cores that were required to retrieve all local sections of a coal seam.
Compressed natural gas (CNG): Natural gas compressed to a pressure at or above 200-248 bar (i.e., 2900-3600 pounds per square inch) and stored in high-pressure containers. It is used as a fuel for natural gas-powered vehicles.
Compressor station: Any combination of facilities that supply the energy to move gas in transmission or distribution lines or into storage by increasing the pressure.
Concentrating solar power or solar thermal power system: A solar energy conversion system characterized by the optical concentration of solar rays through an arrangement of mirrors to generate a high temperature working fluid. Also see Solar trough, Solar power tower, or Solar dish. Concentrating solar power (but not Solar thermal power) may also refer to a system that focuses solar rays on aphotovoltaic cell to increase conversion efficiency.
Concentrator: A reflective or refractive device that focuses incident insolation onto an area smaller than the reflective or refractive surface, resulting in increased insolation at the point of focus.
Concession: The operating right to explore for and develop petroleum fields in consideration for a share of production in kind (equity oil).
Concessionary purchases: The quantity of crude oil exported during a reporting period, which was acquired from the producing government under terms that arise from the firm's participation in a concession. It includes preferential crude where the reporting firm's access to such crude is derived from a former concessionary relationship.
Condensate (lease condensate): Light liquid hydrocarbons recovered from lease separators or field facilities at associated and non-associated natural gas wells. Mostly pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons. Normally enters the crude oil stream after production.
Condenser cooling water: A source of water external to a boiler's feed system is passed through the steam leaving the turbine in order to cool and condense the steam. This reduces the steam's exit pressure and recaptures its heat, which is then used to preheat fluid entering the boiler, thereby increasing the plant's thermodynamic efficiency.
Conditionally effective rates: An electric rate schedule that has been put into effect by the FERC subject to refund pending final disposition or refiling.
Conductor: Metal wires, cables, and bus-bar used for carrying electric current. Conductors may be solid or stranded, that is,built up by a assembly of smaller solid conductors.
Conference of the parties (COP): The collection of nations that have ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change(FCCC). The primary role of the COP is to keep implementation of the FCCC under review and make the decisions necessary for its effective implementation. Also see Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).
Configuration maps: Geographic information containing transmission line, substation, and terminal information. Its hows the normal operating voltages and includes information about other operational and political boundaries.
Congestion: A condition that occurs when insufficient transfer capacity is available to implement all of the preferred schedules for electricity transmission simultaneously.
Connected load: The sum of the continuous ratings or the capacities for a system, part of a system, or a customer's electric power consuming apparatus.
[Connection to line side of motor starter for all boiler-plant equipment.
Connection: The physical connection (e.g., transmission lines, transformers, switch gear, etc.) between two electric systems permitting the transfer of electric energy in one or both directions.
Conservation feature: A feature in the building designed to reduce the usage of energy.
Conservation program: A program in which a utility company furnishes home weatherization services free or at reduced cost or provides free or low cost devices for saving energy, such as energy efficient light bulbs, flow restrictors, weather stripping, and water heater insulation.
Conservation: A reduction in energy consumption that corresponds with a reduction in service demand. Service demand can include buildings-sector end uses such as lighting, refrigeration, and heating; industrial processes; or vehicle transportation. Unlike energy efficiency, which is typically a technological measure, conservation is better associated with behavior. Examples of conservation include adjusting the thermostat to reduce the output of a heating unit, using occupancy sensors that turn off lights or appliances, and car-pooling.
Consolidated entity: See Firm.
Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA): An area that meets the requirements of a metropolitan statistical area, has a population of one million or more, and consists of two or more component parts that are recognized as primary metropolitan statistical areas.
Construction costs (of the electric power industry): All direct and indirect costs incurred in acquiring and constructing electric utility plant and equipment and proportionate shares of common utility plants. Included are the cost of land and improvements, nuclear fuel and spare parts, allowance for funds used during construction, and general overheads capitalized, less the cost of acquiring plant and equipment previously operated in utility service.
Construction expenditures (of the electric power industry): The gross expenditures for construction costs (including the cost of replacing worn out plants), and electric construction costs, and land held for future use.
Construction pipeline (of a nuclear reactor): The various stages involved in the acquisition of a nuclear reactor by a utility. The events that define these stages are the ordering of a reactor, the licensing process, and the physical construction of the nuclear generating unit. A reactor is said to be "in the pipeline" when the reactor is ordered and "out of the pipeline" when it completes low power testing and begins operation toward full power.
Construction work in progress (CWIP): The balance shown on a utility's balance sheet for construction work not yet completed butin process. This balance line item may or may not be included in the rate base.
[Construction. Construction equipment including earth moving equipment, cranes, stationary generators, air compressors, etc.
Construction: An energy-consuming subsector of the industrial sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used to perform land preparation and construct, renovate, alter, install, maintain, or repair major infrastructure or individual systems therein. Infrastructure includes buildings; industrial plants; and other major structures, such as tanks, towers, monuments, roadways, tunnels, bridges, dams, pipelines, and transmission lines.
Constructive surplus or deficit: The amounts representing the exchange of services, supplies, etc., between the utility department and the municipality and its other departments without charge or at a reduced charge. Charges to this account include utility and other services, supplies, etc., furnished by the utility department to the municipality or its other departments without charge, or the amount of the reduction, if furnished at a reduced charge. Credits to the account consist of services, supplies, office space, etc., furnished by the municipality to the utility department without charge on the amount of the reduction, if furnished at a reduced charge.
Consumer (energy): Any individually metered dwelling, building, establishment, or location using natural gas, synthetic natural gas, and/or mixtures of natural and supplemental gas for feedstock or as fuel for any purpose other than in oil or gas lease operations; natural gas treating or processing plants; or pipeline, distribution, or storage compressors.
Consumer charge: An amount charged periodically to a consumer for such utility costs as billing and meter reading, without regard to demand or energy consumption.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): These prices are collected in 85 urban areas selected to represent all urban consumers about 80 percent of the total U.S. population. The service stations are selected initially and on a replacement basis, in such a way that they represent the purchasing habits of the CPI population. Service stations in the current sample include those providing all types of service (i.e., full, mini, and self service).
Consumption per square foot: The aggregate ratio of total consumption for a particular set of buildings to the total floorspace of those buildings.
Consumption: See Energy consumption.
[Continuous auger machine is used in mining coalbeds less than 3 feet thick. The auger has a cutting depth of about 5 feet and is 20 to 28 inches in diameter. Continuous auger mining usually uses a conveyor belt to haul the coal to the surface.
Continuous delivery energy sources: Those energy sources provided continuously to a building.
[Continuous mining machine, used during continuous mining, cuts or rips coal from the face and loads it into shuttle cars or conveyors in one operation. It eliminates the use of blasting devices and performs many functions of other equipment such as drills, cutting machines, and loaders. A continuous mining machine typically has a turning "drum" with sharp bits that cut and dig out the coal for 16 to 22 feet before mining stops so that the mined area can be supported with roof bolts. This machine can mine coal at the rate of 8 to 15 tons per minute.
Continuous mining: A form of room pillar mining in which a continuous mining machine extracts and removes coal from the working face in one operation; no blasting is required.
continuous surface miner: Equipped with crawlers, a rotating cutting head, and a conveyor. It travels over the bed, excavating a swath up to 13 feet wide and 2 feet deep.
[Contour mining is practiced when the coal is mined on hillsides. The mining follows the contour of the hillside until the overburden becomes uneconomical to remove. This method creates a shelf, or bench, on the hillside. Several variations of contour mining have been developed to control environmental problems. These methods include slope reduction (overburden is spread so that the angle of the slope on the hillside is reduced), head-of-hollow fill (overburden is placed in narrow V-shaped valleys to control erosion), and block-cut (overburden from current mining is backfilled into a previously mined cut).
Contract price: The delivery price determined when a contract is signed. It can be a fixed price or a base price escalated according to a given formula.
[Contract Production. Natural gas liquids accruing to a company because of its ownership of liquids extraction facilities that it uses to extract liquids from gas belonging to others, thereby earning a portion of the resultant liquids.
Contract receipts: Purchases based on a negotiated agreement that generally covers a period of 1 or more years.
[Contract Reserves. Natural gas liquid reserves corresponding to the contract production defined above.
Contracted gas: Any gas for which Interstate Pipeline has a contract to purchase from any domestic or foreign source that cannot be identified to a specific field or group. This includes tailgate plant purchases, single meter point purchases, pipeline purchases, natural gas imports, SNG purchases, and LNG purchases.
Contribution to net income: The FRS (Financial Reporting System survey) segment equivalent to net income. However, some consolidated items of revenue and expense are not allocated to the segments, and therefore they are not equivalent in a strict sense. The largest item not allocated to the segments is interest expense since this is regarded as a corporate level item for FRS purposes.
Control total: The number of elements in the population or a subset of the population. The sample weights for the observed elements in a survey are adjusted so that they add up to the control total. The value of a control total is obtained from an outside source. The control totals are given by the number of households in one of the 12 cells by categorizing households by the four Census regions and by three categories of metropolitan status (Metropolitan Statistical Area central city, Metropolitan Statistical Area outside central city, and non Metropolitan Statistical Area). The control totals are obtained from the Current Population Survey.
Control: Including the terms "controlling," "controlled by," and "under common control with," means the possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting shares, by contract, or otherwise.
Conventional blendstock for oxygenate blending (CBOB): Motor gasoline blending components intended for blending with oxygenates to produce finished conventional motor gasoline.
Conventional gasoline: Finished motor gasoline not included in the oxygenated or reformulated gasoline categories. Note: This category excludes reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) as well as other blendstock.
Conventional hydroelectric plant: A plant in which all of the power is produced from natural streamflow as regulated by available storage.
Conventional mill (uranium): A facility engineered and built principally for processing of uraniferous ore materials mined from the earth and the recovery, by chemical treatment in the mill's circuits, of uranium and/or other valued coproduct components from the processed one.
Conventional mining: The oldest form of room pillar mining, which consists of a series of operations that involve cutting the coal bed, so it breaks easily when blasted with explosives or high pressure air, and then loading the broken coal.
Conventional oil and natural gas production: Crude oil and natural gas that is produced by a well drilled into a geologic formation in which the reservoir and fluid characteristics permit the oil and natural gas to readily flow to the wellbore.
Conventionally fueled vehicle: A vehicle that runs on petroleum-based fuels such as motor gasoline or diesel fuel.
Conversion company: An organization that performs vehicle conversions on a commercial basis.
Conversion factor: A factor for converting data between one unit of measurement and another (such as between short tons and British thermal units, or between barrels and gallons). (See Appendices (heat rates, conversion factors, and more) for further information on conversion factors.) See Btu Conversion Factor and Thermal Conversion Factor.
Converted (alternative-fuel) vehicle: A vehicle originally designed to operate on gasoline/diesel that was modified or altered to run on an alternative fuel after its initial delivery to an end-user.
Cooling Degree Days (CDD): A measure of how warm a location is over a period of time relative to a base temperature, most commonly specified as 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The measure is computed for each day by subtracting the base temperature (65 degrees) from the average of the day's high and low temperatures, with negative values set equal to zero. Each day's cooling degree days are summed to create a cooling degree day measure for a specified reference period. Cooling degree days are used in energy analysis as an indicator of air conditioning energy requirements or use.
Cooling pond: A natural or manmade body of water that is used for dissipating waste heat from power plants.
Cooling system: An equipment system that provides water to the condensers and includes water intakes and outlets; cooling towers; and ponds, pumps, and pipes.
Cooling: Conditioning of room air for human comfort by a refrigeration unit (such as an air conditioner or heat pump) or by circulating chilled water through a central cooling or district cooling system. Use of fans or blowers by themselves, without chilled air or water, is not included in this definition of cooling.
Cooperative electric utility: An electric utility legally established to be owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its service. The utility company will generate, transmit, and/or distribute supplies of electric energy to a specified area not being serviced by another utility. Such ventures are generally exempt from Federal income tax laws. Most electric cooperatives have been initially financed by the Rural Utilities Service (prior Rural Electrification Administration), U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Coordination service pricing: The typical price components of a bulk power coordination sale are an energy charge, a capacity, or reservation charge, and an adder. The price for a particular sale may embody some or all of these components. The energy charge is made on a per-kilowatt basis and is intended to recover the seller's system incremental variable costs of making a sale. Because the nonfuel expenses are usually hard to quantify, and small relative to fuel expense, energy charges quoted are usually based on fuel cost. A capacity charge is set at a certain level per kilowatt and is normally paid whether or not energy is taken by the buyer. An adder is added to that energy charge to recover the hard quantify nonfuel variable costs. There are three types of adders percentage, fixed, and split savings. A percentage adder increases the energy charge by a certain percentage. A fixed adder adds a fixed amount per kilowatt hour to the energy charge. Split savings adders are used only in economy energy transactions. They split production costs savings between the seller and the buyer by adding one half of the savings to the energy cost.
Coordination service: The sale, exchange, or transmission of electricity between two or more electric utilities that typically have sufficient generation and transmission capacity to supply their load requirements under normal conditions.
Cord of wood: A cord of wood measures 4 feet by 4feet by 8 feet, or 128 cubic feet.
Correlation (statistical term): In its most general sense, correlation denotes the interdependence between quantitative or qualitative data. It would include the association of dichotomized attributes and the contingency of multiple classified attributes. The concept is quite general and may be extended to more than two variates.The word is most frequently used in a somewhat narrower sense to denote the relationship between measurable variates or ranks.
Cost model for undiscovered resources: A computerized algorithm that uses the uranium endowment estimated for a given geological area and selected industry economic indexes to develop random variables that describe the undiscovered resources ultimately expected to be discovered in that area at chosen forward cost categories.
Cost of capital: The rate of return a utility must offer to obtain additional funds. The cost of capital varies with the leverage ratio, the effective income tax rate, conditions in the bond and stock markets, growth rate of the utility, its dividend strategy, stability of net income, the amount of new capital required, and other factors dealing with business and financial risks. It is a composite of the cost for debt interest, preferred stock dividends, and common stockholders' earnings that provide the facilities used in supplying utility service.
Cost of debt: The interest rate paid on new increments of debt capital multiplied by 1 minus the tax rate.
Cost of preferred stock: The preferred stock dividends divided by the net price of the preferred stock.
Cost of retained earnings: The residual of an entity's earnings over expenditures, including taxes and dividends, that are reinvested in its business. The cost of these funds is always lower than the cost of new equity capital, due to taxes and transactions costs. Therefore, the cost of retained earnings is the yield that retained earnings accrue upon reinvestment.
Cost of service: A ratemaking concept used for the design and development of rate schedules to ensure that the filed rate schedules recover only the cost of providing the electric service at issue. This concept attempts to correlate the utility's costs and revenue with the service provided to each of the various customer classes.
Cost, insurance, freight (CIF): A type of sale in which the buyer of the product agrees to pay a unit price that includes the f.o.b. value of the product at the point of origin plus all costs of insurance and transportation. This type of transaction differs from a "delivered" purchase in that the buyer accepts the quantity as determined at the loading port (as certified by the Bill of Lading and Quality Report) rather than pay on the basis of the quantity and quality ascertained at the unloading port. It is similar to the terms of an f.o.b. sale except that the seller, as a service for which he is compensated, arranges for transportation and insurance.
Cost-based rates (electric): A ratemaking concept used for the design and development of rate schedules to ensure that the filed rate schedules recover only the cost of providing the service. FERC definition
Cost-of-service regulation: A traditional electric utility regulation under which a utility is allowed to set rates based on the cost of providing service to customers and the right to earn a limited profit.
Costs (imports of natural gas): All expenses incurred by an importer up to the U.S. point of delivery for the reported quantity {of natural gas} imported.
CPCN: Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity
CPI: Consumer Price Index
CPM: Compliance Project Manager
CPUC: California Public Utilities Commission
CRA: Columbia River Alliance for Fish, Commerce and Communities
Criteria pollutant: A pollutant determined to behazardous to human health and regulated under EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The 1970 amendments to the Clean Air Act require EPA to describe the health and welfare impacts of a pollutant as the "criteria" for inclusion in the regulatory regime.
CRITFC: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Crop residue: Organic residue remaining after the harvesting and processing of a crop.
Crude oil acquisitions (unfinished oil acquisitions): The volume of crude oil either:
Crude oil f.o.b. price: The crude oil price actually charged at the oil producing country's port of loading. Includes deductions for any rebates and discounts or additions of premiums, where applicable. It is the actual price paid with no adjustment for credit terms.
Crude oil input: The total crude oil put into processing units at refineries.
Crude oil landed cost: The price of crude oil at the port of discharge, including charges associated with purchasing, transporting, and insuring a cargo from the purchase point to the port of discharge. The cost does not include charges incurred at the discharge port (e.g., import tariffs or fees, wharfage charges, and demurrage).
Crude oil less lease condensate: A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Such hydrocarbons as lease condensate and natural gasoline recovered as liquids from natural gas wells in lease or field separation facilities and later mixed into the crude stream are excluded. Depending upon the characteristics of the crude stream, crude oil may also include: 1. Small amounts of hydrocarbons that exist in gaseous phase in natural underground reservoirs but are liquid at atmospheric pressure after being recovered from oil well (casinghead) gas in lease separators and are subsequently comingled with the crude stream without being separately measured; 2. Small amounts of on hydrocarbons produced with the oil, such as sulfur and various metals.
Crude oil losses: Represents the volume of crude oil reported by petroleum refineries as being lost in their operations. These losses are due to spills, contamination, fires, etc., as opposed to refining processing losses.
Crude oil production: The volume of crude oil produced from oil reservoirs during given periods of time. The amount of such production for a given period is measured as volumes delivered from lease storage tanks (i.e., the point of custody transfer) to pipelines, trucks, or other media for transport to refineries or terminals with adjustments for (1) net differences between opening and closing lease inventories, and (2) basic sediment and water (BSw).
Crude oil qualities: Refers to two properties of crude oil, the sulfur content, and API gravity, which affect processing complexity and product characteristics.
Crude oil refinery input: The total crude oil put into processing units at refineries.
Crude oil stocks: Stocks of crude oil and lease condensate held at refineries, in pipelines, at pipeline terminals, and on leases.
Crude oil stream: Crude oil produced in a particular field or a collection of crude oils with similar qualities from fields in close proximity, which the petroleum industry usually describes with a specific name, such as West Texas Intermediate or Saudi Light.
[Crude oil that has not been added by a refiner to inventory and that is thereafter sold or otherwise disposed of without processing for the account of that refiner shall be deducted from its crude oil purchases at the time when the related cost is deducted from refinery inventory in accordance with accounting procedures generally applied by the refiner concerned. Crude oil processed by the respondent for the account of another is not a crude oil acquisition.
Crude oil used directly: Crude oil consumed as fuel by crude oil pipelines and on crude oil leases.
Crude oil, refinery receipts: Receipts of domestic and foreign crude oil at a refinery. Includes all crude oil in transit except crude oil in transit by pipeline. Foreign crude oil is reported as a receipt only after entry through customs. Crude oil of foreign origin held in bonded storage is excluded.
Crude oil: A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Depending upon the characteristics of the crude stream, it may also include 1. Small amounts of hydrocarbons that exist in gaseous phase in natural underground reservoirs but are liquid at atmospheric pressure after being recovered from oil well (casing head) gas in lease separators and are subsequently comingled with the crude stream without being separately measured. Lease condensate recovered as a liquid from natural gas wells in lease or field separation facilities and later mixed into the crude stream is also included; 2. Small amounts of nonhydrocarbons produced with the oil, such as sulfur and various metals; 3. Drip gases, and liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, oil sands, gilsonite, and oil shale.
Crystalline fully refined wax: A light colored paraffin wax having the following characteristics:
Crystalline other wax: A paraffin wax having the following characteristics:
CSA: Canadian Standards Association
CSL: Candidate Standard Level
CT: combustion turbine
CT: current transformer
CTG: combustion turbine generator
CTL: Coal-to-liquid conversion
CU: cooper
CUB: Oregon Citizens' Utility Board
Cubic foot (cf), natural gas: The amount of natural gas contained at standard temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds standard per square inch) in a cube whose edges are one foot long.
Cull wood: Wood logs, chips, or wood products that are burned.
[Culm and silt are waste materials from preparation plants. In the anthracite region, culm consists of coarse rock fragments containing as much as 30 percent small-sized coal. Silt is a mixture of very fine coal particles (approximately 40 percent) and rock dust that has settled out from waste water from the plants. The terms culm and silt are sometimes used interchangeably and are sometimes called refuse. Culm and silt have a heat value ranging from 8 to 17 million Btu per ton.
Culm: Waste from Pennsylvania anthracite preparation plants, consisting of coarse rock fragments containing as much as 30 percent small sized coal; sometimes defined as including very fine coal particles called silt. Its heat value ranges from 8 to 17 million Btu per short ton.
Cultivar: A horticulturally or agriculturally derived variety of a plant.
Cumulative depletion: The sum in tons of coal extracted and lost in mining as of a stated date for a specified area or a specified coal bed.
CURE: California Unions for Reliable Energy
Current (electric): A flow of electrons in an electrical conductor. The strength or rate of movement of the electricity is measured in amperes.
Current assets: Cash and other assets that are expected to be turned into cash, sold, or exchanged within the normal operating cycle of the utility, usually one year. Current assets include cash, marketable securities, receivables, inventory, and current prepayments.
Current liabilities: A debt or other obligation that must be discharged within one year or the normal operating cycle of the utility by expending a current asset or the incurrence of another short-term obligation. Current liabilities include accounts payable, short-term notes payable, and accrued expenses payable such as taxes payable and salaries payable.
Current ratio: The ratio of current assets divided by current liabilities that shows the ability of a utility to pay its current obligations from its current assets. A measure of liquidity, the higher the ratio, the more assurance that current liabilities can be paid.
Customer choice: The right of customers to purchase energy from a supplier other than their traditional supplier or from more than one seller in the retail market.
Customs district (coal): Customs districts, as defined by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, " Monthly Report EM 545, " are as follows:
Customs import value (C.I.V.): The price for a one-time open market transaction for near-term delivery of a specific quantity of product at a specific location where the commodity is purchased LDQUO; on the spot RDQUO; at current market rates. See also spot market terms associated with specific energy types.
Cut-off grade (uranium): The lowest grade, in percent U3O8, of uranium ore at a minimum specified thickness that can be mined at a specified cost.
CWA: Clean Water Act
CWIP: Construction Work In Progress
Cycle/reactor history: A group of assemblies that have been irradiated in the same cycles in an individual reactor and are said to have the same cycle/reactor history.
Cycle: The time period running from the startup of one reactor cycle to the startup of the following cycle.
Cycling (natural gas): The practice of producing natural gas for the extraction of natural gas liquids, returning the dry residue to the producing reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure and increase the ultimate recovery of natural gas liquids. The reinjected gas is produced for disposition after cycling operations are completed.
Dam: A physical barrier constructed across a river or waterway to control the flow of or raise the level of water. The purpose of construction may be for flood control, irrigation needs, hydroelectric power production, and/or recreation usage.
Day-ahead and hour-ahead markets: Forward markets where electricity quantities and market clearing prices are calculated individually for each hour of the day on the basis of participant bids for energy sales and purchases.
Day-ahead schedule: A schedule prepared by a scheduling coordinator or the independent system operator before the beginning of a trading day. This schedule indicates the levels of generation and demand scheduled for each settlement period that trading day.
Daylighting controls: A system of sensors that assesses the amount of daylight and controls lighting or shading devices to maintain a specified lighting level. The sensors are sometimes referred to as "photocells."
dB(A): decibel on the A scale
dB: decibel
DC: Direct Current
DC: direct current
DCTL: Double Circuit Transmission Line
Deadweight tons: The lifting capacity of a ship expressed in long tons (2,240 lbs.), including cargo, commodities, and crew.
Dealer tank wagon (DTW) sales: Wholesale sales of gasoline priced on a delivered basis to a retail outlet.
Decatherm: Ten therms or 1,000,000 Btu.
Decommissioning: Retirement of a nuclear facility, including decontamination and/or dismantlement.
Decontamination: Removal of unwanted radioactive or hazardous contamination by a chemical or mechanical process.
Dedicated reserves: The volume of recoverable, salable gas reserves committed to, controlled by, or possessed by the reporting pipeline company and used for acts and services for which both the seller and the company have received certificate authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Reserves include both company-owned reserves (including owned gas in underground storage),reserves under contract from independent producers, and short-term and emergency supplies from the intrastate market. Gas volumes under contract from other interstate pipelines are not included as reserves, but may constitute part or all of a company's gas supply.
Dedicated vehicle: A vehicle that operates only on an alternative fuel, as when a vehicle is configured to operate on compressed natural gas. Note: A vehicle powered by an electric motor is not to be treated as dedicated.
Deepest total depth: The deepest total depth of a given well is the distance from a surface reference point (usually the Kelly bushing) to the point of deepest penetration measured along the well bore. If a well is drilled from a platform or barge over water, the depth of the water is included in the total length of the well bore.
Deferred cost: An expenditure not recognized as a cost of operation of the period in which incurred, but carried forward to be written off in future periods.
Deferred fuel costs: An expenditure for fuel that is not recognized for bookkeeping practices as a cost in the operating period incurred, but carried forward to be written off in future periods.
Deferred income tax (liability): A liability in the balance sheet representing the additional Federal income taxes that would have been due if a utility had not been allowed to compute tax expenses differently for income tax reporting purposes than for ratemaking purposes.
Deforestation: The net removal of trees from forested land.
Degasification system: The methods employed for removing methane from a coal seam that could not otherwise be removed by standard ventilation fans and thus would pose a substantial hazard to coal miners. These systems may be used prior to mining or during mining activities.
Degradable organic carbon: The portion of organic carbon present in such solid waste as paper, food waste, and yard waste that is susceptible to biochemical decomposition.
Degree Day: See Heating Degree Days; Cooling Degree Days; Population-weighted Degree Days.
[Degrees API = (141.5 / sp.gr.60 deg.F/60 deg.F) - 131.5
DEIR: Draft Environmental Impact Report
DEIS: Draft Environmental Impact Statement
[Delayed Coking. A process by which heavier crude oil fractions can be thermally decomposed under conditions of elevated temperatures and pressure to produce a mixture of lighter oils and petroleum coke. The light oils can be processed further in other refinery units to meet product specifications. The coke can be used either as a fuel or in other applications such as the manufacturing of steel or aluminum.
Delayed coking: A process by which heavier crude oil fractions can be thermally decomposed under conditions of elevated temperatures and pressure to produce a mixture of lighter oils and petroleum coke. The light oils can be processed further in other refinery units to meet product specifications. The coke can be used either as a fuel or in other applications such as the manufacturing of steel or aluminum.
Deliverability: Represents the number of future years during which a pipeline company can meet its annual requirements for its presently certificated delivery capacity from presently committed sources of supply. The availability of gas from these sources of supply shall be governed by the physical capabilities of these sources to deliver gas by the terms of existing gas-purchase contracts, and by limitations imposed by State or Federal regulatory agencies.
Delivered (gas): The physical transfer of natural, synthetic, and/or supplemental gas from facilities operated by the responding company to facilities operated by others or to consumers.
Delivered cost: The cost of fuel, including the invoice price of fuel, transportation charges, taxes, commissions, insurance, and expenses associated with leased or owned equipment used to transport the fuel.
Delivered energy: The amount of energy delivered to the site (building); no adjustment is made for the fuels consumed to produce electricity or district sources. This is also referred to as net energy.
Deliveries (electric): Energy generated by one system and delivered to another system through one or more transmission lines.
[Deliveries of fuel to an electric plant
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 charge credit: Compensation received by the buyer when the delivery terms of the contract cannot be met by the seller.
Demand charge: That portion of the consumer's bill for electric service based on the consumer's maximum electric capacity usage and calculated based on the billing demand charges under the applicable rate schedule.
Demand indicator: A measure of the number of energy-consuming units, or the amount of service or output, for which energy inputs are required.
Demand interval: The time period during which flow of electricity is measured (usually in 15-, 30-, or 60-minute increments.)
Demand response programs: Demand response programs are incentive-based programs that encourage electric power customers to temporarily reduce their demand for power at certain times in exchange for a reduction in their electricity bills. Some demand response programs allow electric power system operators to directly reduce load, while in others, customers retain control. Customer-controlled reductions in demand may involve actions such as curtailing load, operating onsite generation, or shifting electricity use to another time period. Demand response programs are one type of demand-side management, which also covers broad, less immediate programs such as the promotion of energy-efficient equipment in residential and commercial sectors.
Demand-metered: Having a meter to measure peak demand (in addition to total consumption) during a billing period. Demand is not usually metered for other energy sources.
Demand-side management (DSM): A utility action that reduces or curtails end-use equipment or processes. DSM is often used in order to reduce customer load during peak demand and/or in times of supply constraint. DSM includes programs that are focused, deep, and immediate such as the brief curtailment of energy-intensive processes used by a utility's most demanding industrial customers, and programs that are broad, shallow, and less immediate such as the promotion of energy-efficient equipment in residential and commercial sectors.
Demand-side management costs: The costs incurred by the utility to achieve the capacity and energy savings from the Demand-Side Management Program. Costs incurred by customers or third parties are to be excluded. The costs are to be reported in thousands of dollars (nominal) in the year in which they are incurred, regardless of when the savings occur. The utility costs are all the annual expenses (labor, administrative, equipment, incentives, marketing, monitoring and evaluation, and other incurred by the utility for operation of the DSM Program), regardless of whether the costs are expensed or capitalized. Lump sum capital costs (typically accrued over several years prior to start up) are not to be reported. Program costs associated with strategic load growth activities are also to be excluded.
Demand: See Energy demand.
Demonstrated reserve base (coal): A collective term for the sum of coal in both measured and indicated resource categories of reliability, representing 100 percent of the in-place coal in those categories as of a certain date that meet specific minability criteria. Includes beds of bituminous coal and anthracite 28 or more inches thick and beds of subbituminuous coal 60 or more inches thick that can occur at depths of up to 1,000 feet. Includes beds of lignite 60 or more inches thick that can be surface mined. Includes also thinner and/or deeper beds that presently are being mined or for which there is evidence that they could be mined commercially at a given time. Represents that portion of the identified coal resource from which reserves are calculated.
Demonstrated reserves: See Energy reserves.
Demonstrated resources: Same qualifications as identified resources, but include measured and indicated degrees of geologic assurance and excludes the inferred.
Demonstration and test vehicles: Vehicles operated by a motor vehicle dealer solely for the purpose of promoting motor vehicle sales or permitting potential purchasers to drive the vehicle for pre-purchase or pre-lease evaluation; or a vehicle that is owned and operated by a motor vehicle manufacturer or motor vehicle component manufacturer, or owned or held by a university research department, independent testing laboratory, or other such evaluation facility, solely for the purpose of evaluating the performance of such vehicles for engineering, research and development, or quality control reasons.
Demurrage: The charge paid to the vessel owner or operator for detention of a vessel at the port(s) beyond the time allowed, usually 72 hours, for loading and unloading.
Denaturant: Petroleum, typically pentanes plus or conventional motor gasoline, added to fuel ethanol to make it unfit for human consumption. Fuel ethanol is denatured, usually prior to transport from the ethanol production facility, by adding 2 to 5 volume percent denaturant. See Fuel Ethanol, and Fuel Ethanol Minus Denaturant.
Denatured : Fuel ethanol that is rendered unfit for human consumption by the addition of a petroleum denaturant, typically pentanes plus or conventional motor gasoline. Fuel ethanol is usually denatured prior to transport from the ethanol production facility, by adding 2- to 5-volume-percent denaturant.
[denatured ethanol, and other alcohols
Dependable capacity: The load-carrying ability of a station or system under adverse conditions for a specified period of time.
Depleted resources: Resources that have been mined; include coal recovered, coal lost in mining, and coal reclassified as subeconomic because of mining.
Depleted storage field: A sub-surface natural geological reservoir, usually a depleted gas or oil field, used for storing natural gas.
Depletion (coal): The subtraction of both tonnage produced and the tonnage lost to mining from identified resources to determine the remaining tonnage as of a certain time.
Depletion allowance: A term for either (1) a periodic assignment to expense of recorded amounts or (2) an allowable income tax deduction that is related to the exhaustion of mineral reserves. Depletion is included as one of the elements of amortization. When used in that manner, depletion refers only to book depletion.
Depletion factor: The multiplier applied to the tonnage produced to compute depletion. This multiplier takes into account both the tonnage recovered and the tonnage lost due to mining. The depletion factor is the reciprocal of the recovery factor in relation to a given quantity of production.
Depreciation and amortization of property, plant, and equipment: The monthly provision for depreciation and amortization (applicable to utility property other than electric plant, electric plant in service, and equipment).
Depreciation: See definition for Amortization.
Depth of deepest production: The depth of the deepest production is the length of the well bore measured (in feet) from the surface reference point to the bottom of the open hole or the deepest perforation in the casing of a producing well.
DER: Distributed Energy Resources
Derate: A decrease in the available capacity of an electric generating unit, commonly due to:
Deregulation: The elimination of some or all regulations from a previously regulated industry or sector of an industry.
Design electrical rating (capacity) net: The nominal net electrical output of a nuclear unit, as specified by the utility for the purpose of plant design.
Design head: The achieved river, pondage, or reservoir surface height (forebay elevation) that provides the water level to produce the full flow at the gate of the turbine in order to attain the manufacturer's installed nameplate rating for generation capacity.
Desulfurization: The removal of sulfur, as from molten metals, petroleum oil, or flue gases.
Development costs: Costs incurred to obtain access to proved reserves and to provide facilities for extracting, treating, gathering, and storing the oil and gas. More specifically, development costs, depreciation and applicable operating costs of support equipment and facilities, and other costs of development activities, are costs incurred to:
Development drilling: Drilling done to determine more precisely the size, grade, and configuration of an ore deposit subsequent to when the determination is made that the deposit can be commercially developed. Not included are:
Development well: A well drilled within the proved area of an oil or gas reservoir to the depth of a stratigraphic horizon known to be productive. Also see Well.
Development: The preparation of a specific mineral deposit for commercial production; this preparation includes construction of access to the deposit and of facilities to extract the minerals. The development process is sometimes further distinguished between a preproduction stage and a current stage, with the distinction being made on the basis of whether the development work is performed before or after production from the mineral deposit has commenced on a commercial scale.
[Developmental. Drilling to delineate the boundaries of a known mineral deposit to enhance the productive capacity of the producing mineral property.
DFG: California Department of Fish and Game
DHS: California Department of Health Services
Diesel fuel system: Diesel engines are internal combustion engines that burn diesel oil rather than gasoline. Injectors are used to spray droplets of diesel oil into the combustion chambers, at or near the top of the compression stroke. Ignition follows due to the very high temperature of the compressed intake air, or to the use of "glow plugs," which retain heat from previous ignitions (spark plugs are not used). Diesel engines are generally more fuel-efficient than gasoline engines but must be stronger and heavier because of high compression ratios.
Diesel fuel: A fuel composed of distillates obtained in petroleum refining operation or blends of such distillates with residual oil used in motor vehicles. The boiling point and specific gravity are higher for diesel fuels than for gasoline.
Diesel-electric plant: A generating station that uses diesel engines to drive its electric generators.
Diffusive transport: The process by which particles of liquids or gases move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.
Direct access: The ability of a retail customer to purchase electricity or other energy sources directly from a supplier other than their traditional supplier.
Direct control load management: The magnitude of customer demand that can be interrupted at the time of the seasonal peak load by direct control of the system operator by interrupting power supply to individual appliances or equipment on customer premises. This type of control usually reduces the demand of residential customers.
Direct electricity load control: The utility installs a radio-controlled device on the HVAC equipment. During periods of particularly heavy use of electricity, the utility will send a radio signal to the building in its service territory with this device and turn off the HVAC for a certain period.
Direct labor hours: Direct labor hours worked by all mining employees at a mining operation during the year. Includes hours worked by those employees engaged in production, preparation, development, maintenance, repair, shop or yard work management, and technical or engineering work. Excludes office workers. Excludes vacation and leave hours.
Direct load control: This Demand-Side Management category represents the consumer load that can be interrupted at the time of annual peak load by direct control of the utility system operator. Direct Load Control does not include Interruptible Load. This type of control usually involves residential consumers.
Direct milling cost: Operating costs directly attributable to the processing of ores or other feed materials, including labor, supervision, engineering, power, fuel, supplies, reagents, and maintenance.
Direct mining cost: Operating cost directly attributable to the mining of ore, including costs for labor, supervision, engineering, power, fuel, supplies, equipment replacement, maintenance, and taxes on production.
Direct nonprocess end use: Those end uses that may be found on commercial, residential, or other sites, as well as at manufacturing establishments. They include heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), facility lighting, facility support, onsite transportation, conventional electricity generation, and other nonprocess uses. "Direct" denotes that only the quantities of electricity or fossil fuel used in their original state (i.e., not transformed) are included in the estimates.
Direct process end use: Those end uses that are specific to the carrying out of manufacturing. They include process heating, process cooling and refrigeration, machine drive, electrochemical processes, and other process uses. "Direct" denotes that only the quantities of electricity or fossil fuel used in their original state (i.e., not transformed) are included in the estimates.
[Direct use is exclusive of station use.
Direct use: Use of electricity that
Direct utility cost: A utility cost that is identified with one of the DSM program categories (e.g. Energy Efficiency or Load Management).
Directional (deviated) well: A well purposely deviated from the vertical, using controlled angles to reach an objective location other than directly below the surface location. A directional well may be the original hole or a directional "sidetrack" hole that deviates from the original bore at some point below the surface. The new footage associated with directional "sidetrack" holes should not be confused with footage resulting from remedial sidetrack drilling. If there is a common bore from which two or more wells are drilled, the first complete bore from the surface to the original objective is classified and reported as a well drilled. Each of the deviations from the common bore is reported as a separate well.
[Directional. Drilling that is deliberately made to depart significantly from the vertical.
Discharged fuel: Irradiated fuel removed from a nuclear reactor during refueling. Also see Spent Fuel.
DISCO: Distribution Company
Discrete-delivery energy sources: Energy sources that must be delivered to a site.
Dispatching: The operating control of an integrated electric system involving operations such as (1) the assignment of load to specific generating stations and other sources of supply to effect the most economical supply as the total or the significant area loads rise or fall (2) the control of operations and maintenance of high-voltage lines, substations, and equipment; (3) the operation of principal tie lines and switching; (4) the scheduling of energy transactions with connecting electric utilities.
Disposition, natural gas: The removal of natural, synthetic, and/or supplemental gas, or any components or gaseous mixtures contained therein, from the responding company's facilities within the report State by any means or for any purpose, including the transportation of such gas out of the report State.
Disposition, petroleum: A set of categories used to account for how crude oil and petroleum products are transferred, distributed, or removed from the supply stream. The categories include stock change, crude oil losses, refinery inputs, exports, and products supplied for domestic consumption.
Distillate fuel oil: A general classification for one of the petroleum fractions produced in conventional distillation operations. It includes diesel fuels and fuel oils. Products known as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 diesel fuel are used in on-highway diesel engines, such as those in trucks and automobiles, as well as off-highway engines, such as those in railroad locomotives and agricultural machinery. Products known as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 fuel oils are used primarily for space heating and electric power generation.
Distillation unit (atmospheric): The primary distillation unit that processes crude oil (including mixtures of other hydrocarbons) at approximately atmospheric conditions. It includes a pipe still for vaporizing the crude oil and a fractionation tower for separating the vaporized hydrocarbon components in the crude oil into fractions with different boiling ranges. This is done by continuously vaporizing and condensing the components to separate higher oiling point material. The selected boiling ranges are set by the processing scheme, the properties of the crude oil, and the product specifications.
Distributed generator: A generator that is located close to the particular load that it is intended to serve. General, but non-exclusive, characteristics of these generators include: an operating strategy that supports the served load; and interconnection to a distribution or sub-transmission system (138 kV or less).
Distributed/point-of-use water-heating system: A system for heating hot water, for other than space heating purposes, which is located at more than one space within a building. A point-of-use water heater is located at the faucet and heats water only as required for immediate use. Because water is not heated until it is required, this equipment is more energy-efficient.
Distribution provider (electric): Provides and operates the wires between the transmission system and the end-use customer. For those end-use customers who are served at transmission voltages, the Transmission Owner also serves as the Distribution Provider. Thus, the Distribution Provider is not defined by a specific voltage, but rather as performing the Distribution function at any voltage. NERC definition
Distribution system: The portion of the transmission and facilities of an electric system that is dedicated to delivering electric energy to an end-user.
Distribution use: Natural gas used as fuel in the respondent's operations.
Distribution: The delivery of energy to retail customers.
Distributor: A company primarily engaged in the sale and delivery of natural and/or supplemental gas directly to consumers through a system of mains.
District chilled water: Chilled water from an outside source used as an energy source for cooling in a building. The water is chilled in a central plant and piped into the building. Chilled water may be purchased from a utility or provided by a central physical plant in a separate building that is part of the same multibuilding facility (for example, a hospital complex or university).
District heat: Steam or hot water from an outside source used as an energy source in a building. The steam or hot water is produced in a central plant and piped into the building. The district heat may be purchased from a utility or provided by a physical plant in a separate building that is part of the same facility (for example, a hospital complex or university).
Diversity exchange: An exchange of capacity or energy, or both, between systems whose peak loads occur at different times.
Diversity: The electric utility system's load is made up of many individual loads that make demands upon the system usually at different times of the day. The individual loads within the customer classes follow similar usage patterns, but these classes of service place different demands upon the facilities and the system grid. The service requirements of one electrical system can differ from another by time-of-day usage, facility usage, and/or demands placed upon the system grid.
Divestiture: The stripping off of one utility function from the others by selling (spinning-off) or in some other way changing the ownership of the assets related to that function. Stripping off is most commonly associated with spinning-off generation assets so they are no longer owned by the shareholders that own the transmission and distribution assets.
DL: design line (followed by a number indicating which design line)
DOC: Determination of Compliance
Docket: A formal record of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proceeding. These records are available for inspection and copying by the public. Each individual case proceeding is identified by an assigned number.
DOE: Department of Energy.
DOE: U.S. Department of Energy
DOJ: U.S. Department of Justice
Domestic crude oil: Crude oil produced in the United States including the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
Domestic inland consumption: Domestic inland consumption is the sum of all refined petroleum products supplied for domestic use (excludes international marine bunkers). Consumption is calculated by product by adding production, imports, crude oil burned directly, and refinery fuel and losses, and then subtracting exports and charges in primary stocks (net withdrawals is a plus quantity and net additions is a minus quantity).
Domestic uranium industry: Collectively, those businesses (whether U.S. or foreign-based) that operate under the laws and regulations pertaining to the conduct of commerce within the United States and its territories and possessions and that engage in activities within the United States, its territories, and possessions specifically directed toward uranium exploration, development, mining, and milling; marketing of uranium materials; enrichment; fabrication; or acquisition and management of uranium materials for use in commercial nuclear powerplants.
Domestic vehicle producer: An Original Vehicle Manufacturer that assembles vehicles in the United States for domestic use. The term "domestic" pertains to the fifty states, the District of Columbia, common wealths, territories, and possessions of the United States.
Domestic: See United States.
Double circuit line: A transmission line having two separate circuits. Because each carries three-phase power, at least six conductors, three per circuit, are required.
Drainage basin: The land drained by a river system.
Drawdown (maximum): The distance that the water surface of the reservoir is lowered from the normal full elevation to the lowest allowable elevation as the result of the withdrawal of water for the purposes of generating electricity.
Drawdown: The lowering of the water level of a reservoir as a result of withdrawing water.
DRB: Demonstrated Reserve Base
Dredge mining: A method of recovering coal from rivers or streams.
Drift mine: A mine that opens horizontally into the coal bed or coal outcrop.
Drift mine: Driven horizontally into coal that is exposed or accessible in a hillside. In a hydraulic mine, high-pressure water jets break the coal from a steeply inclined, thick coalbed that would be difficult to mine with the usual underground methods. The coal is then transported to the surface by a system of flumes or by pipeline. Although currently not in commercial use in the United States, hydraulic mining is used in western Canada.
[Drill and equip development wells, development-type stratigraphic test wells, and service wells, including the costs of platforms and of well equipment such as casing, tubing, pumping equipment, and the well head assembly.
Drilling and equipping of wells: The drilling and equipping of wells through completion of the "christmas tree."
Drilling arrangement: A contractual agreement under which a working interest owner (assignor) assigns a part of a working interest in a property to another party (the assignee) in exchange for which the assignee agrees to develop the property. The term may also be applied to an agreement under which an operator assigns fractional shares in production from a property to participants for cash considerations as a means of acquiring cash for developing the property. Under a "disproportionate cost" drilling arrangement, the participants normally pay a greater total share of costs than the total value of the fractional shares of the property received in the arrangement.
drilling rig: used to determine the amount and type of overburden overlying a coal deposit and the extent of the deposit, to delineate major geologic features, and to drill holes for explosives to fragment the overburden for easier removal.
Drilling: The act of boring a hole (1) to determine whether minerals are present in commercially recoverable quantities and (2) to accomplish production of the minerals (including drilling to inject fluids).
Dry (coal) basis: Coal quality data calculated to at heoretical basis in which no moisture is associated with the sample. This basis is determined by measuring the weight loss of a sample when its inherent moisture is driven off under controlled conditions of low temperature air-drying followed by heating to just above the boiling point of water (104 to 110 degrees Centigrade).
Dry bottom boiler: No slag tanks at furnace throat area. The throat area is clear. Bottom ash drops through the throat to the bottom ash water hoppers. This design is used where the ash melting temperature is greater than the temperature on the furnace wall, allowing for relatively dry furnace wall conditions.
Dry gas: See Dry natural gas.
Dry hole charge: The charge-off to expense of a previously capitalized cost upon the conclusion of an unsuccessful drilling effort.
Dry hole contribution: A payment (either in cash or acreage) that is required by agreement only if a test well is unsuccessful and that is made in exchange for well test and evaluation data.
Dry hole: An exploratory or development well found to be incapable of producing either oil or gas in sufficient quantities to justify completion as an oil or gas well. Also see Well.
Dry natural gas production: The process of producing consumer-grade natural gas. Natural gas withdrawn from reservoirs is reduced by volumes used at the production (lease) site and by processing losses. Volumes used at the production site include (1) the volume returned to reservoirs in cycling, repressuring of oil reservoirs, and conservation operations; and (2) gas vented and flared. Processing losses include (1) nonhydrocarbon gases (e.g., water vapor, carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen) removed from the gas stream; and (2) gas converted to liquid form, such as lease condensate and plant liquids. Volumes of dry gas withdrawn from gas storage reservoirs are not considered part of production. Dry natural gas production equals marketed production less extraction loss.
Dry natural gas: Natural gas which remains after: 1) the liquefiable hydrocarbon portion has been removed from the gas stream (i.e., gas after lease, field, and/or plant separation); and 2) any volumes of nonhydrocarbon gases have been removed where they occur in sufficient quantity to render the gas unmarketable. Note: Dry natural gas is also known as consumer-grade natural gas. The parameters for measurement are cubic feet at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds per square inch absolute. Also see Natural gas.
Dry production: See Dry natural gas production.
DSI: Direct Service Industries--primarily aluminum companies
DSM: Demand Side Management
DSM: Demand-Side Management
DTC: Desert Tortoise Council
DTW: Dealer Tank Wagon
Dual fuel vehicle (1): A motor vehicle that is capable of operating on an alternative fuel and on gasoline or diesel fuel. These vehicles have at least two separate fuel systems which inject each fuel simultaneously into the engine combustion chamber.
Dual fuel vehicle (2): A motor vehicle that is capable of operating on an alternative fuel and on gasoline or diesel fuel. This term is meant to represent all such vehicles whether they operate on the alternative fuel and gasoline/diesel simultaneously (e.g., flexible-fuel vehicles) or can be switched to operate on gasoline/diesel or an alternative fuel (e.g., bi-fuel vehicles).
Dual-fired unit: A generating unit that can produce electricity using two or more input fuels. In some of these units, only the primary fuel can be used continuously; the alternate fuel(s) can be used only as a start-up fuel or in emergencies.
Dump energy: Energy generated in a hydroelectric plant by water that cannot be stored or conserved and which energy is in excess of the needs of the system producing the energy.
DWR: (California) Department of Water Resources
E&P: Exploration and production
E85: A fuel containing a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. See Motor gasoline (finished).
E95: A fuel containing a mixture of 95 percent ethanol and 5 percent gasoline
EAR: Estimated Additional Resources
[East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin;
[East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee;
[Eastern Region. Consists of the Appalachian Coal Basin. The following comprise the Eastern Region: Alabama, eastern Kentucky, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
[Eastern: Bridgeport, CT, Washington, DC, Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Portland, ME, Buffalo, NY, New York City, NY, Ogdensburg, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Providence, RI, Norfolk, VA, St. Albans, VT.
ECAA: Energy Conservation Assistance Account
Economy of scale: The principle that larger production facilities have lower unit costs than smaller facilities.
[Ecuador (1973-1992 and 2007-present)
EDF: Environmental Defense Fund
Edison: Southern California Edison Company
EDR: Energy Development Report
EER, SEER: Energy Efficiency Ratio, Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio
Effective full-power days: The number of effective full-power days produced by a unit is a measure of the unit's energy generation. It is determined using the following ratio Heat generation (planned or actual) in megawatt days thermal (MWdt) (dividedby) Licensed thermal power in megawatts thermal (MWt).
EFS&EPD: Energy Facilities Siting and Environmental Protection Division
EIA: Energy Information Administration, division of US Department of Energy
EIA: Energy Information Administration
EIA: Energy Information Administration
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. The Agency must meet the requests of Congress, other elements within the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Executive Branch, its own independent needs, and assist the general public, or other interest groups, without taking a policy position. See more information about EIA at http://www.eia.gov/about/
EIA: U.S. Energy Information Administration (statistical arm of U.S. Department of Energy)
EIR: Environmental Impact Report
EIS: Environmental Impact Statement
EIS: Environmental Impact Statement
ELCAP: Elrick & Lavidge Computerized Audit Program
Electric baseboard: An individual space heater with electric resistance coils mounted behind shallow panels along baseboards. Electric baseboards rely on passive convection to distribute heated air to the space.
Electric current: The flow of electric charge. The preferred unit of measure is the ampere.
Electric energy: The ability of an electric current to produce work, heat, light, or other forms of energy. It is measured in kilowatthours.
Electric expenses: The cost of labor, material, and expenses incurred in operating a facility's prime movers, generators, auxiliary apparatus, switching gear, and other electric equipment for each of the points where electricity enters the transmission or distribution grid.
Electric generation industry: Stationary and mobile generating units that are connected to the electric power grid and can generate electricity. The electric generation industry includes the "electric power sector" (utility generators and independent power producers) and industrial and commercial power generators, including combined-heat-and-power producers, but excludes units at single-family dwellings.
Electric generation: See Gross generation and Net generation.
Electric generator: A facility that produces only electricity, commonly expressed in kilowatthours (kWh) or megawatthours (MWh). Electric generators include electric utilities and independent power producers.
Electric hybrid vehicle: An electric vehicle that either (1) operates solely on electricity, but contains an internal combustion motor that generates additional electricity (series hybrid); or (2) contains an electric system and an internal combustion system and is capable of operating on either system (parallel hybrid).
Electric industry reregulation: The design and implementation of regulatory practices to be applied to the remaining traditional utilities after the electric power industry has been restructured. Reregulation applies to those entities that continue to exhibit characteristics of a natural monopoly. Reregulation could employ the same or different regulatory practices as those used before restructuring.
Electric industry restructuring: The process of replacing a monopolistic system of electric utility suppliers with competing sellers, allowing individual retail customers to choose their supplier but still receive delivery over the power lines of the local utility. It includes the reconfiguration of vertically-integrated electric utilities.
Electric motor vehicle: A motor vehicle powered by an electric motor that draws current from rechargeable storage batteries, fuel cells, photovoltaic arrays, or other sources of electric current.
Electric non-utility: Any entity that generates, transmits, or sells electricity, or sells or trades electricity services and products, where costs are not established and recovered by regulatory authority. Examples of these entities include, but are not limited to, independent power producers, power marketers and aggregators (both wholesale and retail), merchant transmission service providers, self-generation entities, and cogeneration firms with Qualifying Facility Status.
Electric operating expenses: Summation of electric operation-related expenses, such as operation expenses, maintenance expenses, depreciation expenses, amortization, taxes other than income taxes, Federal income taxes, other income taxes, provision for deferred income taxes, provision for deferred income-credit, and investment tax credit adjustment.
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 plant acquisition adjustment: The difference between (a) the cost to the respondent utility of an electric plant acquired as an operating unit or system by purchase and (b) the depreciated original cost, estimated if not known, of such property.
Electric power grid: A system of synchronized power providers and consumers connected by transmission and distribution lines and operated by one or more control centers. In the continental United States, the electric power grid consists of three systems the Eastern Interconnect, the Western Interconnect, and the Texas Interconnect. In Alaska and Hawaii, several systems encompass areas smaller than the State (e.g., the interconnect serving Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Kenai Peninsula; individual islands).
Electric power plant: A station containing prime movers, electric generators, and auxiliary equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, and/or fission energy into electric energy.
Electric power sector: An energy-consuming sector that consists of electricity only and combined heat and power(CHP) plants whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public--i.e., North American Industry Classification System 22 plants. See also Combined heat and power (CHP) plant and Electricity only plant.
Electric power system: An individual electric power entity--a company; an electric cooperative; a public electric supply corporation as the Tennessee Valley Authority; a similar Federal department or agency such as the Bonneville Power Administration; the Bureau of Reclamation or the Corps of Engineers; a municipally owned electric department offering service to the public; or an electric public utility district (a "PUD"); also a jointly owned electric supply project such as the Keystone.
Electric power: The rate at which electric energy is transferred. Electric power is measured by capacity and is commonly expressed in megawatts (MW).
Electric pump for well water: This pump forces the water from a well below ground level up into the water pipes that circulate through the house. When this pump is not working, there is a limited supply of running water in the house.
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 rate: The price set for a specified amount and type of electricity by class of service in an electric rate schedule or sales contract.
Electric system loss: Total energy loss from all causes for an electric utility.
Electric system reliability: The degree to which the performance of the elements of the electrical system results in power being delivered to consumers within accepted standards and in the amount desired. Reliability encompasses two concepts, adequacy and security. Adequacy implies that there are sufficient generation and transmission resources installed and available to meet projected electrical demand plus reserves for contingencies. Security implies that the system will remain intact operationally (i.e., will have sufficient available operating capacity) even after outages or other equipment failure. The degree of reliability may be measured by the frequency, duration, and magnitude of adverse effects on consumer service.
Electric utility company: See Electric utility.
Electric utility divestiture: The separation of one electric utility function from others through the selling of the management and ownership of the assets related to that function. It is most commonly associated with selling generation assets so they are no longer owned or controlled by the shareholders that own the company's transmission and distribution assets.
Electric utility generator: A generator that is owned by an electric utility, (see definition of electric utility) or a jointly owned generator with the greatest share of the generator being electric utility owned. Note: If two or more owners have equal shares of ownership in a generator, it is considered to be an electric utility generator if any one of the owners meets the definition of electric utility.
Electric utility restructuring: The introduction of competition into at least the generation phase of electricity production, with a corresponding decrease in regulatory control.
Electric utility sector: The electric utility sector consists of privately and publicly owned establishments that generate, transmit, distribute, or sell electricity primarily for use by the public and that meet the definition of an electric utility. Non utility power producers are not included in the electric sector.
Electric utility: A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality aligned with distribution facilities for delivery of electric energy for use primarily by the public. Included are investor-owned electric utilities, municipal and State utilities, Federal electric utilities, and rural electric cooperatives. A few entities that are tariff based and corporately aligned with companies that own distribution facilities are also included.
Electric zone: A portion of the grid controlled by the independent system operator.
Electrical system energy losses: The amount of energy lost during generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, including plant and unaccounted for use.
Electricity broker: An entity that arranges the sale and purchase of electric energy, the transmission of electricity, and/or other related services between buyers and sellers but does not take title to any of the power sold.
Electricity congestion: A condition that occurs when insufficient transmission capacity is available to implement all of the desired transactions simultaneously.
Electricity 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.
Electricity demand: The rate at which energy is delivered to loads and scheduling points by generation, transmission, and distribution facilities.
Electricity generation, gross: See Gross generation.
Electricity generation, net: See Net generation.
Electricity generation: The process of producing electric energy or the amount of electric energy produced by transforming other forms of energy, commonly expressed in kilowatthours(kWh) or megawatthours (MWh).
Electricity only plant: A plant designed to produce electricity only. See also Combined heat and power (CHP) plant.
Electricity paid by household: The household paid the electric utility company directly for all household uses of electricity (such as water heating, space heating, air-conditioning, cooking, lighting, and operating appliances.) Bills paid by a third party are not counted as paid by the household.
Electricity sales: The amount of kilowatthours sold in a given period of time; usually grouped by classes of service, such as residential, commercial, industrial, and other. "Other" sales include sales for public street and highway lighting and other sales to public authorities, sales to railroads and railways, and interdepartmental sales.
Electricity: A form of energy characterized by the presence and motion of elementary charged particles generated by friction, induction, or chemical change.
Electrochemical process: The direct process end use in which electricity is used to cause a chemical transformation. Major uses of electrochemical process occur in the aluminum industry in which alumina is reduced to molten aluminum metal and oxygen, and in the alkalies and chlorine industry, in which brine is separated into caustic soda, chlorine, and hydrogen.
ELFIN: Electric Utility Financial and Production Simulation Model
Elution: The process of using a solvent (eluent) to remove select ions (e.g., uranium) from an adsorbent such as ion-exchange resins.
Emergency backup generation: The use of electric generators only during interruptions of normal power supply.
Emergency energy: Electric energy provided for a limited duration, intended only for use during emergency conditions.
Emergency: The failure of an electric power system to generate or deliver electric power as normally intended, resulting in the cut-off or curtailment of service.
EMF: electric and magnetic fields
Emissions coefficient: A unique value for scaling emissions to activity data in terms of a standard rate of emissions per unit of activity (e.g., pounds of carbon dioxide emitted per Btu of fossil fuel consumed).
Emissions: Anthropogenic releases of gases to the atmosphere. In the context of global climate change, they consist of radiatively important greenhouse gases (e.g., the release of carbon dioxide during fuel combustion).
EMM: Electricity Market Model
End user: A firm or individual that purchases products for its own consumption and not for resale (i.e., an ultimate consumer).
Ending stocks: Primary stocks of crude oil and petroleum products held in storage as of 12 midnight on the last day of the month. Primary stocks include crude oil or petroleum products held in storage at (or in) leases, refineries, natural gas processing plants, pipelines, tank farms, and bulk terminals that can store at least 50,000 barrels of petroleum products or that can receive petroleum products by tanker, barge, or pipeline. Crude oil that is in-transit by water from Alaska or that is stored on Federal leases or in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is included. Primary Stocks exclude stocks of foreign origin that are held in bonded warehouse storage.
Energy Action Plan (not EAP): Energy Action Plan
Energy assistance program: See Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Energy audit: A program carried out by a utility company in which an auditor inspects a home and suggests ways energy can be saved.
Energy broker system: Introduced into Florida by the Public Service Commission, the energy broker system is a system for exchanging information that allows utilities to efficiently exchange hourly quotations of prices at which each is willing to buy and sell electric energy. For the broker system to operate, utility systems must have in place bilateral agreements between all potential parties, must have transmission arrangements between all potential parties, and must have transmission arrangements that allow the exchanges to take place.
Energy charge: That portion of the charge for electric service based upon the electric energy (kWh) consumed or billed.
Energy Commission: Preferred shortened version of California Energy Commission
Energy conservation features: This includes building shell conservation features, HVAC conservation features, lighting conservation features, any conservation features, and other conservation features incorporated by the building. However, this category does not include any demand-side management (DSM) program participation by the building. Any DSM program participation is included in the DSM Programs.
Energy consumption: The use of energy as a source of heat or power or as a raw material input to a manufacturing process.
Energy deliveries: Energy generated by one electric utility system and delivered to another system through one or more transmission lines.
Energy demand: The requirement for energy as an input to provide products and/or services.
Energy effects: The changes in aggregate electricity use (measured in megawatthours) for consumers that participate in a utility DSM (demand-side management) program. Energy effects represent changes at the consumer's meter (i.e., exclude transmission and distribution effects) and reflect only activities that are undertaken specifically in response to utility-administered programs, including those activities implemented by third parties under contract to the utility. To the extent possible, Energy effects should exclude non-program related effects such as changes in energy usage attributable to non participants, government-mandated energy-efficiency standards that legislate improvements in building and appliance energy usage, changes in consumer behavior that result in greater energy use after initiation in a DSM program, the natural operations of the marketplace, and weather and business-cycle adjustments.
Energy efficiency, Electricity: 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 megawatthours), often without explicit consideration for the timing of program-induced savings. Such savings are generally achieved by substituting technologically 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: A ratio of service provided to energy input (e.g., lumens to watts in the case of light bulbs). Services provided can include buildings-sector end uses such as lighting, refrigeration, and heating: industrial processes; or vehicle transportation. Unlike conservation, which involves some reduction of service, energy efficiency provides energy reductions without sacrifice of service. May also refer to the use of technology to reduce the energy needed for a given purpose or service.
Energy efficient motors: Are also known as "high-efficiency motors" and "premium motors." They are virtually interchangeable with standard motors, but differences in construction make them more energy efficient.
Energy exchange: Any transaction in which quantities of energy are received or given up in return for similar energy products. See exchange, electricity; exchange, petroleum; and exchange, natural gas.
Energy expenditures: The money directly spent by consumers to purchase energy. Expenditures equal the amount of energy used by the consumer multiplied by the price per unit paid by the consumer.
Energy Information Administration (EIA): An independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that develops surveys, collects energy data, and does analytical and modeling analyses of energy issues. The Agency must satisfy the requests of Congress, other elements within the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Executive Branch, its own independent needs, and assist the general public, or other interest groups, without taking a policy position.
Energy information: Includes (A) all information in whatever form on fuel reserves, extraction, and energy resources (including petrochemical feedstocks) wherever located; production, distribution, and consumption of energy and fuels wherever carried on; and (B) matters relating to energy and fuels, such as corporate structure and proprietary relationships, costs, prices, capital investment, and assets, and other matters directly related there to, wherever they exist.
Energy intensity (Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey): The ratio of consumption to floor space.
Energy Intensity: A ratio of energy consumption to another metric, typically national gross domestic product in the case of a country's energy intensity. Sector-specific intensities may refer to energy consumption per household, per unit of commercial floorspace, per dollar value industrial shipment, or another metric indicative of a sector. Improvements in energy intensity include energy efficiency and conservation as well as structural factors not related to technology or behavior.
Energy loss (power): See Power loss.
Energy loss: Deleted because there is no need for a general term to encompass all forms of energy loss. Terms referring to losses specific to particular energy sources are defined separately.
Energy management and control system(EMCS): An energy conservation feature that uses mini/microcomputers, instrumentation, control equipment, and software to manage a building's use of energy for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, and/or business-related processes. These systems can also manage fire control, safety, and security. Not included as EMCS are time-clock thermostats.
Energy management practices: Involvement, as a part of the building's normal operations, in energy efficiency programs that are designed to reduce the energy used by specific end-use systems. This includes the following EMCS, DSM Program Participation, Energy Audit, and a Building Energy Manager.
Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT): This legislation creates a new class of power generators, exempt wholesale generators, that are exempt from the provisions of the Public Holding Company Act of 1935 and grants the authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to order and condition access by eligible parties to the interconnected transmission grid.
Energy production: See production terms associated with specific energy types.
Energy receipts: Energy brought into a site from another location.
Energy reserves: Estimated quantities of energy sources that are demonstrated to exist with reasonable certainty on the basis of geologic and engineering data (proved reserves) or that can reasonably be expected to exist on the basis of geologic evidence that supports projections from proved reserves (probable/indicated reserves). Knowledge of the location, quantity, and grade of probable/indicated reserves is generally incomplete or much less certain than it is for proved energy reserves. Note: This term is equivalent to "Demonstrated Reserves" as defined in the resource/reserve classification contained in the U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831,1980. Demonstrated reserves include measured and indicated reserves but exclude inferred reserves.
Energy sale(s): The transfer of title to an energy commodity from a seller to a buyer for a price or the quantity transferred during a specified period.
Energy savings: A reduction in the amount of electricity used by end users as a result of participation in energy efficiency programs and load management programs.
Energy service provider: An energy entity that provides service to a retail or end-use customer.
Energy source: Any substance or natural phenomenon that can be consumed or transformed to supply heat or power. Examples include petroleum, coal, natural gas, nuclear, biomass, electricity, wind, sunlight, geothermal, water movement, and hydrogen in fuel cells.
[ENERGY STAR® on first reference, followed by ENERGY STAR thereafter. Note: Should be all capitals.
Energy supplier: Fuel companies supplying electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, kerosene, or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) to the household.
Energy supply: Energy made available for future disposition. Supply can be considered and measured from the point of view of the energy provider or the receiver.
Energy used in the home: For electricity or natural gas, the quantity is the amount used by the household during the365- or 366-day period. For fuel oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the quantity consists of fuel purchased, not fuel consumed. If the level of fuel in the storage tank was the same at the beginning and end of the annual period, then the quantity consumed would be the same as the quantity purchased.
Energy-use sectors: A group of major energy-consuming components of U.S. society developed to measure and analyze energy use. The sectors most commonly referred to in EIA are: residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric power.
Energy-weighted industrial output: The weighted sum of real output for all two-digit Standard Industrial Classification(SIC) manufacturing industries plus agriculture, construction, and mining. The weight for each industry is the ratio between the quantity of end-use energy consumption to the value of real output.
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 British thermal units (Btu).
Engine size: The total volume within all cylinders of an engine when pistons are at their lowest positions. The engine is usually measured in "liters" or "cubic inches of displacement (CID)." Generally, larger engines result in greater engine power, but less fuel efficiency. There are 61.024 cubic inches in a liter.
Enriched uranium: Uranium in which the U-235 isotope concentration has been increased to greater than the 0.711 percent U-235 (by weight) present in natural uranium.
Enrichment feed deliveries: Uranium that is shipped under contract to a supplier of enrichment services for use in preparing enriched uranium product to a specified U-235 concentration and that ultimately will be used as fuel in a nuclear reactor.
Enrichment tails assay: A measure of the amount of fissile uranium (U-235) remaining in the waste stream from the uranium enrichment process. The natural uranium "feed" that enters the enrichment process generally contains 0.711 percent (by weight) U-235. The "product stream" contains enriched uranium (more than 0.711 percentU-235) and the "waste" or "tails" stream contains depleted uranium (less than 0.711 percent U-235). At the historical enrichment tails assay of 0.2 percent, the waste stream would contain 0.2 percent U-235. A higher enrichment tails assay requires more uranium feed (thus permitting natural uranium stockpiles to be decreased), while increasing the output of enriched material for the same energy expenditure.
Environmental impact statement: A report that documents the information required to evaluate the environmental impact of a project. It informs decision makers and the public of the reasonable alternatives that would avoid or minimize adverse impacts or enhance the quality of the environment.
Environmental protection agency (EPA) certification files: Computer files produced by EPA for analysis purposes. For each vehicle make, model and year, the files contain the EPA test MPGs (city, highway, and 55/45 composite). These MPG's are associated with various combinations of engine and drive-train technologies (e.g., number of cylinders, engine size, gasoline or diesel fuel, and automatic or manual transmission). These files also contain information similar to that in the DOE/EPA Gas Mileage Guide, although the MPGs in that publication are adjusted for shortfall.
Environmental restoration: Although usually described as "cleanup," this function encompasses a wide range of activities, such as stabilizing contaminated soil; treating groundwater; decommissioning process buildings, nuclear reactors, chemical separations plants, and many other facilities; and exhuming sludge and buried drums of waste.
Environmental restrictions: In reference to coal accessibility, land-use restrictions that constrain, postpone, or prohibit mining in order to protect environmental resources of an area; for example, surface- or ground water quality, air quality affected by mining, or plants or animals or their habitats.
EOR: East of River (Colorado River)
EOR: Enhanced Oil Recovery
EOR: Enhanced oil recovery
EPA certification: A permanent label on fireplace inserts and freestanding wood stoves manufactured after July1, 1988, indicating that the equipment meets EPA standards for clean burning.
EPA composite MPG: The harmonic mean of the EPA city and highway MPG (miles per gallon), weighted under the assumption of 55 percent city driving and 45 percent highway driving.
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPACT: Energy Policy Act of 1992
EPCA: Energy Policy and Conservation Act
EPR: Energy profit ratio
EPRI: Electric Power Research Institute
Equilibrium cycle: An analytical term that refers to fuel cycles that occur after the initial one or two cycles of a reactor's operation. For a given type of reactor, equilibrium cycles have similar fuel characteristics.
Equity (financial): Ownership of shareholders in a corporation represented by stock.
Equity capital: The sum of capital from retained earnings and the issuance of stock.
Equity crude oil: The proportion of production that a concession owner has the legal and contractual right to retain.
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates: A company's proportional share (based on ownership) of the net earnings or losses of an unconsolidated affiliate.
ER: Electricity Report
ERC: emission reduction credit {offset}
EROEI: Energy return on energy invested
ERP: equity risk premium
ERPA: Energy Resources Program Account (funding that supports the Energy Commission)
ESA: Endangered Species Act (Federal)
ESA: Environmental Site Assessment
ESP: Energy Service Providers
Establishment: An economic unit, generally, at a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. However, "establishment" is not synonymous with "building."
[Estimated additional resources (EAR): Uranium in addition to RAR that is expected to occur, mostly on the basis of geological evidence, in extensions of well-explored deposits, in little-explored deposits, and in undiscovered deposits believed to exist along well-defined geological trends with known deposits. This uranium can subsequently be recovered within the given cost ranges. Estimates of tonnage and grade are based on available sampling data and on knowledge of the deposit characteristics, as determined in the best-known parts of the deposit or in similar deposits. Note: EAR corresponds to DOE's probable potential resources category.
Estimated additional resources (EAR): The uranium in addition to reasonable assured resources (RAR) that is expected to occur, mostly on the basis of direct geological evidence, in extensions of well-explored deposits, little-explored deposits, and undiscovered deposits believed to exist along a well-defined geologic trend with known deposits, such that the uranium can subsequently be recovered within the given cost ranges. Estimates of tonnage and grade are based on available sampling data and on knowledge of the deposit characteristics as determined in the best known parts of the deposit or in similar deposits. EAR correspond to DOE's Probable Potential Resource Category.
Estimated Recoverable Reserves (coal): An estimate of coal reserves, based on a demonstrated reserve base, adjusted for assumed accessibility and recovery factors, and does not include any specific economic feasibility criteria.
ETBE (ethyl tertiary butyl ether): (CH3)3COC2H: An oxygenate blend stock formed by the catalytic etherification of isobutylene with ethanol.
ETBE: ethyl tertiary butyl ether
Ethane (C2H6): A straight-chain saturated (paraffinic) hydrocarbon extracted predominantly from the natural gas stream, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. It is a colorless gas that boils at a temperature of -127 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ethanol (C2H5OH): A clear, colorless, flammable alcohol. Ethanol is typically produced biologically from biomass feedstocks such as agricultural crops and cellulosic residues from agricultural crops or wood. Ethanol can also be produced chemically from ethylene. See Biomass, Fuel Ethanol, and Fuel Ethanol Minus Denaturant.
Ether: A generic term applied to a group of organic chemical compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, characterized by an oxygen atom attached to two carbon atoms (e.g., methyl tertiary butyl ether).
Ethylene (C2H4): An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery or petrochemical processes, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. Ethylene is used as a petrochemical feedstock for many chemical applications and the production of consumer goods.
Ethylene dichloride: A colorless, oily liquid used as a solvent and fumigant for organic synthesis, and for ore flotation.
ETSR: Energy Technologies Status Report
EU: European Union
EUC: End Use Consumption
EUI: End Use Intensities
Eurasia: The physical land mass containing the continents of Europe and Asia. For Energy Information Administration reporting, it includes the former parts of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Evacuated-tube collector: A collector in which solar thermal heat is captured by use of a collector fluid that flows through an absorber tube contained inside an evacuated glass tube.
Evaporation pond: A containment pond (that preferably has an impermeable lining of clay or synthetic material such as hypalon) to hold liquid wastes and to concentrate the waste through evaporation.
Evaporative cooler (swamp cooler): An air-cooling unit that turns air into moist, cool air by saturating the air with water vapor. It does not cool air by use of a refrigeration unit.
EWEB: Eugene Water & Electric Board
EWG: Exempt Wholesale Generator
[Examples:
[Excess statutory depletion. The excess of estimated statutory depletion allowable as an income tax deduction over the amount of cost depletion otherwise allowable as a tax deduction, determined on a total enterprise basis.
Excess statutory depletion: The excess of estimated statutory depletion allowable as an income tax deduction over the amount of cost depletion otherwise allowable as a tax deduction, determined on a total enterprise basis.
Exchange agreement: A contractual agreement in which quantities of crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, or electricity are delivered, either directly or through intermediaries, from one company to another company, in exchange for the delivery by the second company to the first company of an equivalent volume or heat content. The exchange may take place at the same time and location or at different times and/or locations. Such agreements may also involve the payment of cash. Note: EIA excludes volumes sold through exchange agreements to avoid double counting of data. See energy exchange.
Exchange energy: See exchange, electricity.
Exchange, electricity: A type of energy exchange in which one electric utility agrees to supply electricity to another. Electricity received is returned in kind at a later time or is accumulated as an energy balance until the end of a specified period, after which settlement may be made by monetary payment. Note: This term is also referred to as exchange energy.
Exchange, natural gas: A type of energy exchange in which one company agrees to deliver gas, either directly or through intermediaries, to another company at one location or in one time period in exchange for the delivery by the second company to the first company of an equivalent volume or heat content at a different location or time period. Note: Such agreements may or may not include the payment of fees in dollar or volumetric amounts.
Exchange, petroleum: A type of energy exchange in which quantities of crude oil or any petroleum product(s) are received or given up in return for other crude oil or petroleum products. It includes reciprocal sales and purchases.
Exchange, power: Delete in favor of the already-defined term exchange energy, which should be renamed exchange electricity or exchange, electricity.
Exchange: See energy exchange.
Exempt wholesale generator (EWG): Wholesale generators created under the 1992 Energy Policy Act that are exempt from certain financial and legal restrictions stipulated in the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935.
Exhaust fan: Small fans located in the wall or ceiling that exhaust air, odors, and moisture from the bathroom, kitchen, or basement to the outside.
Expenditure: The incurrence of a liability to obtain an asset or service.
Expenditures per million Btu: The aggregate ratio of a group of buildings' total expenditures for a given fuel to the total consumption of that fuel.
Expenditures per square foot: The aggregate ration of a group of buildings' total expenditures for a given fuel to the total floor space in those buildings.
Exploration drilling: Drilling done in search of new mineral deposits, on extensions of known ore deposits, or at the location of a discovery up to the time when the company decides that sufficient ore reserves are present to justify commercial exploration. Assessment drilling is reported as exploration drilling.
Exploratory well: A hole drilled a) to find and produce oil or gas in an area previously considered unproductive area; b) to find a new reservoir in a known field, i.e., one previously producing oil and gas from another reservoir, or c) to extend the limit of a known oil or gas reservoir.
[Exploratory. Drilling to locate probable mineral deposits or to establish the nature of geological structures; such wells may not be capable of production if minerals are discovered.
[Explosives casting is a technique designed to blast up to 65 percent of the overburden into the mine pit for easier removal. It differs from conventional overburden blasting, which only fractures the overburden before it is removed by excavating equipment.
Exports: Shipments of goods from within the 50 States and the District of Columbia to U.S. possessions and territories or to foreign countries.
Extensions, discoveries, and other additions: Additions to an enterprise's proved reserves that result from(1) extension of the proved acreage of previously discovered (old) reserves through additional drilling in periods subsequent to discovery and (2) discovery of new fields with proved reserves or of new reservoirs of proved reserves in old fields.
Extensions: Any new reserves credited to a previously producing reservoir because of enlargement of its proved area. This enlargement in proved area is usually due to new well drilling outside of the previously known productive limits of the reservoir.
Externalities: Benefits or costs, generated as a byproduct of an economic activity, that do not accrue to the parties involved in the activity. Environmental externalities are benefits or costs that manifest themselves through changes in the physical or biological environment.
Extraction loss: See Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production.
Extractive industries: Industries involved in the activities of (1) prospecting and exploring for wasting (non-regenerative) natural resources, (2) acquiring them, (3) further exploring them, (4) developing them, and (5) producing (extracting) them from the earth. The term does not encompass the industries of forestry, fishing, agriculture, animal husbandry, or any others that might be involved with resources of a regenerative nature.
Extraordinary income deductions (electric utility): Those items related to transactions of a nonrecurring nature that are not typical or customary business activities of the utility and that would significantly distort the current year's net income if reported other than as extraordinary items.
f.a.s. value: Free alongside ship value. The value of a commodity at the port of exportation, generally including the purchase price plus all charges incurred in placing the commodity alongside the carrier at the port of exportation in the country of exportation.
F.A.S.: See Free Alongside Ship.
f.o.b. price: The price actually charged at the producing country's port of loading. The reported price should be after deducting any rebates and discounts or adding premiums where applicable and should be the actual price paid with no adjustment for credit terms.
f.o.b. value (coal): Free-on-board value. This is the value of coal at the coal mine or of coke and breeze at the coke plant without any insurance or freight transportation charges added.
F.O.B: See Free On Board.
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration
Fabricated fuel: Fuel assemblies composed of an array of fuel rods loaded with pellets of enriched uranium dioxide.
[Face channel or channel sample: a sample taken at the exposed coal in a mine by cutting away any loose or weathered coal then collecting on a clean surface a sample of the coal seam by chopping out a channel of uniform width and depth; a face channel or face sample is taken at or near the working face, the most freshly exposed coal where actual removal and loading of mined coal is taking place. Any partings greater than 3/8 inch and/or mineral concretions greater than 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches in maximum diameter are normally discarded from a channel sample so as better to represent coal that has been mined, crushed, and screened to remove at least gross non-coal materials.
[Face drill is used in conventional mining to drill shot holes in the coalbed for explosive charges.
Facilities charge: An amount to be paid by the customer in a lump sum, or periodically as reimbursement for facilities furnished. The charge may include operation and maintenance as well as fixed costs.
Facility: An existing or planned location or site at which prime movers, electric generators, and/or equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, and/or nuclear energy into electric energy are situated or will be situated. A facility may contain more than one generator of either the same or different prime mover type. For a cogenerator, the facility includes the industrial or commercial process.
Fahrenheit: A temperature scale on which the boiling point of water is at 212 degrees above zero on the scale and the freezing point is at 32 degrees above zero at standard atmospheric pressure.
Failure or hazard: Any electric power supply equipment or facility failure or other event that, in the judgment of the reporting entity, constitutes a hazard to maintaining the continuity of the bulk electric power supply system such that a load reduction action may become necessary and reportable outage may occur. Types of abnormal conditions that should be reported include the imposition of a special operating procedure, the extended purchase of emergency power, other bulk power system actions that may be caused by a natural disaster, a major equipment failure that would impact the bulk power supply, and an environmental and/or regulatory action requiring equipment outages.
Farm out (in) arrangement: An arrangement, used primarily in the oil and gas industry, in which the owner or lessee of mineral rights (the first party) assigns a working interest to an operator (the second party), the consideration for which is specified exploration and/or development activities. The first party retains an overriding royalty or other type of economic interest in the mineral production. The arrangement from the viewpoint of the second party is termed a "farm-in arrangement."
Farm use: Energy use at establishments where the primary activity is growing crops and/or raising animals. Energy use by all facilities and equipment at these establishments is included, whether or not it is directly associated with growing crops and/or raising animals. Common types of energy-using equipment include tractors, irrigation pumps, crop dryers, smudge pots, and milking machines. Facility energy use encompasses all structures at the establishment, including the farm house.
FASB: Financial Accounting Standards Board
Fast breeder reactor (FBR): A reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained primarily by fast neutrons rather than by thermal or intermediate neutrons. Fast reactors require little or no moderator to slow down the neutrons from the speeds at which they are ejected from fissioning nuclei. This type of reactor produces more fissile material than it consumes.
FBE: Functional Basis Earthquake
FBR: Fast Breeder Reactor
FBS: Federal Base System
FCAA: Federal Clean Air Act
FCC: Federal Communications Commission
FCRPS: Federal Columbia River Power System
FEC: Flathead Electric Co-op
Federal coal lease: A lease granted to a mining company to produce coal from land owned and administered by the Federal Government in exchange for royalties and other revenues.
Federal electric utility: A utility that is either owned or financed by the Federal Government.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC): The Federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, oil pipeline rates, and gas pipeline certification. FERC is an independent regulatory agency within the Department of Energy and is the successor to the Federal Power Commission.
Federal Power Act: Enacted in 1920, and amended in1935, the Act consists of three parts. The first part incorporated the Federal Water Power Act administered by the former Federal Power Commission, whose activities were confined almost entirely to licensing non-Federal hydroelectric projects. Parts II and III were added with the passage of the Public Utility Act. These parts extended the Act's jurisdiction to include regulating the interstate transmission of electrical energy and rates for its sale as wholesale in interstate commerce. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is now charged with the administration of this law.
Federal Power Commission (FPC): The predecessor agency of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Federal Power Commission was created by an Act of Congress under the Federal Water Power Act on June 10, 1920. It was charged originally with regulating the electric power and natural gas industries. It was abolished on September 30, 1977, when the Department of Energy was created. Its functions were divided between the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent regulatory agency.
Federal region: In a Presidential directive issued in 1969, various Federal agencies (among them the currently designated Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and the Small Business Administration) were instructed to adopt a uniform field system of 10 geographic regions with common boundaries and headquarters cities. The action was taken to correct the evolution of fragmented Federal field organization structures that each agency or component created independently, usually with little reference to other agencies' arrangements. Most Federal domestic agencies or their components have completed realignments and relocations to conform to the Standard Federal Administration Regions (SFARs).
Fee interest: The absolute, legal possession and ownership of land, property, or rights, including mineral rights. A fee interest can be sold (in its entirety or in part) or passed on to heirs or successors.
Feeder line: An electrical line that extends radially from a distribution substation to supply electrical energy within an electric area or sub-area.
FEIR: Final Environmental Impact Report
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMP: Federal Energy Management Program
FERC guidelines: A compilation of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's enabling statutes; procedural and program regulations; and orders, opinions, and decisions.
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Fertile material: Material that is not itself fissionable by thermal neutrons but can be converted to fissile material by irradiation. The two principal fertile materials are uranium-238 andthorium-232.
FGD: Flue-Gas Desulfurization
Field area: A geographic area encompassing two or more pools that have a common gathering and metering system, the reserves of which are reported as a single unit. This concept applies primarily to the Appalachian region.
Field discovery year: The calendar year in which a field was first recognized as containing economically recoverable accumulations of oil and/or gas.
Field production: Represents crude oil production on leases, including lease condensate. Excludes plant condensate and other processed liquids. Note: In some EIA publications, field production includes NGPL production, in accordance with definitions used prior to January 2014.
Field separation facility: A surface installation designed to recover lease condensate from a produced natural gas stream usually originating from more than one lease and managed by the operator of one or more of these leases.
Field: An area consisting of a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs all grouped on, or related to, the same individual geological structural feature and/or stratigraphic condition. There maybe two or more reservoirs in a field that are separated vertically by intervening impervious strata or laterally by local geologic barriers, or by both.
File rate schedule: The rate for a particular electric service, including attendant contract terms and conditions, accepted for filing by a regulatory body with appropriate oversight authority.
Filing: Any written application, complaint, declaration, petition, protest, answer, motion, brief, exception, rate schedule, or other pleading, amendment to a pleading, document, or similar paper that is submitted to a utility commission.
Final order: A final ruling by FERC that terminates an action, decides some matter litigated by the petitioning parties, operates to some right, or completely disposes of the subject matter.
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB): An independent board responsible, since 1973, for establishing generally accepted accounting principles. Its official pronouncements are called "Statements of Financial Accounting Standards" and "Interpretations of Financial Accounting Standards."
[finding or producing crude oil or natural gas; or
Finished leaded gasoline: Contains more than 0.05 gram of lead per gallon or more than 0.005 gram of phosphorus per gallon. Premium and regular grades are included, depending on the octane rating. Includes leaded gasohol. Blendstock is excluded until blending has been completed. Alcohol that is to be used in the blending of gasohol is also excluded.
Finished motor gasoline: See Motor gasoline (finished).
FIP: Federal Implementation Plan
FIP: Fields in production
Firm power: Power or power-producing capacity, intended to be available at all times during the period covered by a guaranteed commitment to deliver, even under adverse conditions.
Firm: An association, company, corporation, estate, individual, joint venture, partnership, sole proprietorship, or any other entity, however organized, including: (a) charitable or educational institutions; (b) the Federal Government, including corporations, departments, federal agencies and other instrumentalities; and (c) state and local governments.
First purchase (of crude oil): An equity (not custody) transaction commonly associated with the transfer of ownership of crude oil coupled with the physical removal of the crude oil from a property (lease) for the first time. A first purchase normally occurs at the time and place of ownership transfer where the crude oil volume sold is measured and recorded on a run ticket or other similar physical evidence of purchase. The reported price is the first purchase average cost paid by the purchaser, allowing for any adjustments (deductions or premiums) passed on to the producer or royalty owner.
First purchase price: The price for domestic crude oil reported by the company that owns the crude oil the first time it is removed from the lease boundary.
First purchaser: A firm that acquires ownership of domestic crude oil by a first purchase transaction. Physical custody of the crude oil is not a prerequisite. In the case of multiple owners, only one firm should report to avoid double-counting.
Fiscal year: The U.S. Government's fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; e.g., fiscal year 2002 begins on October 1, 2001 and ends on September 30, 2002
Fissile material: Material that can be caused to undergo atomic fission when bombarded by neutrons. The most important fissionable materials are uranium-235, plutonium-239, and uranium-233.
Fission: The process whereby an atomic nucleus of appropriate type, after capturing a neutron, splits into (generally) two nuclei of lighter elements, with the release of substantial amounts of energy and two or more neutrons.
Fixed asset turnover: A ratio of revenue to fixed assets which is a measure of the productivity and efficiency of property, plant, and equipment in generating revenue. A high turnover reflects positively on the entity's ability to utilize properly its fixed assets in business operations.
Fixed assets: Tangible property used in the operations of an entity, but not expected to be consumed or converted into cash in the ordinary course of events. With a life in excess of one year, not intended for resale to customers, and subject to depreciation (with the exception of land), they are usually referred to as property, plant, and equipment.
Fixed carbon: The nonvolatile matter in coal minus the ash. Fixed carbon is the solid residue other than ash obtained by prescribed methods of destructive distillation of a coal. Fixed carbon is the part of the total carbon that remains when coal is heated in a closed vessel until all matter is driven off.
Fixed charge coverage: The ratio of earnings available to pay so-called fixed charges to such fixed charges. Fixed charges include interest on funded debt, including leases, plus the related amortizations of debt discount, premium, and expense. Earnings available for fixed charges may be computed before or after deducting income taxes. Occasionally credits for the "allowance for funds used during construction" are excluded from the earnings figures. The precise procedures followed in calculating fixed charges or interest coverages vary widely.
Fixed cost (expense): An expenditure or expense that does not vary with volume level of activity.
Fixed operating costs: Costs other than those associated with capital investment that do not vary with the operation, such as maintenance and payroll.
[Flange of all steam extraction lines on prime mover.
Flare: A tall stack equipped with burners used as a safety device at wellheads, refining facilities, gas processing plants, and chemical plants. Flares are used for the combustion and disposal of combustible gases. The gases are piped to a remote, usually elevated, location and burned in an open flame in the open air using a specially designed burner tip, auxiliary fuel, and steam or air. Combustible gases are flared most often due to emergency relief, overpressure, process upsets, startups, shutdowns, and other operational safety reasons. Natural gas that is uneconomical for sale is also flared. Often natural gas is flared as a result of the unavailability of a method for transporting such gas to markets.
Flared natural gas: See flare.
Flat and meter rate schedule: An electric rate schedule consisting of two components, the first of which is a service charge and the second a price for the energy consumed.
Flat demand rate schedule: An electric rate schedule based on billing demand that provides no charge for energy.
Flat plate pumped: A medium-temperature solar thermal collector that typically consists of a metal frame, glazing, absorbers (usually metal), and insulation and that uses a pumped liquid as the heat-transfer medium predominant use is in water-heating applications.
Fleet vehicle: Any motor vehicle a company owns or leases that is in the normal operations of a company. Vehicles which are used in the normal operation of a company, but are owned by company employees are not fleet vehicles. If a company provides services in addition to providing natural gas, only those vehicles that are used by the natural gas provider portion of a company should be counted as fleet vehicles. Vehicles that are considered "off-road" (e.g., farm or construction vehicles) or demonstration vehicles are not to be counted as fleet vehicles. Fleet vehicles include gasoline/diesel powered vehicles and alternative-fuel vehicles.
[Flexible fuel vehicle and variable fuel vehicle are synonymous terms.
Flexible fuel vehicle: A vehicle that can operate on
[Flexible fuel vehicles have a single fuel system to handle alternative and petroleum-based fuels.
[Flexicoking. A thermal cracking process which converts heavy hydrocarbons such as crude oil, tar sands bitumen, and distillation residues into light hydrocarbons. Feedstocks can be any pumpable hydrocarbons including those containing high concentrations of sulfur and metals.
Flexicoking: A thermal cracking process which converts heavy hydrocarbons such as crude oil, tar sands bitumen, and distillation residues into light hydrocarbons. Feed stocks can be any pumpable hydrocarbons including those containing high concentrations of sulfur and metals.
Floor (coal): The upper surface of the stratum underlying a coal seam. In coals that were formed in persistent swamp environments, the floor is typically a bed of clay, known as "underclay," representing the soil in which the trees or other coal-forming swamp vegetation was rooted.
Floor price: A price specified in a market-price contract as the lowest purchase price of the uranium, even if the market price falls below the specified price. The floor price may be related to the seller's production costs.
Floor space: The area enclosed by exterior walls of a building, including parking areas, basements, or other floors belowground level. It is measured in square feet.
Floor, wall, or pipeless furnace: Space-heating equipment consisting of a ductless combustor or resistance unit, having an enclosed chamber where fuel is burned or where electrical-resistance heat is generated to warm the rooms of a building. A floor furnace is located below the floor and delivers heated air to the room immediately above or (if under a partition) to the room on each side. A wall furnace is installed in a partition or in an outside wall and delivers heated air to the rooms on one or both sides of the wall. A pipeless furnace is installed in a basement and delivers heated air through a large register in the floor of the room or hallway immediately above.
Flow control: The laws, regulations, and economic incentives or disincentives used by waste managers to direct waste generated in a specific geographic area to a designated landfill, recycling, or waste-to-energy facility.
Flue gas desulfurization: Equipment used to remove sulfur oxides from the combustion gases of a boiler plant before discharge to the atmosphere. Also referred to as scrubbers. Chemicals such as lime are used as scrubbing media.
Flue-gas desulfurization unit (scrubber): Equipment used to remove sulfur oxides from the combustion gases of a boiler plant before discharge to the atmosphere. Chemicals such as lime are used as the scrubbing media.
Flue-gas particulate collector: Equipment used to remove fly ash from the combustion gases of a boiler plant before discharge to the atmosphere. Particulate collectors include electrostatic precipitators, mechanical collectors (cyclones), fabric filters (baghouses), and wet scrubbers.
Flue: An enclosed passage way for directing products of combustion to the atmosphere.
Fluid catalytic cracking: The refining process of breaking down the larger, heavier, and more complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler and lighter molecules. Catalytic cracking is accomplished by the use of a catalytic agent and is an effective process for increasing the yield of gasoline from crude oil. Catalytic cracking processes fresh feeds and recycled feeds.
[Fluid Coking. A thermal cracking process utilizing the fluidized-solids technique to remove carbon (coke) for continuous conversion of heavy, low-grade oils into lighter products.
Fluid coking: A thermal cracking process utilizing the fluidized-solids technique to remove carbon (coke) for continuous conversion of heavy, low-grade oils into lighter products.
Fluidized-bed combustion: A method of burning particulate fuel, such as coal, in which the amount of air required for combustion far exceeds that found in conventional burners. The fuel particles are continually fed into a bed of mineral ash in the proportions of 1 part fuel to 200 parts ash, while a flow of air passes up through the bed, causing it to act like a turbulent fluid.
Fluorescent lamp: A glass enclosure in which light is produced when electricity is passed through mercury vapor inside the enclosure. The electricity creates a radiation discharge that strikes a coating on the inside surface of the enclosure, causing the coating to glow. Note: Traditional fluorescent lamps are usually straight or circular white glass tubes used in fixtures specially designed for them. A newer type of fluorescent lamp, the compact fluorescent lamp, takes up much less room, comes in many differently-shaped configurations, and is designed to be used in some fixtures originally intended to house in candescent lamps.
Fluorescent light bulbs: These are usually long, narrow, white tubes made of glass coated on the inside with fluorescent material, which is connected to a fixture at both ends of the light bulb; some are circular tubes. The light bulb produces light by passing electricity through mercury vapor, which causes the fluorescent coating to glow or fluoresce.
Fluorescent lighting other than compact fluorescent bulbs: In fluorescent lamps, energy is converted to light by using an electric charge to "excite" gaseous atoms within a fluorescent tube. Common types are "cool white," "warm white," etc. Special energy efficient fluorescent lights have been developed that produce the same amount of light while consuming less energy. Note: for definition of compact fluorescent bulbs, go to compact fluorescent bulbs.
Flux material: A substance used to promote fusion, e.g., of metals or minerals.
Fly ash: Particulate matter mainly from coal ash in which the particle diameter is less than 1 x 104 meter. This ash is removed from the flue gas using flue gas particulate collectors such as fabric filters and electrostatic precipitators.
FME: Free Market Economies. Countries that are members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) are not included.
FONSI: Finding of No-Significant Impact
Footage drilled: Total footage for wells in various categories, as reported for any specified period, includes (1)the deepest total depth (length of well bores) of all wells drilled from the surface, (2) the total of all bypassed footage drilled in connection with reported wells, and (3) all new footage drilled for directional sidetrack wells. Footage reported for directional side-track wells does not include footage in the common bore that is reported as footage for the original well. In the case of old wells drilled deeper, the reported footage is that which was drilled below the total depth of the old well.
FOP: Fuel oil price
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.
Foreign access: Refers to proved reserves of crude, condensate, and natural gas liquids applicable to long-term supply agreements with foreign governments or authorities in which the company or one of its affiliates acts as producer.
Foreign currency transaction gains and losses: Gains or losses resulting from the effect of exchange rate changes on transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency (for example, a U.S. enterprise may borrow Swiss francs or a French subsidiary may have a receivable denominated in kroner from a Danish customer). Gains and losses on those foreign currency transactions are generally included in determining net income for the period in which exchange rates change unless the transaction hedges a foreign currency commitment or a net investment in a foreign entity. Intercompany transactions of a long-term investment nature are considered part of a parent's net investment and hence do not give rise to gains or losses.
Foreign currency translation effects: Gains or losses resulting from the process of expressing amounts denominated or measured in one currency in terms of another currency by use of the exchange rate between the two currencies. This process is generally required to consolidate the financial statements of foreign affiliates into the total company financial statements and to recognize the conversion of foreign currency or the settlement of a receivable or payable denominated in foreign currency at a rate different from that at which the item is recorded. Translation adjustments are not included in determining net income, but are disclosed as separate components of consolidated equity.
Foreign operations: These are operations that are located outside the United States. Determination of whether an enterprise's mobile assets, such as offshore drilling rigs or ocean-going vessels, constitute foreign operations should depend on whether such assets are normally identified with operations located outside the United States.
Foreign-controlled firms (coal): Foreign-controlled firms are U.S. coal producers with more than 50 percent of their stock or assets owned by a foreign firm.
Forward cost (1): Forward costs are those operating and capital costs yet to be incurred at the time an estimate of reserves is made. Profits and "sunk" costs, such as past expenditures for property acquisition, exploration, and mine development, are not included. Therefore, the various forward-cost categories are independent of the market price at which uranium produced from the reserves would be sold.
Forward cost (2): The operating and capital costs still to be incurred in the production of uranium from in-place reserves. By using forward costing, estimates for reserves for ore deposits in differing geological settings and status of development can be aggregated and reported for selected cost categories. Included are costs for labor, materials, power and fuel, royalties, payroll taxes, insurance, and applicable general and administrative costs. Excluded from forward cost estimates are prior expenditures, if any, incurred for property acquisition, exploration, mine development, and mill construction, as well as income taxes, profit, and the cost of money. Forward costs are neither the full costs of production nor the market price at which the uranium, when produced, might be sold.
Forward costs (uranium): The operating and capital costs that will be incurred in any future production of uranium from in-place reserves. Included are costs for labor, materials, power and fuel, royalties, payroll taxes, insurance, and general and administrative costs that are dependent upon the quantity of production and, thus, applicable as variable costs of production. Excluded from forward costs are prior expenditures, if any, incurred for property acquisition, exploration, mine development, and mill construction, as well as income taxes, profit, and the cost of money. Note: By use of forward costing, estimates of reserves for ore deposits in differing geological settings can be aggregated and reported as the maximum amount that can theoretically be extracted to recover the specified costs of uranium oxide production under the listed forward cost categories.
Forward coverage: Amount of uranium required to assure uninterrupted operation of nuclear power plants.
Fossil fuel electric generation: Electric generation in which the prime mover is an internal combustion engine or a turbine rotated by high-pressure steam produced in a boiler or by a hot exhaust gas produced from the burning of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel plant: A plant using coal, petroleum, or gas as its source of energy.
Fossil fuel steam-electric power plant: An electricity generation plant in which the prime mover is a turbine rotated by high-pressure steam produced in a boiler by heat from burning fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel: An energy source formed in the Earth's crust from decayed organic material. The common fossil fuels are petroleum, coal, and natural gas.
Foundry coke: This is a special coke that is used in furnaces to produce cast and ductile iron products. It is a source of heat and also helps maintain the required carbon content of the metal product. Foundry coke production requires lower temperatures and longer times than blast furnace coke.
Foundry: An operation where metal castings are produced, using coke as a fuel.
FPC: Federal Power Commission
Fractionation: The process by which saturated hydrocarbons are removed from natural gas and separated into distinct products, or "fractions," such as propane, butane, and ethane.
Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC): An agreement opened for signature at the "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 4, 1992, which has the goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent significant anthropogenically forced climate change.
Free alongside ship (f.a.s.): The value of a commodity at the port of exportation, generally including the purchase price plus all charges incurred in placing the commodity alongside the carrier at the port of exportation.
Free on board (f.o.b.): In the international petroleum industry, this term typically refers to the price of oil or natural gas actually charged at the producing country's port of loading. The reported f.o.b. price includes deductions for any rebates and discounts or additions of premiums where applicable and should be the actual price paid to the seller with no adjustment for the cost of ocean freight, insurance, or credit. For coal and breeze, f.o.b. has the dual meaning of the price of coal at the coal mine, or the price of coal at the producer country’s port of loading, both before the cost of insurance, freight, and credit.
Free well: A well drilled and equipped by an assignee as consideration for the assignment of a fractional share of the working interest, commonly under a farm-out agreement.
Fresh feed input: Represents input of material (crude oil, unfinished oils, natural gas liquids, other hydrocarbons and oxygenates or finished products) to processing units at a refinery that is being processed (input) into a particular unit for the first time.
Fresh feeds: Crude oil or petroleum distillates that are being fed to processing units for the first time.
FRS: Financial Reporting System Survey (EIA survey).
FSA: Final Staff Assessment
FSU: Former Soviet Union
FT: Fischer-Tropsch process of converting methane, biomass, or coal to liquid fuels
FUA: Fields under appraisal
FUD: Fields under development
Fuel cell: A device capable of generating an electrical current by converting the chemical energy of a fuel (e.g., hydrogen) directly into electrical energy. Fuel cells differ from conventional electrical cells in that the active materials such as fuel and oxygen are not contained within the cell but are supplied from outside. It does not contain an intermediate heat cycle, as do most other electrical generation techniques.
Fuel cycle: The entire set of sequential processes or stages involved in the utilization of fuel, including extraction, transformation, transportation, and combustion. Emissions generally occur at each stage of the fuel cycle.
Fuel efficiency: See Miles per gallon.
Fuel emergencies: An emergency that exists when supplies of fuels or hydroelectric storage for generation are at a level or estimated to be at a level that would threaten the reliability or adequacy of bulk electric power supply. The following factors should be taken into account to determine that a fuel emergency exists 1. Fuel stock or hydroelectric project water storage levels are 50 percent or less of normal for that particular time of the year and a continued downward trend in fuel stock or hydroelectric project water storage level is estimated; or 2. Unscheduled dispatch or emergency generation is causing an abnormal use of a particular fuel type, such that the future supply of stocks of that fuel could reach a level that threatens the reliability or adequacy of bulk electric power supply.
Fuel Ethanol Minus Denaturant: An unobserved quantity of anhydrous, biomass-derived, undenatured ethanol for fuel use. The quantity is obtained by subtracting the estimated denaturant volume from fuel ethanol volume. Fuel ethanol minus denaturant is counted as renewable energy, while denaturant is counted as nonrenewable fuel. See Denaturant, Ethanol, Fuel Ethanol, Nonrenewable Fuels, and Oxygenates .
Fuel ethanol: Ethanol intended for fuel use. Fuel ethanol in the United States must be anhydrous (less than 1 percent water). Fuel ethanol is denatured (made unfit for human consumption), usually prior to transport from the ethanol production facility, by adding 2 to 5 volume percent petroleum, typically pentanes plus or conventional motor gasoline. Fuel ethanol is used principally for blending in low concentrations with motor gasoline as an oxygenate or octane enhancer. In high concentrations, it is used to fuel alternative-fuel vehicles specially designed for its use. See Alternative-Fuel Vehicle, Denaturant, E85, Ethanol, Fuel Ethanol Minus Denaturant, and Oxygenates.
Fuel expenses: These costs include the fuel used in the production of steam or driving another prime mover for the generation of electricity. Other associated expenses include unloading the shipped fuel and all handling of the fuel up to the point where it enters the first bunker, hopper, bucket, tank, or holder in the boiler-house structure.
Fuel injection: A fuel delivery system whereby gasoline is pumped to one or more fuel injectors under high pressure. The fuel injectors are valves that, at the appropriate times, open to allow fuel to be sprayed or atomized into a throttle bore or into the intake manifold ports. The fuel injectors are usually solenoid operated valves under the control of the vehicle's on-board computer (thus the term "electronic fuel injection"). The fuel efficiency of fuel injection systems is less temperature-dependent than carburetor systems. Diesel engines always use injectors.
[fuel mixtures containing 85 percent or more by volume of methanol, denatured ethanol, and other alcohols with gasoline or other fuels.
Fuel oil supplier: See Energy supplier.
Fuel oil: A liquid petroleum product less volatile than gasoline, used as an energy source. Fuel oil includes distillate fuel oil (No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4), and residual fuel oil (No. 5 and No.6).
Fuel purchase agreement: An agreement between a company and a fuel provider which stipulates that the company agrees to purchase its fuel from the fuel provider. If the company has a credit card for use at a fuel provider's locations, but is not bound by an additional agreement to purchase fuel from that provider, the credit card agreement alone is not considered a fuel purchase agreement.
Fuel ratio: The ratio of fixed carbon to volatile matter in coal.
Fuel switching capability: The short-term capability of a manufacturing establishment to have used substitute energy sources in place of those actually consumed. Capability to use substitute energy sources means that the establishment's combustors (for example, boilers, furnaces, ovens, and blast furnaces) had the machinery or equipment either in place or available for installation so that substitutions could actually have been introduced within 30 days without extensive modifications. Fuel-switching capability does not depend on the relative prices of energy sources; it depends only on the characteristics of the equipment and certain legal constraints.
Fuel wood: Wood and wood products, possibly including scrubs and branches, etc, bought or gathered, and used by direct combustion.
Fuel-switching DSM program assistance: DSM program assistance where the sponsor encourages consumers to change from one fuel to another for a particular end-use service. For example, utilities might encourage consumers to replace electric water heaters with gas units or encourage industrial consumers to use electric microwave heaters instead of natural gas-heaters.
Fuel/fabricator assembly identifier: Individual assembly identifier based on a numbering scheme developed by individual fuel fabricators. Most fuel fabricator assembly identifiers schemes closely match the scheme developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and are therefore unique.
Fuel: Any material substance that can be consumed to supply heat or power. Included are petroleum, coal, and natural gas (the fossil fuels), and other consumable materials, such as uranium, biomass, and hydrogen.
Fuels solvent deasphalting: A refining process for removing asphalt compounds from petroleum fractions, such as reduced crude oil. The recovered stream from this process is used to produce fuel products.
Fugitive emissions: Unintended leaks of gas from the processing, transmission, and/or transportation of fossil fuels.
Full forced outage: The net capability of main generating units that are unavailable for load for emergency reasons.
Full power day: The equivalent of 24 hours of full power operation by a reactor. The number of full power days in a specific cycle is the product of the reactor's capacity factor and the length of the cycle.
Full power operation: Operation of a unit at 100 percent of its design capacity. Full-power operation precedes commercial operation.
Full requirements consumer: A wholesale consumer without other generating resources whose electric energy seller is the sole source of long-term firm power for the consumer's service area. The terms and conditions of sale are equivalent to the seller's obligations to its own retail service, if any.
Fumarole: A vent from which gas or steam issue; a geyser or spring that emits gases.
Furnace coke plant: A coke plant whose coke production is used primarily by the producing company.
Furnace: The part of a boiler or warm-air space-heating plant in which combustion takes place.
Furnaces that heat directly, withoutusing steam or hot water (similar to a residential furnace): Furnaces burn natural gas, fuel oil, propane/ butane (bottled gas), or electricity to warm the air. The warmed air is then distributed throughout the building through ducts. Many people use the words "boilers" and "furnaces" interchangeably. They are not the same. We mean that warm air is produced directly by burning some fuel. Warm-air furnaces typically rely on air ducts to carry the warm air throughout the building. Warm-air furnaces are often built in combination with central air-conditioning systems, so that they can use the same air ducts for either heating or air-conditioning (depending on the season). Other terms for describing this type of equipment include "central system," "split system," and "forced air/forces air furnace."
Futures market: A trade center for quoting prices on contracts for the delivery of a specified quantity of a commodity at a specified time and place in the future.
g/m3: micro grams (10-6 grams) per cubic meter
GAAP: See Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
[Gabon (1975-1994 and 2016-present)
[Gain access to and prepare well locations for drilling, including surveying well locations for the purpose of determining specific development drilling site; clearing ground; draining; road building; and relocating public roads, gas lines, and power lines to the extent necessary in developing the proved reserves.
gal: gallon
Gallon: A volumetric measure equal to 4 quarts (231 cubic inches) used to measure fuel oil. One barrel equals 42 gallons.
Gas Condensate Well Gas: Natural gas remaining after the removal of the lease condensate.
Gas cooled fast breeder reactor (GCFB): A fast breeder reactor that is cooled by a gas (usually helium) under pressure.
Gas plant operator: Any firm, including a natural gas processing plant owner, that operates a gas plant and keeps the gas plant records.
Gas processing unit: A facility designed to recover natural gas liquids from a stream of natural gas that may or may not have passed through lease separators and/or field separation facilities. Another function of natural gas processing plants is to control the quality of the processed natural gas stream. Cycling plants are considered natural gas processing plants.
Gas to liquids (GTL): A process that combines the carbon and hydrogen elements in natural gas molecules to make synthetic liquid petroleum products, such as diesel fuel.
Gas turbine plant: A plant in which the prime mover is a gas turbine. A gas turbine consists typically of an axial-flow air compressor and one or more combustion chambers where liquid or gaseous fuel is burned and the hot gases are passed to the turbine and where the hot gases expand drive the generator and are then used to run the compressor.
Gas well productivity: Derived annually by dividing gross natural gas withdrawals from gas wells by the number of producing gas wells on December 31 and then dividing the quotient by the number of days in the year.
Gas well: A well completed for production of natural gas from one or more gas zones or reservoirs. Such wells contain no completions for the production of crude oil.
Gas: A non-solid, non-liquid combustible energy source that includes natural gas, coke-oven gas, blast-furnace gas, and refinery gas.
Gasification: A method for converting coal, petroleum, biomass, wastes, or other carbon-containing materials into a gas that can be burned to generate power or processed into chemicals and fuels.
Gasohol: A blend of finished motor gasoline containing alcohol (generally ethanol but sometimes methanol) at a concentration between 5.7 percent and 10 percent by volume. Also see Oxygenates.
Gasoil: European and Asian designation for No. 2 heating oil and No. 2 diesel fuel.
Gasoline blending components: Naphthas which will be used for blending or compounding into finished aviation or motor gasoline (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, andxylene). Excludes oxygenates (alcohols, ethers), butane, and pentanes plus.
Gasoline grades: The classification of gasoline by octane ratings. Each type of gasoline (conventional, oxygenated, and reformulated) is classified by three grades - Regular, Midgrade, and Premium. Note: Gasoline sales are reported by grade in accordance with their classification at the time of sale. In general, automotive octane requirements are lower at high altitudes. Therefore, in some areas of the United States, such as the Rocky Mountain States, the octane ratings for the gasoline grades may be 2 or more octane points lower.
Gasoline motor, (leaded): Contains more than 0.05 grams of lead per gallon or more than 0.005 grams of phosphorus per gallon. The actual lead content of any given gallon may vary. Premium and regular grades are included, depending on the octane rating. Includes leaded gasohol. Blendstock is excluded until blending has been completed. Alcohol that is to be used in the blending of gasohol is also excluded.
Gasoline treated as blendstock (GTAB): Non-certified Foreign Refinery gasoline classified by an importer as blendstock to be either blended or reclassified with respect to reformulated or conventional gasoline. GTAB is classified as either reformulated or conventional quality based on emissions performance, formulation, and intended end use.
Gasoline: See Motor gasoline (finished).
Gate station: Location where the pressure of natural gas being transferred from the transmission system to the distribution system is lowered for transport through small diameter, low pressure pipelines.
Gatherer: A company primarily engaged in the gathering of natural gas from well or field lines for delivery, for a fee, to a natural gas processing plant or central point. Gathering companies may also provide compression, dehydration, and/or treating services.
GB: Gigabarrels = 1 billion barrels
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP): Defined by the FASB as the conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time, includes both broad guidelines and relatively detailed practices and procedures.
Generating facility: An existing or planned location or site at which electricity is or will be produced.
Generating station: A station that consists of electric generators and auxiliary equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, or nuclear energy into electric energy.
Generating unit: Any combination of physically connected generators, reactors, boilers, combustion turbines, and other prime movers operated together to produce electric power.
Generation company: An entity that owns or operates generating plants. The generation company may own the generation plants or interact with the short-term market on behalf of plant owners.
Generation: The process of producing electric energy by transforming other forms of energy; also, the amount of electric energy produced, expressed in kilowatthours.
Generator capacity: The maximum output, commonly expressed in megawatts (MW), that generating equipment can supply to system load, adjusted for ambient conditions.
Generator nameplate capacity (installed): The maximum rated output of a generator, prime mover, or other electric power production equipment under specific conditions designated by the manufacturer. Installed generator nameplate capacity is commonly expressed in megawatts (MW) and is usually indicated on a nameplate physically attached to the generator.
Geologic assurance: State of sureness, confidence, or certainty of the existence of a quantity of resources based on the distance from points where coal is measured or sampled and on the abundance and quality of geologic data as related to thickness of over burden, rank, quality, thickness of coal, areal extent, geologic history, structure, and correlations of coal beds and enclosing rocks. The degree of assurance increases as the nearness to points of control, abundance, and quality of geologic data increases.
Geologic considerations: Conditions in the coal deposit or in the rocks in which it occurs that may complicate or preclude mining. Geologic considerations are evaluated in the context of the current state of technology and regulations, so the impact on mining may change with time.
Geologic sequestration: A type of engineered sequestration, where captured carbon dioxide is injected for permanent storage into underground geologic reservoirs, such as oil and natural gas fields, saline aquifers, or abandoned coal mines.
Geological and geophysical (G) costs: Costs incurred in making geological and geophysical studies, including, but not limited to, costs incurred for salaries, equipment, obtaining rights of access, and supplies for scouts, geologists, and geophysical crews.
Geological repository: A mined facility for disposal of radioactive waste that uses waste packages and the natural geology as barriers to provide waste isolation.
Geopressured: A type of geothermal resource occurring in deep basins in which the fluid is under very high pressure.
Geothermal energy: Hot water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs in the earth's crust. Water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs can be used for geothermal heat pumps, water heating, or electricity generation.
Geothermal plant: A plant in which the prime mover is a steam turbine. The turbine is driven either by steam produced from hot water or by natural steam that derives its energy from heat found in rock.
GEP: good engineering practice
Geyser: A special type of thermal spring that periodically ejects water with great force.
GHG: Greenhouse gas (e.g., CO2, methane)
Giga: One billion
Gigawatt (GW): One billion watts or one thousand megawatts.
Gigawatt-electric (GWe): One billion watts of electric capacity.
Gigawatthour (GWh): One billion watthours.
Gilsonite: Trademark name for uintaite (or uintahite), a black, brilliantly lustrous natural variety of asphalt found in parts of Utah and western Colorado.
GIS: gas insulated switchgear
GIS: geographic information system
Global climate change: See Climate change .
Global warming potential (GWP): An index used to compare the relative radiative forcing of different gases without directly calculating the changes in atmospheric concentrations. GWPs are calculated as the ratio of the radiative forcing that would result from the emission of one kilogram of a greenhouse gas to that from the emission of one kilogram of carbon dioxide over a fixed period of time, such as 100 years.
Global warming: An increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth. Global warming has occurred in the distant past as the result of natural influences, but the term is today most often used to refer to the warming some scientists predict will occur as a result of increased anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases.
GNP: Gross National Product
Gob Pile: A pile of loose waste material in a mine, or backfill waste material packed in stopes (steps or layers) to support the roof of a mine. A gob pile is also called a “honey” or “refuse” pile. This term is primarily used in underground mining.
Gob: To leave in a mine coal and other materials that cannot be sold.
GOM: Gulf of Mexico
GOMEX: Gulf of Mexico
GOSP: Gas Oil Separation Plant
Government-owned stocks: Oil stocks owned by the national government and held for national security. In the United States, these stocks are known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
gpd: gallons per day
gpm: gallons per minute
GRDA: Geothermal Resources Development Account
Green pricing: In the case of renewable electricity, green pricing represents a market solution to the various problems associated with regulatory valuation of the nonmarket benefits of renewables. Green pricing programs allow electricity customers to express their willingness to pay for renewable energy development through direct payments on their monthly utility bills.
Greenhouse effect: The result of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other atmospheric gases trapping radiant (infrared) energy, thereby keeping the earth's surface warmer than it would otherwise be. Greenhouse gases within the lower levels of the atmosphere trap this radiation, which would otherwise escape into space, and subsequent re-radiation of some of this energy back to the Earth maintains higher surface temperatures than would occur if the gases were absent.
Greenhouse gases: Those gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride, that are transparent to solar (short-wave) radiation but opaque to long-wave (infrared) radiation, thus preventing long-wave radiant energy from leaving Earth's atmosphere. The net effect is a trapping of absorbed radiation and a tendency to warm the planet's surface.
Grid: The layout of an electrical distribution system. See electric power grid.
GRIM: Government Regulatory Impact Model
[Gross - All acreage covered by any working interest, regardless of the percentage of ownership in the interest.
Gross additions to construction work in progress for the month: This amount should include the monthly gross additions for an electric plant in the process of construction.
Gross company-operated production: Total production from all company-operated properties, including all working and nonworking interests.
Gross domestic product (GDP) implicit price deflator: The implicit price deflator, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, is used to convert nominal figures to real figures.
Gross domestic product (GDP): The total value of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States. As long as the labor and property are located in the United States, the supplier (that is, the workers and, for property, the owners) may be either U.S. residents or residents of foreign countries.
Gross energy intensity: Total consumption of a particular energy source(s) or fuel(s) by a group of buildings, divided by the total floor space of those buildings, including buildings and floor space where the energy source or fuel is not used, i.e., the ratio of consumption to gross floor space.
Gross gas withdrawal: The full-volume of compounds extracted at the wellhead, including nonhydrocarbon gases and natural gas plant liquids.
Gross generation: The total amount of electric energy produced by generating units and measured at the generating terminal in kilowatthours (kWh) or megawatthours (MWh).
Gross head: A dam's maximum allowed vertical distance between the upstream's surface water (headwater) forebay elevation and the downstream's surface water (tailwater) elevation at the tail-race for reaction wheel dams or the elevation of the jet at impulse wheel dams during specified operation and water conditions.
Gross input to atmospheric crude oil distillation units: Total input to atmospheric crude oil distillation units. Includes all crude oil, lease condensate, natural gas plant liquids, unfinished oils, liquefied refinery gases, slop oils, and other liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, gilsonite, and oil shale.
Gross inputs: The crude oil, unfinished oils, and natural gas plant liquids put into atmospheric crude oil distillation units.
Gross national product (GNP): The total value of goods and services produced by the nation's economy before deduction of depreciation charges and other allowances for capital consumption. It includes the total purchases of goods and services by private consumers and government, gross private domestic capital investment, and net foreign trade.
Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR): Vehicle weight plus carrying capacity.
Gross withdrawals: Full well stream volume from both oil and gas wells, including all natural gas plant liquids and nonhydrocarbon gases after oil, lease condensate, and water have been removed. Also includes production delivered as royalty payments and production used as fuel on the lease.
Gross working interest ownership basis: Gross working interest ownership is the respondent's working interest in a given property plus the proportionate share of any royalty interest, including overriding royalty interest, associated with the working interest.
[Gross working interest. The reporting company's working interest plus the proportionate share of any basic royalty interest or overriding royalty interest related to the working interest.
Group 3: A petroleum products spot market trading hub based in Tulsa, Oklahoma that serves the U.S. Mid-Continent region.
Group name: The DOE/EIA-assigned name identifying a composite supply source (i.e., commonly metered gas streams from more than one field), which is often the case in contract areas, field areas, and plants. A group name can also be a pipeline purchase (i.e., FERC Gas Tariff, Canadian Gas, Mexican Gas, and Algerian LNG). Emergency purchases and short term purchases are also group names. Group Code - The DOE/EIA-assigned code identifying a composite supply source.
Group quarters: Living arrangement for institutional groups containing ten or more unrelated persons. Group quarters are typically found in hospitals, nursing or rest homes, military barracks, ships, halfway houses, college dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, convents, monasteries, shelters, jails, and correctional institutions. Group quarters may also be found in houses or apartments shared by ten or more unrelated persons. Group quarters are often equipped with a dining area for residents.
Group: A group is a logical grouping of assemblies with similar characteristics. All assemblies in a group have the same initial average enrichment, the same cycle/reactor history, the same current location, the same burnup, the same owner, and the same assembly type.
GTL: Gas-to-liquids conversion
GVW: Gross Vehicle Weight
GW: gigawatt
GW: see Gigawatt
Gwe: See Gigawatt-electric.
GWh: gigawatt-hour
GWh: see Gigawatthour
GWP: see Global Warming Potential
Gypsum: Calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4 2H2O) a sludge constituent from the conventional lime scrubber process, obtained as a byproduct of the dewatering operation and sold for commercial use.
H-O DR: laser-scribed M3 core steel
H2S: hydrogen sulfide
H: Hundred
h: hundredth
Half-life: The time it takes for an isotope to lose half of its radioactivity.
Halogen lamp: A type of incandescent lamp that lasts much longer and is more efficient than the common incandescent lamp. The lamp uses a halogen gas, usually iodine or bromine, that causes the evaporating tungsten to be redeposited on the filament, thus prolonging its life. Also see Incandescent lamp.
Halogenated substances: A volatile compound containing halogens, such as chlorine, fluorine or bromine.
Hand loading: An underground loading method by which coal is removed from the working face by manual labor through the use of a shovel for conveyance to the surface. Though rapidly disappearing, it is still used in small-tonnage mines.
Haulage cost: Cost of loading ore at a mine site and transporting it to a processing plant.
HCFC: See Hydrochlorofluorocarbon
HCP: habitat conservation plan
HDD: See Heating Degree Days.
Head: The product of the water's weight and a usable difference in elevation gives a measurement of the potential energy possessed by water.
Heap leach solutions: The separation, or dissolving-out from mined rock of the soluble uranium constituents by the natural action of percolating a prepared chemical solution through mounded (heaped) rock material. The mounded material usually contain slow grade mineralized material and/or waste rock produced from open pit or underground mines. The solutions are collected after percolation is completed and processed to recover the valued components.
Heat content: The amount of heat energy available to be released by the transformation or use of a specified physical unit of an energy form (e.g., a ton of coal, a barrel of oil, a kilowatthour of electricity, a cubic foot of natural gas, or a pound of steam). The amount of heat energy is commonly expressed in British thermal units (Btu). Note: Heat content of combustible energy forms can be expressed in terms of either gross heat content (higher or upper heating value) or net heat content (lower heating value), depending upon whether or not the available heat energy includes or excludes the energy used to vaporize water (contained in the original energy form or created during the combustion process). The Energy Information Administration typically uses gross heat content values.
Heat pump (air source): An air-source heat pump is the most common type of heat pump. The heat pump absorbs heat from the outside air and transfers the heat to the space to be heated in the heating mode. In the cooling mode the heat pump absorbs heat from the space to be cooled and rejects the heat to the outside air. In the heating mode when the outside air approaches 32o F or less, air-source heat pumps loose efficiency and generally require a back-up (resistance) heating system.
Heat pump (geothermal): A heat pump in which the refrigerant exchanges heat (in a heat exchanger) with a fluid circulating through an earth connection medium (ground or ground water). The fluid is contained in a variety of loop (pipe) configurations depending on the temperature of the ground and the ground area available. Loops may be installed horizontally or vertically in the ground or submersed in a body of water.
Heat pump efficiency: The efficiency of a heat pump, that is, the electrical energy to operate it, is directly related to temperatures between which it operates. Geothermal heat pumps are more efficient than conventional heat pumps or air conditioners that use the outdoor air since the ground or ground water a few feet below the earth's surface remains relatively constant throughout the year. It is more efficient in the winter to draw heat from the relatively warm ground than from the atmosphere where the air temperature is much colder, and in summer transfer waste heat to the relatively cool ground than to hotter air. Geothermal heat pumps are generally more expensive ($2,000-$5,000) to install than outside air heat pumps. However, depending on the location geothermal heat pumps can reduce energy consumption (operating cost) and correspondingly, emissions by more than 20 percent compared to high-efficiency outside air heat pumps. Geothermal heat pumps also use the waste heat from air-conditioning to provide free hot water heating in the summer.
Heat pump: Heating and/or cooling equipment that, during the heating season, draws heat into a building from outside and, during the cooling season, ejects heat from the building to the outside. Heat pumps are vapor-compression refrigeration systems whose indoor/outdoor coils are used reversibly as condensers or evaporators, depending on the need for heating or cooling.
Heat rate: A measure of generating station thermal efficiency commonly stated as Btu per kilowatthour. Note: Heat rates can be expressed as either gross or net heat rates, depending whether the electricity output is gross or net generation. Heat rates are typically expressed as net heat rates.
Heated floorspace: The area within a building that is space heated.
Heating Degree Days (HDD): A measure of how cold a location is over a period of time relative to a base temperature, most commonly specified as 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The measure is computed for each day by subtracting the average of the day's high and low temperatures from the base temperature (65 degrees), with negative values set equal to zero. Each day's heating degree days are summed to create a heating degree day measure for a specified reference period. Heating degree days are used in energy analysis as an indicator of space heating energy requirements or use.
Heating equipment: Any equipment designed and/or specifically used for heating ambient air in an enclosed space. Common types of heating equipment include: central warm air furnace, heat pump, plug-in or built-in room heater, boiler for steam or hot water heating system, heating stove, and fireplace. Note: A cooking stove in a housing unit is sometimes reported as heating equipment, even though it was built for preparing food.
Heating intensity: The ratio of space-heating consumption or expenditures to square footage of heated floor space and heating degree-days (base 65 degrees Fahrenheit). This ratio provides a way of comparing different types of housing units and households by controlling for differences in housing unit size and weather conditions. The square footage of heated floor space is based on the measurements of the floor space that is heated. The ratio is calculated on a weighted, aggregate basis according to the following formula Heating Intensity =Btu for Space Heating / (Heated Square Feet * [Heating Degree-Days).
Heating stove burning wood, coal, or coke: Any free-standing box or controlled-draft stove; or a stove installed in a fireplace opening, using the chimney of the fireplace. Stoves are made of cast iron, sheet metal, or plate steel. Free-standing fireplaces that can be detached from their chimneys are considered heating stoves.
Heating value (natural gas): The average number of British thermal units per cubic foot of natural gas as determined from tests of fuel samples.
Heating value: Heating value: A measure of the energy content of the physical unit of any combustible fuel. For a fuller discussion of higher and lower heating values see heat content.
Heavy gas oil: Petroleum distillates with an approximate boiling range from 651 degrees Fahrenheit to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heavy metals: Metallic elements, including those required for plant and animal nutrition, in trace concentration but which become toxic at higher concentrations. Examples are mercury, chromium, cadmium, and lead.
Heavy rail: An electric railway with the capacity for a "heavy volume" of traffic and characterized by exclusive rights-of-way, multi-car trains, high speed and rapid acceleration, sophisticated signaling, and high platform loading. Also known as "subway," elevated (railway), "metropolitan railway (metro)."
Heavy water: Water containing a significantly greater proportion of heavy hydrogen (deuterium) atoms to ordinary hydrogen atoms than is found in ordinary (light) water. Heavy water is used as a moderator in some reactors because it slows neutrons effectively and also has a low cross section for absorption of neutrons.
Heavy-water-moderated reactor: A reactor that uses heavy water as its moderator. Heavy water is an excellent moderator and thus permits the use of in expensive natural (unenriched) uranium as fuel.
Hedging contracts: Contracts which establish future prices and quantities of electricity independent of the short-term market. Derivatives may be used for this purpose.
Hedging: The buying and selling of futures contracts so as to protect energy traders from unexpected or adverse price fluctuations.
Heliostat: A mirror that reflects solar rays onto a central receiver. A heliostat automatically adjusts its position to track daily or seasonal changes in the sun's position. The arrangement of heliostats around a central receiver is also called a solar collector field.
HELM: Hourly Electric Load Model
Henry Hub: A pipeline hub on the Louisiana Gulf coast. It is the delivery point for the natural gas futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
HFC: See Hydrofluorocarbon
HHV: higher heating value
HHV: See Higher Heating Value.
HID: High-Intensity Discharge
High efficiency ballast: A lighting conservation feature consisting of an energy-efficient version of a conventional electromagnetic ballast. The ballast is the transformer for fluorescent and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, which provides the necessary current, voltage, and wave-form conditions to operate the lamp. A high-efficiency ballast requires lower power input than a conventional ballast to operate HID and fluorescent lamps.
High efficiency lighting: Lighting provided by high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps and/or fluorescent lamps.
[High pressure. A processing unit operating at either equal to or greater than 225 pounds per square inch gauge (PSIG) measured at the outlet separator.
High Sulfur Diesel (HSD) fuel: Diesel fuel containing more than 500 parts per million (ppm) sulfur.
High-intensity discharge (HID) lamp: A lamp that produces light by passing electricity through gas, which causes the gas to glow. Examples of HID lamps are mercury vapor lamps, metal halide lamps, and high-pressure sodium lamps. HID lamps have extremely long life and emit far more lumens per fixture than do fluorescent lights.
High-mileage households: Households with estimated aggregate annual vehicle mileage that exceeds 12,500 miles.
High-temperature collector: A solar thermal collector designed to operate at a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
Higher Heating Value: A measure of heat content based on the gross energy content of a combustible fuel. Also known as "upper heating value."
Highwall: The unexcavated face of exposed over-burden and coal in a surface mine.
Hinshaw pipeline: A pipeline or local distribution company that has received exemptions from regulations pursuant to the Natural Gas Act. These companies transport interstate natural gas not subject to regulations under NGA.
HL: Hubbert Linearization
Holding company: A company that confines its activities to owning stock in and supervising management of other companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission, as administrator of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, defines a holding company as "a company which directly or indirectly owns, controls or holds 10 percent or more of the outstanding voting securities of a holding company" (15 USC 79b, par. a (7)).
Holding pond: A structure built to contain large volumes of liquid waste to ensure that it meets environmental requirements prior to release.
Horizontal axis wind turbine: The most common type of wind turbine where the axis of rotation is oriented horizontally. Also see Wind turbine.
Horsepower: A unit for measuring the rate of work (or power) equivalent to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 746 watts.
Host government: The government (including any government-controlled firm engaged in the production, refining, or marketing of crude oil or petroleum products) of the foreign country in which the crude oil is produced.
Hot dry rock: Heat energy residing in impermeable, crystalline rock. Hydraulic fracturing may be used to create permeability to enable circulation of water and removal of the heat.
Hot tub: Water-filled wood, plastic, or ceramic container in which up to 12 people can lounge. Normally equipped with a heater that heats the water from 80 degrees to 106 degrees Fahrenheit. It may also have jets to bubble the water. The water is not drained after each use. An average-size hot tub holds 200 to 400 gallons of water. All reported hot tubs are assumed to include an electric pump. These are also called spas or jacuzzis.
[Hot well pump outlet on condensate lines.
Hours under load: The hours the boiler is operating to drive the generator producing electricity.
Household energy expenditures: The total amount of funds spent for energy consumed in, or delivered to, a housing unit during a given period of time.
Household: A family, an individual, or a group of up to nine unrelated persons occupying the same housing unit. "Occupy" means that the housing unit is the person's usual or permanent place of residence.
HOUSES: Households
Housing unit: A house, an apartment, a group of rooms, or a single room if it is either occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters by a family, an individual, or a group of one to nine unrelated persons. Separate living quarters means the occupants (1) live and eat separately from other persons in the house or apartment and (2) have direct access from the outside of the buildings or through a common hall--that is, they can get to it without going through someone else's living quarters. Housing units do not include group quarters such as prisons or nursing homes where ten or more unrelated persons live. A common dining area used by residents is an indication of group quarters. Hotel and motel rooms are considered housing units if occupied as the usual or permanent place of residence.
HRA: Health Risk Assessment
HRSG: heat recovery steam generator
HTGR: High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor
HTS: high-temperature superconducting
Hub height: In a horizontal-axis wind turbine, the distance from the turbine platform to the rotor shaft.
Humidifier: A humidifier adds moisture to the air(often needed in winter when indoor air is very dry). It may be a portable unit or attached to the heating system.
Humidity: The moisture content of air. Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of water vapor actually present in the air to the greatest amount possible at the same temperature.
HV: high voltage
HV: high voltage
HVAC conservation feature: A building feature designed to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the heating, cooling, and ventilating equipment.
HVAC DSM program: A DSM (demand-side management)program designed to promote the efficiency of the heating or cooling delivery system, including replacement. Includes ventilation (economizers; heat recovery from exhaust air), cooling (evaporative cooling, cool storage; heat recovery from chillers; high-efficiency air conditioning), heating, and automatic energy management systems.
HVAC: An abbreviation for the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system; the system or systems that condition air in a building.
HVAC: Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning
Hybrid transmission line: A double-circuit line that has one alternating current and one direct circuit. The AC circuit usually serves local loads along the line.
Hydraulic fracturing: Fracturing of rock at depth with fluid pressure. Hydraulic fracturing at depth may be accomplished by pumping water into a well at very high pressures. Under natural conditions, vapor pressure may rise high enough to cause fracturing in a process known as hydrothermal brecciation.
Hydraulic head: The distance between the respective elevations of the upstream water surface (headwater) above and the downstream surface water (tailwater) below a hydroelectric power plant.
Hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL): A group of hydrocarbons including ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline, and their associated olefins, including ethylene, propylene, butylene, and isobutylene. As marketed products, HGL represents all natural gas liquids (NGL) and olefins. EIA reports production of HGL from refineries (liquefied refinery gas, or LRG) and natural gas plants (natural gas plant liquids, or NGPL). Excludes liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Hydrocarbon: An organic chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon in the gaseous, liquid, or solid phase. The molecular structure of hydrocarbon compounds varies from the simplest (methane, a constituent of natural gas) to the very heavy and very complex.
Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs): Chemicals composed of one or more carbon atoms and varying numbers of hydrogen, chlorine, and fluorine atoms.
Hydrocracking: See Catalytic hydrocracking.
Hydroelectric power: The use of flowing water to produce electrical energy.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs): A group of man-made chemicals composed of one or two carbon atoms and varying numbers of hydrogen and fluorine atoms. Most HFCs have 100-year Global Warming Potentials in the thousands.
Hydrogen: The lightest of all gases, occurring chiefly in combination with oxygen in water; exists also in acids, bases, alcohols, petroleum, and other hydrocarbons.
Hydrotreating: See Catalytic hydrotreating.
Hydroxyl radical (OH): An important chemical scavenger of many trace gases in the atmosphere that are greenhouse gases. Atmospheric concentrations of OH affect the atmospheric lifetimes of greenhouse gases, their abundance, and, ultimately, the effect they have on climate.
Hypothetical resources (coal): Undiscovered coal resources in beds that may reasonably be expected to exist in known mining districts under known geologic conditions. In general, hypothetical resources are in broad areas of coal fields where points of observation are absent and evidence is from distant outcrops, drill holes, or wells. Exploration that confirms their existence and better defines their quantity and quality would permit their reclassification as identified resources. Quantitative estimates are based on a broad knowledge of the geologic character of coalbed or region. Measurements of coal thickness are more than 6 miles apart. The assumption of continuity of coalbed is supported only by geologic evidence.
Hz: hertz
IAR: Issues and Alternatives Report
ICIP: Industrial Customers of Idaho Power
ICNU: Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities
ID: load identification
Identified resources: Coal deposits whose location, rank, quality, and quantity are known from geologic evidence supported by engineering measurements. Included are beds of bituminous coal and anthracite (14 or more inches thick) and beds of subbituminous coal and lignite (30 or more inches thick) that occur at depths to 6,000 feet. The existence and quantity of these beds have been delineated within specified degrees of geologic assurance as measured, indicated, or inferred. Also included are thinner and/or deeper beds that presently are being mined or for which there is evidence that they could be mined commercially.
IDF&G: Idaho Department of Fish & Game
Idle capacity: The component of operable capacity that is not in operation and not under active repair, but capable of being placed in operation within 30 days; and capacity not in operation but under active repair that can be completed within 90 days.
IEA: International Energy Agency
IEA: International Energy Agency
IEA: International Energy Agency
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IEPR: Integrated Energy Policy Report
IHS: IHS Energy (consulting company, parent of CERA)
IID: Imperial Irrigation District
IID: Imperial Irrigation District
IIR: Issues Identification Report
[Illinois Basin: Consists of Illinois, Indiana, and Western Kentucky.
IMBUILD: Impact of Building
Impedance: The opposition to power flow in an AC circuit. Also, any device that introduces such opposition in the form of resistance, reactance, or both. The impedance of a circuit or device is measured as the ratio of voltage to current, where a sinusoidal voltage and current of the same frequency are used for the measurement; it is measured in ohms.
IMPLAN: Impact Analysis for Planning
Implicit price deflator: The implicit price deflator, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, is used to convert nominal figures to real figures.
Implied heat rate: A calculation of the day-ahead electric price divided by the day-ahead natural gas price. Implied heat rate is also known as the ‘break-even natural gas market heat rate,’ because only a natural gas generator with an operating heat rate (measure of unit efficiency) below the implied heat rate value can make money by burning natural gas to generate power. Natural gas plants with a higher operating heat rate cannot make money at the prevailing electricity and natural gas prices.
Imported crude oil burned as fuel: The amount of foreign crude oil burned as a fuel oil, usually as residual fuel oil, without being processed as such. Imported crude oil burned as fuel includes lease condensate and liquid hydrocarbons produced from tarsands, gilsonite, and oil shale.
Imported Refiners' Acquisition Cost (IRAC): The average price for imported oil paid by U.S. refiners.
Imports: Receipts of goods into the 50 States and the District of Columbia from U.S. possessions and territories or from foreign countries.
Improved recovery: Extraction of crude oil or natural gas by any method other than those that rely primarily on natural reservoir pressure, gas lift, or a system of pumps.
[In a longwall mining system, long sections of coal, up to about 700 feet, are removed and no pillars are left to support the mined-out areas. The working area is protected by a movable, powered roof support system. The caved area (gob) compacts and, after initial subsidence, supports the overlying strata. Longwall mining is used where the coalbed is thick and generally flat, where surface subsidence is acceptable.
[In a room-and-pillar mining system, the most common method, the mine roof, is supported mainly by coal pillars left at regular intervals. Rooms are places where the coal is mined; pillars are areas of coal left between the rooms. Room-and-pillar mining is done either by 1) conventional mining, which involves a series of operations that require cutting the working face of the coalbed so that it breaks easily when blasted with explosives or high-pressure air, and then loading the broken coal or 2) continuous mining, in which a continuous mining machine extracts and removes coal from the working face in one operation. When a section of a mine has been fully developed, additional coal is extracted by mining the supportive pillars until the roof caves in; the procedure is called room-and-pillar retreat mining.
[In other cases, wood is bought or cut in unusual units (for example, pickup-truck load, or trunk load). Finally, volume estimates are difficult to make when the wood is left in a pile instead of being stacked. Other factors that make it difficult to estimate the Btu value of the wood burned is that the amount of empty space between the stacked logs may vary from 12 to 40 percent of the volume. Moisture content may vary from 20 percent in dried wood to 50 percent in green wood. (Moisture reduces the useful Btu output because energy is used in driving off the moisture). Finally, some tree species contain twice the Btu content of species with the lowest Btu value. Generally, hard woods have greater Btu value than soft woods. Wood is converted to Btu at the rate of 20 million Btu per cord, which is a rough average that takes all these factors into account. Also see Btu conversion factors.
In situ leach mining (ISL): The recovery, by chemical leaching, of the valuable components of a mineral deposit without physical extraction of the mineralized rock from the ground. Also referred to as "solution mining."
[in the case of a processing agreement, delivered to another refinery for processing for the respondent's own account.
In-house Demand-Side Management (DSM) program sponsor: The building's owner or management encourages consumers in the building to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy costs, change timing or energy usage, or promote the use of a different energy source by sponsoring its own DSM programs.
In-use (vehicles): Implies that a vehicle is:
Inadvertent power exchange: An unintended power exchange among utilities that is either not previously agreed upon or in an amount different from the amount agreed upon.
Incandescent lamp: A glass enclosure in which light is produced when a tungsten filament is electrically heated so that it glows. Much of the energy is converted into heat; therefore, this class of lamp is a relatively inefficient source of light. Included in this category are the familiar screw-in light bulbs, as well as somewhat more efficient lamps, such as tungsten halogen lamps, reflector or r-lamps, parabolic aluminized reflector (PAR) lamps, and ellipsoidal reflector(ER) lamps.
Incandescent light bulbs, including regular or energy-efficient light bulbs: An incandescent bulb is a type of electric light in which light is produced by a filament heated by electric current. The most common example is the type you find in most table and floor lamps. In commercial buildings, incandescent lights are used for display lights in retail stores, hotels and motels. This includes the very small, high-intensity track lights used to display merchandise or provide spot illumination in restaurants. Energy efficient light bulbs, known as "watt-savers," use less energy than a standard incandescent bulb. "Long-life" bulbs, bulbs that last longer than standard incandescent but produce considerably less light, are not considered energy-efficient bulbs. This category also includes halogen lamps. Halogen lamps are a special type of incandescent lamp containing halogen gas to produce a brighter, whiter light than standard incandescent. Halogen lamps come in three styles bulbs, models with reflectors, and infrared models with reflectors. Halogen lamps are especially suited to recessed or "canned fixtures," track lights, and outdoor lights.
Incentives Demand-Side Management (DSM) program assistance: This DSM program assistance offers monetary or non-monetary awards to encourage consumers to buy energy-efficient equipment and to participate in programs designed to reduce energy usage. Examples of incentives are zero or low-interest loans, rebates, and direct installation of low cost measures, such as water heater wraps or duct work for distributing the cool air; the units condition air only in the room or areas where they are located.
Incremental effects: The annual changes in energy use (measured in megawatt hours) and peak load (measured in kilowatts) caused by new participants in existing DSM (Demand-Side Management) programs and all participants in new DSM programs during a given year. Reported Incremental Effects are annualized to indicate the program effects that would have occurred had these participants been initiated into the program on January 1 of the given year. Incremental effects are not simply the Annual Effects of a given year minus the Annual Effects of the prior year, since these net effects would fail to account for program attrition, equipment degradation, building demolition, and participant dropouts. Please note that Incremental Effects are not a monthly disaggregate of the Annual Effects, but are the total year's effects of only the new participants and programs for that year.
Incremental energy costs: The additional cost of producing and/or transmitting electric energy above some previously determined base cost.
Independent power producer: A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality that owns or operates facilities for the generation of electricity for use primarily by the public, and that is not an electric utility.
Independent system operator (ISO): An independent, federally regulated entity established to coordinate regional transmission in a non-discriminatory manner and ensure the safety and reliability of the electric system. FERC definition
Indian coal lease: A lease granted to a mining company to produce coal from Indian lands in exchange for royalties and other revenues; obtained by direct negotiation with Indian tribal authorities, but subject to approval and administration by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Indicated reserves: See Probable energy reserves.
Indicated resources, coal: Coal for which estimates of the rank, quality, and quantity are based partly on sample analyses and measurements and partly on reasonable geologic projections. Indicated resources are computed partly from specified measurements and partly from projection of visible data for a reasonable distance on the basis of geologic evidence. The points of observation are 1/2 to 1-1/2miles apart. Indicated coal is projected to extend as a 1/2-mile-widebelt that lies more than 1/4 mile from the outcrop, points of observation, or measurement.
Indirect cost: Costs not directly related to mining or milling operations, such as overhead, insurance, security, office expenses, property taxes, and similar administrative expenses.
Indirect uses (end-use category): The end-use category that handles boiler fuel. Fuel in boilers is transformed into another useful energy source, steam or hot water, which is in turn used in other end uses, such as process or space heating or electricity generation. Manufacturers find measuring quantities of steam as it passes through to various end uses especially difficult because variations in both temperature and pressure affect energy content. Thus, the MECS (an EIA survey) does not present end-use estimates of steam or hot water and shows only the amount of the fuel used in the boiler to produce those secondary energy sources.
Indirect utility cost: A utility cost that may not be meaning fully identified with any particular DSM program category. Indirect costs could be attributable to one of several accounting cost categories (i.e., Administrative, Marketing, Monitoring evaluation, Utility-Earned Incentives, Other). Accounting costs that are known DSM program costs should not be reported under Indirect Utility Cost; those costs should be reported as Direct Utility Costs under the appropriate DSM program category.
[Indonesia (1962-2008 and 2016-present)
Industrial production: The Federal Reserve Board calculates this index by compiling indices of physical output from a variety of agencies and trade groups, weighting each index by the Census' value added, and adding it to the cost of materials. When physical measures are not available, the Federal Reserve Board uses the number of production workers or amount of electricity consumed as the basis for the index. To convert industrial production into dollars, multiply by the "real value added" estimate used by the Federal Reserve Board.
Industrial restrictions (coal): Land-use restrictions that constrain, postpone, or prohibit mining in order to meet other industrial needs or goals; for example, resources not mined due to safety concerns or due to industrial or societal priorities, such as to preserve oil or gas wells that penetrate the coal reserves; to protect surface features such as pipelines, power lines, or company facilities; or to preserve public or private assets, such as highways, railroads, parks, or buildings.
Industrial sector: An energy-consuming sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used for producing, processing, or assembling goods. The industrial sector encompasses the following types of activity manufacturing (NAICS codes 31-33); agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (NAICS code 11); mining, including oil and gas extraction (NAICS code 21); and construction (NAICS code 23). Overall energy use in this sector is largely for process heat and cooling and powering machinery, with lesser amounts used for facility heating, air conditioning, and lighting. Fossil fuels are also used as raw material inputs to manufactured products. Note: This sector includes generators that produce electricity and/or useful thermal output primarily to support the above-mentioned industrial activities. Various EIA programs differ in sectoral coverage.
Inferred reserve base (coal): the resources in the inferred reliability category that meet the same criteria of bed thickness and depth from surface as the demonstrated reserve base.
Inferred resources: Coal in unexplored extensions of demonstrated resources for which estimates of the quality and size are based on geologic evidence and projection. Quantitative estimates are based largely on broad knowledge of the geologic character of the bed or region and where few measurements of bed thickness are available. The estimates are based primarily on an assumed continuation from demonstrated coal for which there is geologic evidence. The points of observation are 1-1/2 to 6 miles apart. Inferred coal is projected to extend as a 2-1/4-mile wide belt that lies more than 3/4 mile from the outcrop, points of observation, or measurement.
INFORM: Industrial End Use Forecasting Model
Initial enrichment: Average enrichment for a fresh fuel assembly as specified and ordered in fuel cycle planning. This average should include axial blankets and axially and radially zoned enrichments.
Initial operation: First availability of a newly constructed unit to provide power to the grid. For a nuclear unit, this time is when the Full Power Operating License for the unit is received.
[Inlet flange of all turbine-room auxiliaries.
[Inlet flange of throttle valve on prime mover.
Inoperable capacity: Generating capacity that is totally or partially out of service at the time of system peak load, either for scheduled outages (see GADS definition of "scheduled outages." These include both maintenance outages and planned outages.) or for reasons such as environmental restrictions; extensive modifications or repair; or capacity specified as being in a mothballed state. This does not include derated portions of generating capacity.
Installed nameplate capacity: See Generator nameplate capacity (installed).
Instantaneous peak demand: The maximum demand at the instant of greatest load.
Instantaneous water heater: Also called a "tankless" or "point-of-use" water heater. The water is heated at the point of use as it is needed.
Institutional living quarters: Space provided by a business or organization for long-term housing of individuals whose reason for shared residence is their association with the business or organization. Such quarters commonly have both individual and group living spaces, and the business or organization is responsible for some aspects of resident life beyond the simple provision of living quarters. Examples include prisons; nursing homes and other long-term medical care facilities; military barracks; college dormitories; and convents and monasteries.
Insulation around heating and/or cooling ducts: Extra insulation around the heating and/or cooling ducts intended to reduce the loss of hot or cold air as it travels to different parts of the residence.
Insulation around hot-water pipes: Wrapping of insulating material around hot-water pipes to reduce the loss of heat through the pipes.
Insulation around water heater: Blanket insulation wrapped around the water heater to reduce loss of heat. To qualify under this definition, this wrapping must be in addition to any insulation provided by the manufacturer.
Insulation: Any material or substance that provides a high resistance to the flow of heat from one surface to another. The different types include blanket or batt, foam, or loose fill, which are used to reduce heat transfer by conduction. Dead air space is an insulating medium in storm windows and storms as it reduces passage of heat through conduction and convection. Reflective materials are used to reduce heat transfer by radiation.
Insulator: A material that is a very poor conductor of electricity. The insulating material is usually a ceramic or fiberglass when used in the transmission line and is designed to support a conductor physically and to separate it electrically from other conductors and supporting material.
Intangible drilling and development costs (IDC): Costs incurred in preparing well locations, drilling and deepening wells, and preparing wells for initial production up through the point of installing control valves. None of these functions, because of their nature, have salvage value. Such costs would include labor, transportation, consumable supplies, drilling tool rentals, site clearance, and similar costs.
Integral collector storage (ICS): A solar thermal collector in which incident solar radiation is absorbed directly by the storage medium.
Integrated demand: The summation of the continuously varying instantaneous demand averaged over a specified interval of time. The information is usually determined by examining a demand meter.
Integrated gasification-combined cycle technology: Coal, water, and oxygen are fed to gasifier, which produces syngas. This medium-Btu gas is cleaned (particulates and sulfur compounds removed) and is fed to a gas turbine. The hot exhaust of the gas turbine and heat recovered from the gasification process are routed through a heat-recovery routed through a heat-recovery generator to produce steam, which drives a steam turbine to produce electricity.
Intensity per hour: Total consumption of a particular fuel(s) divided by the total floor space of buildings that use the fuel(s) divided by total annual hours of operation.
Intensity: The amount of a quantity per unit floor space. This method adjusts either the amount of energy consumed or expenditures spent, for the effects of various building characteristics, such as size of the building, number of workers, or number of operating hours, to facilitate comparisons of energy across time, fuels, and buildings.
Interburden: Material of any nature that lies between or separates coal seams. Term is primarily used in surface mining.
Interchange (electric): Energy transfers that cross Balancing Authority boundaries. NERC definition
Interchange authority (electric): The responsible entity that authorizes implementation of valid and balanced Interchange Schedules between Balancing Authority Areas, and ensures communication of Interchange information for reliability assessment purposes. NERC definition
Interchange energy: Kilowatthours delivered to or received by one electric utility or pooling system from another. Settlement may be payment, returned in kind at a later time, or accumulated as energy balances until the end of the stated period.
Interchange transaction (electric): An agreement to transfer energy from a seller to a buyer that crosses one or more Balancing Authority Area boundaries. NERC definition
Intercity bus: A bus designed for high speed, long distance travel; equipped with front doors only, high backed seats, and usually restroom facilities.
Interconnected system: A system consisting of two or more individual power systems normally operating with connecting tie lines.
Interconnection: Two or more electric systems having a common transmission line that permits a flow of energy between them. The physical connection of the electric power transmission facilities allows for the sale or exchange of energy.
Interdepartmental sales: Includes amounts charged by the electric department at tariff or other specified rates for electricity supplied by it to other utility departments.
Interdepartmental service (electric): Interdepartmental service includes amounts charged by the electric department at tariff or other specified rates for electricity supplied by it to other utility departments.
Interest coverage ratio: The number of times that fixed interest charges were earned. It indicates the margin of safety of interest on fixed debt. The times-interest-earned ratio is calculated using net income before and after income taxes; and the credits of interest charged to construction being treated as other income. The interest charges include interest on long-term debt, interest on debt of associated companies, and other interest expenses.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): A panel established jointly in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program to assess the scientific information relating to climate change and to formulate realistic response strategies.
[Interior Region (with Gulf Coast): Consists of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Western Kentucky.
Interlocking directorates: The holding of a significant position in management or a position on the corporate board of a utility while simultaneously holding a comparable position with another utility, or with a firm doing business with the utility.
Intermediate grade gasoline: A grade of unleaded gasoline with an octane rating intermediate between "regular" and "premium." Octane boosters are added to gasolines to control engine pre-ignition or "knocking" by slowing combustion rates.
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.
Intermittent electric generator or intermittent resource: An electric generating plant with output controlled by the natural variability of the energy resource rather than dispatched based on system requirements. Intermittent output usually results from the direct, non-stored conversion of naturally occurring energy fluxes such as solar energy, wind energy, or the energy of free-flowing rivers (that is, run-of-river hydroelectricity).
Internal Collector Storage (ICS): A solar thermal collector in which incident solar radiation is absorbed by the storage medium.
Internal combustion plant: A plant in which the prime mover is an internal combustion engine. An internal combustion engine has one or more cylinders in which the process of combustion takes place, converting energy released from the rapid burning of a fuel-air mixture into mechanical energy. Diesel or gas-fired engines are the principal types used in electric plants. The plant is usually operated during periods of high demand for electricity.
International bunker fuels: See Bunker fuels.
Interruptible gas: Gas sold to customers with a provision that permits curtailment or cessation of service at the discretion of the distributing company under certain circumstances, as specified in the service contract.
Interruptible load or interruptible demand (electric): Demand that the end-use customer makes available to its Load-Serving Entity via contract or agreement for curtailment NERC definition
Interruptible load: This Demand-Side Management category represents the consumer load that, in accordance with contractual arrangements, can be interrupted at the time of annual peak load by the action of the consumer at the direct request of the system operator. This type of control usually involves large-volume commercial and industrial consumers. Interruptible Load does not include Direct Load Control.
Interruptible or curtailable rate: A special electricity or natural gas arrangement under which, in return for lower rates, the customer must either reduce energy demand on short notice or allow the electric or natural gas utility to temporarily cut off the energy supply for the utility to maintain service for higher priority users. This interruption or reduction in demand typically occurs during periods of high demand for the energy (summer for electricity and winter for natural gas).
Interruptible power: Power and usually the associated energy made available by one utility to another. This transaction is subject to curtailment or cessation of delivery by the supplier in accordance with a prior agreement with the other party or under specified conditions.
Interstate companies: Natural gas pipeline companies subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction.
Interstate pipeline purchase: Any gas supply contracted from and volumes purchased from other interstate pipelines, overland natural gas import purchases, and LNG, SNG, or coal gas purchases from domestic or foreign sources. Purchases from intrastate pipelines to section 311 (b) of the NGPA of 1978 and from independent producers are not included with interstate pipelines purchase.
Interstate pipeline: Any person engaged in natural gas transportation subject to the jurisdiction of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Natural Gas Act.
Intransit deliveries: Redeliveries to a foreign country of foreign gas received for transportation across U.S. territory, and deliveries of U.S. gas to a foreign country for transportation across its territory and redelivery to the United States.
Intransit receipts: Receipts of foreign gas for transportation across U.S. territory and redelivery to a foreign country, and redeliveries to the United States of U.S. gas transported across foreign territory.
Intrastate companies: Companies not subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction.
Intrastate pipeline: Any person engaged in natural gas transportation (not including gathering) that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission under the Natural Gas Act (other than any such pipeline that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission solely by reason of Section 1(c) of the Natural Gas Act).
Investment of municipality: The investment of the municipality in its utility department, when such investment is not subject to cash settlement on demand or at a fixed future time. Include the cost of debt-free utility plant constructed or acquired by the municipality and made available for the use of the utility department, cash transferred to the utility department for working capital, and other expenditures of an investment nature.
Investments and advances to unconsolidated affiliates: The balance sheet account representing the cost of investments and advances to unconsolidated affiliates. Generally, affiliates that are less than 50-percent owned by a company may not be consolidated into the company's financial statements.
Investor-owned utility (IOU): A privately-owned electric utility whose stock is publicly traded. It is rate regulated and authorized to achieve an allowed rate of return.
IOC: International oil company (e.g., British Petroleum, ExxonMobil)
Ion exchange: Reversible exchange of ions adsorbed on a mineral or synthetic polymer surface with ions in solution in contact with the surface. A chemical process used for recovery of uranium from solution by the interchange of ions between a solution and a solid, commonly a resin.
IOU: Investor-owned Utility
IOU: See Investor-Owned Utility
IPC: Idaho Power Company
IPP: See Independent Power Producer
IPUC: Idaho Public Utilities Commission
[Iran (1960-present)
[Iraq (1960-present)
Iron and steel industry: Steel Works, Blast Furnaces (Including Coke Ovens), and Rolling Mills Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing hot metal, pig iron, and silvery pig iron from iron ore and iron and steel scrap; converting pig iron, scrap iron, and scrap steel into steel; and in hot-rolling iron and steel into basic shapes, such as plates, sheets, strips, rods, bars, and tubing.
Irradiated nuclear fuel: Nuclear fuel that has been exposed to radiation in the reactor core at any power level.
[is produced by either the same entity that consumes the power or an affiliate, and
[is self-generated,
[is used in direct support of a service or industrial process located within the same facility or group of facilities that house the generating equipment.
IS: Initial Study
ISO: Independent System Operator
ISO: See Independent System Operator
Isobutane (C4H10): A branch-chain saturated (paraffinic) hydrocarbon extracted from both natural gas and refinery gas streams, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. It is a colorless gas that boils at a temperature of 11 degrees Fahrenheit.
Isobutylene (C4H8): A branch-chain olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery or petrochemical processes, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. Isobutylene is used in the production of gasoline and various petrochemical products.
Isohexane (C6H14): A saturated branch-chain hydrocarbon. It is a colorless liquid that boils at a temperature of 156.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
Isomerization: A refining process that alters the fundamental arrangement of atoms in the molecule without adding or removing anything from the original material. Used to convert normal butane into isobutane (C4), an alkylation process feedstock, and normal pentane and hexane into isopentane (C5) and isohexane (C6), high-octane gasoline components.
Isopach: A line on a map drawn through points of equal thickness of a designated unit (such as a coal bed).
Isopentane: A saturated branched-chain hydrocarbon (C5H12) obtained by fractionation of natural gasoline or isomerization of normal pentane.
Isotopes: Forms of the same chemical element that differ only by the number of neutrons in their nucleus. Most elements have more than one naturally occurring isotope. Many isotopes have been produced in reactors and scientific laboratories.
Jacket: The enclosure on a water heater, furnace, or boiler.
JES: Joint Environmental Statement
Jet fuel: A refined petroleum product used in jet aircraft engines. It includes kerosene-type jet fuel and naphtha-type jet fuel.
JODI: Joint oil data initiative
Joint Implementation (JI): Agreements made between two or more nations under the auspices of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) whereby a developed country can receive "emissions reduction units" when it helps to finance projects that reduce net emissions in another developed country (including countries with economies in transition).
Joint-use facility: A multiple-purpose hydroelectric plant. An example is a dam that stores water for both flood control and power production.
Joule (J): The meter-kilogram-second unit of work or energy, equal to the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves through a distance of one meter in the direction of the force; equivalent to 107 ergs and one watt-second.
Joule's Law: The rate of heat production by a steady current in any part of an electrical circuit that is proportional to the resistance and to the square of the current, or, the internal energy of an ideal gas depends only on its temperature.
JPA: Joint Powers Authority
Junction: A region of transition between semiconductor layers, such as a p/n junction, which goes from a region that has a high concentration of acceptors (p-type) to one that has a high concentration of donors (n-type).
Jurisdictional utilities: Utilities regulated by public laws.
Kaplan turbine: A type of turbine that that has two blades whose pitch is adjustable. The turbine may have gates to control the angle of the fluid flow into the blades.
KCAPCD: Kern County Air Pollution Control District
KCM: thousand circular mils (also KCmil) (electricity conductor)
[Kentucky, Eastern. All mines in the following counties in Eastern Kentucky: Bell, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Clinton, Elliot, Estill, Floyd, Greenup, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Wayne, Whitley, and Wolfe.
[Kentucky, Western. All mines in the following counties in Western Kentucky: Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Edmonson, Grayson, Hancock, Hart, Henderson, Hopkins, Logan, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Todd, Union, Warren, and Webster.
Kerosene-type jet fuel: A kerosene-based product having a maximum distillation temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point and a final maximum boiling point of 572 degrees Fahrenheit and meeting ASTM Specification D 1655and Military Specifications MIL-T-5624P and MIL-T-83133D (Grades JP-5and JP-8). It is used for commercial and military turbo jet and turbo prop aircraft engines.
Kerosene: A light petroleum distillate that is used in space heaters, cook stoves, and water heaters and is suitable for use as a light source when burned in wick-fed lamps. Kerosene has a maximum distillation temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point, a final boiling point of 572 degrees Fahrenheit, and a minimum flash point of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Included are No. 1-K and No. 2-K, the two grades recognized by ASTM Specification D 3699 as well as all other grades of kerosene called range or stove oil, which have properties similar to those of No. 1 fuel oil. Also see Kerosene-type jet fuel.
Ketone-alcohol (cyclohexanol): An oily, colorless, hygroscopic liquid with a camphor-like odor. Used in soap making, dry cleaning, plasticizers, insecticides, and germicides.
KGRA: known geotheral resource area
Kilovolt-Ampere (kVa): A unit of apparent power, equal to 1,000 volt-amperes; the mathematical product of the volts and amperes in an electrical circuit.
Kilowatt (kW): One thousand watts.
Kilowatt-electric (kWe): One thousand watts of electric capacity.
Kilowatthour (kWh): A measure of electricity defined as a unit of work or energy, measured as 1 kilowatt (1,000watts) of power expended for 1 hour. One kWh is equivalent to 3,412 Btu.
Kinetic energy: Energy available as a result of motion that varies directly in proportion to an object's mass and the square of its velocity.
km: kilometer
KOP: key observation point
KRCC: Kern River Cogeneration Company
[Kuwait (1960-present)
kV: kilovolt
KVA: kilovolt-ampere (transformer size rating)
kVa: See Kilovolt-Ampere
KVAR: kilovolt-ampere reactive
kW (small k, capital W): kilowatt
kW: See kilowatt
kWe: kilowatt, electric
kWe: See kilowatt-electric
kWh: kilowatt hour
kWh: See kilowatthour
kWp: peak kilowatt
Kyoto Protocol: The result of negotiations at the third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) in Kyoto, Japan, in December of1997. The Kyoto Protocol sets binding greenhouse gas emissions targets for countries that sign and ratify the agreement. The gases covered under the Protocol include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), per fluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride.
LADWP: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
LAER: Lowest Achievable Emission Rate
Lamp: A term generally used to describe artificial light. The term is often used when referring to a "bulb" or "tube."
Land use: The ultimate uses to be permitted for currently contaminated lands, waters, and structures at each Department of Energy installation. Land-use decisions will strongly influence the cost of environmental management.
Land-use restrictions: Constraints placed upon mining by societal policies to protect surface features or entities that could be affected by mining. Because laws and regulations may be modified or repealed, the restrictions, including industrial and environmental restrictions, are subject to change.
Landfill gas: Gas that is generated by decomposition of organic material at landfill disposal sites. The average composition of landfill gas is approximately 50 percent methane and 50 percent carbon dioxide and water vapor by volume. The methane percentage, however, can vary from 40 to 60 percent, depending on several factors including waste composition (e.g. carbohydrate and cellulose content). The methane in landfill gas may be vented, flared, combusted to generate electricity or useful thermal energy on-site, or injected into a pipeline for combustion off-site.
Langley: A unit or measure of solar radiation; 1 calorie per square centimeter or 3.69 Btu per square foot.
Large passenger car: A passenger car with more than 120 cubic feet of interior passenger and luggage volume.
Large pickup truck: A pickup truck weighing between 4,500-8,500 lbs gross vehicle weight (GVW).
Latitude and longitude: The distance on the earth's surface measured, respectively, north or south of the equator and east or west of the standard meridian, expressed in angular degrees, minutes, and seconds.
lb: Pound
LBNL: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
lbs/hr: pounds per hour
lbs/MMBtu: pounds per million British thermal units
lbs: pounds
LCAQMD: Lake County Air Quality Management District
LCC: Life-Cycle Cost
LDC: See Local Distribution Company.
Leachate: The liquid that has percolated through the soil or other medium.
Lead acid battery: An electrochemical battery that uses lead and lead oxide for electrodes and sulfuric acid for the electrolyte.
Leaded gasoline: A fuel that contains more than0.05 gram of lead per gallon or more than 0.005 gram of phosphorus per gallon.
Leaded premium gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index (R+M/2) greater than 90 and containing more than 0.05 grams of lead or 0.005 grams of phosphorus per gallon.
Leaded regular gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index (R+M/2) greater than or equal to 87 and less than or equal to 90 and containing more than 0.05 grams of lead or 0.005 grams of phosphorus per gallon.
Leading edge: In reference to a wind energy conversion system, the area of a turbine blade surface that first comes into contact with the wind.
Lease and plant fuel: Natural gas used in well, field, and lease operations (such as gas used in drilling operations, heaters, dehydrators, and field compressors) and as fuel in natural gas processing plants.
Lease condensate: Light liquid hydrocarbons recovered from lease separators or field facilities at associated and non-associated natural gas wells. Mostly pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons. Normally enters the crude oil stream after production.
Lease equipment: All equipment located on the lease except the well to the point of the "Christmas tree."
Lease fuel: Natural gas used in well, field, and lease operations, such as gas used in drilling operations, heaters, dehydrators, and field compressors.
Lease operations: Any well, lease, or field operations related to the exploration for or production of natural gas prior to delivery for processing or transportation out of the field. Gas used in lease operations includes usage such as for drilling operations, heaters, dehydraters, field compressors, and net used for gas lift.
Lease separation facility: A facility installed at the surface for the purpose of (a) separating gases from produced crude oil and water at the temperature and pressure conditions set by the separator and/or (b) separating gases from that portion of the produced natural gas stream that liquefies at the temperature and pressure conditions set by the separator.
Lease separator: A facility installed at the surface for the purpose of separating the full well stream volume into two or three parts at the temperature and pressure conditions set by the separator. For oil wells, these parts include produced crude oil, natural gas, and water. For gas wells, these parts include produced natural gas, lease condensate, and water.
[Leasehold Production. Natural gas liquids produced, extracted, and credited to a company's interest.
[Leasehold Reserves. Natural gas liquid reserves corresponding to leasehold production defined above.
Leasehold reserves: Natural gas liquid reserves corresponding to the leasehold production defined above.
Lessee: An independent marketer who leases the station and land and has use of tanks, pumps, signs, etc. A lessee dealer typically has a supply agreement with a refiner or distributor and purchases products at dealer tank-wagon prices. The term "lessee dealer" is limited to those dealers who are supplied directly by are finer or any affiliate or subsidiary of the reporting company. "Direct supply" includes use of commission agent or common carrier delivery.
Levelized cost: The present value of the total cost of building and operating a generating plant over its economic life, converted to equal annual payments. Costs are levelized in real dollars (i.e., adjusted to remove the impact of inflation).
Leverage ratio: A measure that indicates the financial ability to meet debt service requirements and increase the value of the investment to the stockholders. (i.e., the ratio of total debt to total assets).
LEVP: Low Emissions Vehicle Program.
LHV: See Lower Heating Value.
Liability: An amount payable in dollars or by future services to be rendered.
[Libya (1962-present)
Licensed site capacity: Capacity (number of assemblies) for which the site is currently licensed.
Licensees: Entity that has been granted permission to engage in an activity otherwise unlawful (i.e., hydropower project).
Life extension: Restoration or refurbishment of a plant to its original performance without the installation of new combustion technologies. Life extension results in 10 to 20 years of plant life beyond the anticipated retirement date, but usually does not result in larger capacity.
Lift: The force that pulls a wind turbine blade, as opposed to drag.
Lifting costs: The costs associated with the extraction of a mineral reserve from a producing property.
Light bulbs: A term generally used to describe a man-made source of light. The term is often used when referring to a "bulb" or "tube".
Light gas oils: Liquid petroleum distillates heavier than naphtha, with an approximate boiling range from 401 degrees to 650 degrees Fahrenheit.
Light rail: An electric railway with a "light volume" traffic capacity compared to "heavy rail." Light rail may use exclusive or shared rights-of-way, high or low platform loading, and multi-car trains or single cars. Also known as "street car," "trolley car," and "tramway."
Light trucks: All single unit two-axle, four-tire trucks, including pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles, vans, motor homes, etc. This is the Department of Transportation definition. The Energy Information Administration defined light truck as all trucks weighing 8,500 pounds or less.
Light water reactor (LWR): A nuclear reactor that uses water as the primary coolant and moderator, with slightly enriched uranium as fuel.
Light water: Ordinary water (H2O), as distinguished from heavy water or deuterium oxide (D2O).
Light-duty vehicles: Vehicles weighing less than 8,500 lbs (include automobiles, motorcycles, and light trucks).
Lighting conservation feature: A building feature or practice designed to reduce the amount of energy consumed by the lighting system.
Lighting Demand-Side Management (DSM) program: ADSM program designed to promote efficient lighting systems in new construction or existing facilities. Lighting DSM programs can include: certain types of high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures including T-8 lamp technology, solid state electronic ballasts, specular reflectors, compact fluorescent fixtures, LED and electro-luminescent Emergency Exist Signs, High Pressure Sodium with switchable ballasts, Compact Metal Halide, occupancy sensors, and daylighting controllers.
Lighting equipment: These are light bulbs used to light the building's interior, such as incandescent light bulbs, fluorescent light bulbs, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and high-intensity discharge (HID) lights.
Lights: All of the light bulbs controlled by one switch are counted as one light. For example, a chandelier with multiple lights controlled by one switch is counted as one light. A floor lamp with two separate globes or bulbs controlled by two separate switches would be counted as two lights. Indoor and outdoor lights were counted if they were under the control of the householder. This would exclude lights in the hallway of multi-family buildings.
Lignite: The lowest rank of coal, often referred to as brown coal, used almost exclusively as fuel for steam-electric power generation. It is brownish-black and has a high inherent moisture content, sometimes as high as 45 percent The heat content of lignite ranges from 9 to 17 million Btu per ton on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis. The heat content of lignite consumed in the United States averages 13 million Btu per ton, on the as-received basis (i.e. containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter).
LIHEAP: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Line loss: Electric energy lost because of the transmission of electricity. Much of the loss is thermal in nature.
Line-miles of seismic exploration: The distance along the Earth's surface that is covered by seismic surveying.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG): Natural gas (primarily methane) that has been liquefied by reducing its temperature to -260 degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure.
Liquefied petroleum gases (LPG): A group of hydrocarbon gases, primarily propane, normal butane, and isobutane, derived from crude oil refining or natural gas processing. These gases may be marketed individually or mixed. They can be liquefied through pressurization (without requiring cryogenic refrigeration) for convenience of transportation or storage. Excludes ethane and olefins. Note: In some EIA publications, LPG includes ethane and marketed refinery olefin streams, in accordance with definitions used prior to January 2014.
Liquefied refinery gases (LRG): Hydrocarbon gas liquids produced in refineries from processing of crude oil and unfinished oils. They are retained in the liquid state through pressurization and/or refrigeration. The reported categories include ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and refinery olefins (ethylene, propylene, butylene, and isobutylene).
Liquid collector: A medium-temperature solar thermal collector, employed predominantly in water heating, which uses pumped liquid as the heat-transfer medium.
Liquid fuels: All petroleum including crude oil and products of petroleum refining, natural gas liquids, biofuels, and liquids derived from other hydrocarbon sources (including coal to liquids and gas to liquids). Not included are liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid hydrogen. See petroleum and other liquids.
Liquid metal fast breeder reactor: A nuclear breeder reactor, cooled by molten sodium, in which fission is caused by fast neutrons.
[Liquids produced at natural gas processing plants are excluded. Crude oil is refined to produce a wide array of petroleum products, including heating oils; gasoline, diesel and jet fuels; lubricants; asphalt; ethane, propane, and butane; and many other products used for their energy or chemical content.
LL: load loss
LMUD: Lassen Municipal Utility District
LNG: liquefied natural gas
LNG: See Liquefied Natural Gas.
Load (electric): An end-use device or customer that receives power from the electric system. Source: Glossary of Terms Used in NERC Reliability Standards.
Load control program: A program in which the utility company offers a lower rate in return for having permission to turn off the air conditioner or water heater for short periods of time by remote control. This control allows the utility to reduce peak demand.
Load curve: The relationship of power supplied to the time of occurrence. Illustrates the varying magnitude of the load during the period covered.
Load diversity: The difference between the peak of coincident and noncoincident demands of two or more individual loads.
Load factor: The ratio of the average load to peak load during a specified time interval.
Load following: Regulation of the power output of electric generators within a prescribed area in response to changes in system frequency, tie line loading, or the relation of these to each other, so as to maintain the scheduled system frequency and/or established interchange with other areas within predetermined limits.
Load leveling: Any load control technique that dampens the cyclical daily load flows and increases baseload generation. Peak load pricing and time-of-day charges are two techniques that electric utilities use to reduce peak load and to maximize efficient generation of electricity.
Load loss (3 hours): Any significant incident on an electric utility system that results in a continuous outage of 3 hours or longer to more than 50,000 customers or more than one half of the total customers being served immediately prior to the incident, whichever is less.
Load management technique: Utility demand management practices directed at reducing the maximum kilowatt demand on an electric system and/or modifying the coincident peak demand of one or more classes of service to better meet the utility system capability for a given hour, day, week, season, or year.
Load on equipment: One hundred percent load is the maximum continuous net output of the unit at normal operating conditions during the annual peak load month. For example, if the equipment is capable of operating at 5% over pressure continuously, use this condition for 100% load.
Load reduction request: The issuance of any public or private request to any customer or the general public to reduce the use of electricity for the reasons of maintaining the continuity of service of the reporting entity's bulk electric power supply system. Requests to a customer(s) served under provisions of an interruptible contract are not a reportable action unless the request is made for reasons of maintaining the continuity of service of the reporting entity's bulk electric power supply.
Load shape: A method of describing peak load demand and the relationship of power supplied to the time of occurrence.
Load shedding: Intentional action by a utility that results in the reduction of more than 100 megawatts (MW) of firm customer load for reasons of maintaining the continuity of service of the reporting entity's bulk electric power supply system. The routine use of load control equipment that reduces firm customer load is not considered to be a reportable action.
Load-serving entity (electric): Secures energy and transmission service (and related Interconnect Operations Services) to serve the electrical demand and energy requirements of its end-use customers. See NERC definition.
[Loading machine is used in conventional mining to scoop broken coal from the working area and load it into a shuttle car, which hauls the coal to mine cars or conveyors for delivery to the surface.
Local distribution company (LDC): A legal entity engaged primarily in the retail sale and/or delivery of natural gas through a distribution system that includes main lines (that is, pipelines designed to carry large volumes of gas, usually located under roads or other major right-of-ways) and laterals (that is, pipelines of smaller diameter that connect the end user to the mainline). Since there structuring of the gas industry, the sale of gas and/or delivery arrangements may be handled by other agents, such as producers, brokers, and marketers that are referred to as "non-LDC."
Long ton: A unit that equals 20 long hundred weight or 2,240 pounds. Used mainly in England.
Long-term debt: Debt securities or borrowing shaving a maturity of more than one year.
Long-term purchase: A purchase contract under which at least one delivery of material is scheduled to occur during the second calendar year after the contract-signing year. Deliveries also can occur during the contract-signing year, during the first calendar year there after, or during any subsequent calendar year.
[Longwall mining machine shears coal from a long straight coal face (up to about 700 feet) by working back and forth across the face under a movable, hydraulic-jack roof-support system. The broken coal is transported by conveyor. Longwall machines can mine coal at the rate of 1,000 tons per shift. Mine locomotive, operating on tracks, is used to haul mine cars containing coal and other material, and to move personnel in specially designed "mantrip" cars. Large locomotives can haul more than 20 tons at a speed of about 10 miles per hour. Most mine locomotives run on electricity provided by a trolley wire; some are battery-powered.
Longwall mining: An automated form of underground coal mining characterized by high recovery and extraction rates, feasible only in relatively flat-lying, thick, and uniform coalbeds. A high-powered cutting machine is passed across the exposed face of coal, shearing away broken coal, which is continuously hauled away by a floor-level conveyor system. Longwall mining extracts all machine-minable coal between the floor and ceiling within a contiguous block of coal, known as a panel, leaving no support pillars within the panel area. Panel dimensions vary over time and with mining conditions but currently average about 900 feet wide (coal face width) and more than 8,000 feet long (the minable extent of the panel, measured indirection of mining). Longwall mining is done under movable roof supports that are advanced as the bed is cut. The roof in the mined-out area is allowed to fall as the mining advances.
Loop flow: The movement of electric power from generator to load by dividing along multiple parallel paths; it especially refers to power flow along an un intended path that loops away from the most direct geographic path or contract path.
LORS: laws, ordinances, regulations and standards
Loss of service (15 minutes): Any loss in service for greater than 15 minutes by an electric utility of firm loads totaling more than 200 MW, or 50 percent of the total load being supplied immediately prior to the incident, whichever is less. However, utilities with a peak load in the prior year of more than 3000 MW are only to report losses of service to firm loads totaling more than 300 MW for greater than 15 minutes. (The DOE shall be notified with service restoration and in any event, within three hours after the beginning of the interruption.)
Low Btu gas: A fuel gas with a heating value between 90 and 200 Btu per cubic foot.
Low E glass: Low-emission glass reflects up to 90% of long-wave radiation, which is heat, but lets in short-wave radiation, which is light. Windows are glazed with a coating that bonds a microscopic, transparent, metallic substance to the inside surface of the double-pane or triple-pane windows.
Low flow showerheads: Reduce the amount of water flow through the showerhead from 5 to 6 gallons a minute to 3 gallons a minute.
Low flush toilet: A toilet that uses less water than a standard one during flushing, for the purpose of conserving water resources.
Low head: Vertical difference of 100 feet or less in the upstream surface water elevation (headwater) and the downstream surface water elevation (tailwater) at a dam.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): The purpose of LIHEAP is to assist eligible households to meet the cost of heating or cooling in residential dwellings. The Federal government provides the funds to the States that administer the program.
Low power testing: The period of time between a plant's nuclear generating unit's initial fuel loading date and the issuance of its operating (full-power) license. The maximum level of operation during this period is 5 percent of the unit's thermal rating.
[Low Pressure. A processing unit operating at less than 225 pounds per square inch gauge (PSIG) measured at the outlet separator.
Low sulfur diesel (LSD) fuel: Diesel fuel containing more than 15 but less than 500 parts per million (ppm) sulfur.
Low temperature collectors: Metallic or nonmetallic collectors that generally operate at temperatures below 110 degrees Fahrenheit and use pumped liquid or air as the heat transfer medium. They usually contain no glazing and no insulation, and they are often made of plastic or rubber, although some are made of metal.
Low volatile bituminous coal: See Bituminous Coal.
Low-pressure sodium lamp: A type of lamp that produces light from sodium gas contained in a bulb operating at apartial pressure of 0.13 to 1.3 Pascal. The yellow light and large size make them applicable to lighting streets and parking lots.
[Low-sulfur coal generally contains 1 percent or less sulfur by weight. For air quality standards, "low sulfur coal" contains 0.6 pounds or less sulfur per million Btu, which is equivalent to 1.2 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million Btu.
Lower Heating Value: A measure of heat content based on the net energy content of a combustible fuel.
LPG: Liquified petroleum gas (propane and butane)
LPG: See Liquefied Petroleum Gases.
LQHC: Low quality hydrocarbons (i.e., tar sands and oil shale)
LRG: See Liquefied Refinery Gases.
LSE: Load Serving Entities
Lubricants: Substances used to reduce friction between bearing surfaces, or incorporated into other materials used as processing aids in the manufacture of other products, or used as carriers of other materials. Petroleum lubricants may be produced either from distillates or residues. Lubricants include all grades of lubricating oils, from spindle oil to cylinder oil to those used in greases.
Lumen: An empirical measure of the quantity of light. It is based upon the spectral sensitivity of the photosensors in the human eye under high (daytime) light levels. Photometrically it is the luminous flux emitted with a solid angle (1 steradian) by a point source having a uniform luminous intensity of 1 candela.
Lumens/Watt (lpw): A measure of the efficacy (efficiency) of lamps. It indicates the amount of light (lumens) emitted by the lamp for each unit of electrical power (Watts) used.
LV: low voltage
LWR: See Light Water Reactor.
m (M): meter, million, mega, milli or thousand
m/s: meters per second
M: Thousand
[M* - M2, M3, M4, M6: thickness of core steel
Machine drive (motors): The direct process end use in which thermal or electric energy is converted into mechanical energy. Motors are found in almost every process in manufacturing. Therefore, when motors are found in equipment that is wholly contained in another end use (such as process cooling and refrigeration), the energy is classified there rather than in machine drive.
Made available (vehicle): A vehicle is considered "Made available" if it is available for delivery to dealers or users, whether or not it was actually delivered to them. To be "Made available", the vehicle must be completed and available for delivery; thus, any conversion to be performed by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Vehicle Converter or Aftermarket Vehicle Converter must have been completed.
Magma: Naturally occurring molten rock, generated within the earth and capable of intrusion and extrusion, from which igneous rocks are thought to have been derived through solidification and related processes. It may or may not contain suspended solids (such as crystals and rock fragments) and/or gas phases.
Main heating equipment: Equipment primarily used for heating ambient air in the housing unit.
Main heating fuel: The form of energy used most frequently to heat the largest portion of the floorspace of a structure. The energy source designated as the main heating fuel is the source delivered to the site for that purpose, not any subsequent form into which it is transformed on site to deliver the heat energy (e.g., for buildings heated by a steam boiler, the main heating fuel is the main input fuel to the boiler, not the steam or hot water circulated through the building.) Note: In commercial buildings, the heating must be to at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
mainline conveyor: an installation that carries coal to the surface.
Mains: A system of pipes for transporting gas within a distributing gas utility's retail service area to points of connection with consumer service pipes.
Maintenance expenses: That portion of operating expenses consisting of labor, materials, and other direct and indirect expenses incurred for preserving the operating efficiency and/or physical condition of utility plants used for power production, transmission, and distribution of energy.
Maintenance of boiler plant (expenses): The cost of labor, material, and expenses incurred in the maintenance of a steam plant. Includes furnaces; boilers; coal, ash-handling, and coal-preparation equipment; steam and feed water piping; and boiler apparatus and accessories used in the production of steam, mercury, or other vapor to be used primarily for generating electricity. The point at which an electric steam plant is distinguished from an electric plant is defined as follows:
Maintenance of structures (expenses): The cost of labor, materials, and expenses incurred in maintenance of power production structures. Structures include all buildings and facilities to house, support, or safeguard property or persons.
Maintenance supervision and engineering expenses: The cost of labor and expenses incurred in the general supervision and direction of the maintenance of power generation stations. The supervision and engineering included consists of the pay and expenses of superintendents, engineers, clerks, other employees, and consultants engaged in supervising and directing the maintenance of each utility function. Direct supervision and engineering of specific activities, such as fuel handling, boiler room operations, generator operations, etc., are charged to the appropriate accounts.
Major electric utility: A utility that, in the last 3 consecutive calendar years, had sales or transmission services exceeding one of the following (1) 1 million megawatthours of total annual sales; (2) 100 megawatthours of annual sales for resale; (3) 500 megawatthours of annual gross interchange out; or (4) 500 megawatthours of wheeling (deliveries plus losses) for others.
Major energy sources: Fuels or energy sources such as electricity, fuel oil, natural gas, district steam, district hot water, and district chilled water. District chilled water is not included in any totals for the sum of major energy sources or fuels; all other major fuels are included in these totals.
Major fuels: Fuels or energy sources such as: electricity, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gases, natural gas, district steam, district hot water, and district chilled water.
Major interstate pipeline company: A company whose combined sales for resale, including gas transported interstate or stored for a fee, exceeded 50 million thousand cubic feet in the previous year.
Make-up air: Air brought into a building from outside to replace exhaust air.
MANE-VU (Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union) : An organization formed by the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, tribes, and federal agencies to coordinate planning activities to reduce haze (air pollution) in the region. The organization encourages a coordinated approach to meeting the requirements of EPA’s Regional Haze Rules and reducing visibility impairment in major national parks and wilderness areas in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. http://www.otcair.org/manevu/aboutus.asp.
Manhattan Project: The U.S. Government project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Started in 1942, the Manhattan Project formally ended in 1946. The Hanford Site, Oak Ridge Reservation, and Los Alamos National Laboratory were created for this effort. The project was named for the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Manual dimmer switches: These are like residential-style dimmer switches. They are not generally used with fluorescent and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps.
Manufactured gas: A gas obtained by destructive distillation of coal or by the thermal decomposition of oil, or by the reaction of steam passing through a bed of heated coal or coke. Examples are coal gases, coke oven gases, producer gas, blast furnace gas, blue (water) gas, carbureted water gas. Btu content varies widely.
Manufacturing division: One of 10 fields of economic activity defined by the Standard Industrial Classification Manual. The manufacturing division includes all establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products. The other divisions of the U.S. economy are agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, and trapping; mining; construction; transportation, communications, electric, gas, and sanitary services; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; personal, business, professional, repair, recreation, and other services; and public administration. The establishments in the manufacturing division constitute the universe for the MECS (an EIA survey).
Manufacturing establishment: An economic unit at a single physical location where mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products are performed.
Manufacturing: An energy-consuming subsector of the industrial sector that consists of all facilities and equipment engaged in the mechanical, physical, chemical, or electronic transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products. Assembly of component parts of products is included, except for that which is included in construction.
[Map of the PADD districts
MARAMA (Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association, Inc.) : A voluntary, non-profit association of ten Mid-Atlantic state and local air pollution control agencies. http://www.marama.org/about-us.
Marginal cost: The change in cost associated with a unit change in quantity supplied or produced.
Marine freight: Freight transported over rivers, canals, the Great Lakes, and domestic ocean waterways.
Market clearing price: The price at which supply equals demand for the Day-ahead or hour-ahead markets.
Market price contract: A contract in which the price of uranium is not specifically determined at the time the contract is signed but is based instead on the prevailing market price at the time of delivery. A market price contract may include a floorprice, that is, a lower limit on the eventual settled price. The floorprice and the method of price escalation generally are determined when the contract is signed. The contract may also include a price ceiling or a discount from the agreed-upon market price reference.
Market price settlement (uranium): The price paid for uranium delivery under a market-price contract. The price is commonly (but not always) determined at or sometime before delivery and may be related to a floor price, ceiling price, or discount.
Market-based pricing: Prices of electric power or other forms of energy determined in an open market system of supply and demand under which prices are set solely by agreement as to what buyers will pay and sellers will accept. Such prices could recover less or more than full costs, depending upon what the buyers and sellers see as their relevant opportunities and risks.
Marketable coke: See Petroleum coke, marketable .
Marketed energy: An energy source that is commercially traded. Typically, this energy is sold by a producer, such as a petroleum refiner, through a transmission and distribution network (e.g., pipelines and trucks) to an end-use consumer (e.g., gasoline sold at the pump).
Marketed production: Gross withdrawals less gas used for repressuring, quantities vented and flared, and nonhydrocarbon gases removed in treating or processing operations. Includes all quantities of gas used in field and processing plant operations.
Masonry stove: A type of heating appliance similar to a fireplace, but much more efficient and clean burning. They are made of masonry and have long channels through which combustion gases give up their heat to the heavy mass of the stove, which releases the heat slowly into a room. Often called Russian or Finnish fireplaces.
Masonry: A general term covering wall construction using masonry materials such as brick, concrete block, stone, and tile that are set in mortar; also included is stucco. The category does not include concrete panels because concrete panels represent a different method of constructing buildings. Concrete panels are reported separately.
Mass burn facility: A type of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration facility in which MSW is burned with only minor presorting to remove oversize, hazardous, or explosive materials.
Master-metering: Measurement of electricity or natural gas consumption of several tenants or housing units using a single meter. That is, one meter measures the energy usage for several households collectively.
Maximum deliverability: The maximum rate natural gas can be withdrawn from or injected into a storage field when filled to maximum capacity.
Maximum demand: The greatest of all demands of the load that has occurred within a specified period of time.
Maximum dependable capacity, net: The gross electrical output measured at the output terminals of the turbine generator(s) during the most restrictive seasonal conditions, less the station service load.
Maximum established site capacity (reactors): The maximum established spent fuel capacity for the site is defined by DOE as the maximum number of intact assemblies that will be able to be stored at some point in the future (between the reporting date and the reactor's end of life) taking into account any established or current studies or engineering evaluations at the time of submittal for licensing approval from the NRC.
Maximum generator nameplate capacity: The maximum rated output of a generator, prime mover, or other electric power production equipment under specific conditions designated by the manufacturer.
Maximum hourly load: This is determined by the interval in which the 60-minute integrated demand is the greatest.
Maximum streamflow: The maximum rate of water flow past a given point during a specified period.
MB: Millions of barrels
MBD: Millions of barrels per day
MBOED: million barrels of oil equivalent per day
MBUAPCD: Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District
MCE: maximum credible earthquake
MCF but in parentheses say (1000 cubic feet of natural gas): MCF
Mcf: one thousand cubic feet
MCF: thousand cubic feet
MCL: Maximum Containment Level
MCM: thousand circular mil (electricity conductor)
Mean indoor temperature: The "usual" temperature. If different sections of the house are kept at different temperatures, the reported temperature is for the section where the people are. A thermostat setting is accepted if the temperature is not known.
Mean operating hours: The arithmetic average number of operating hours per building is the weighted sum of the number of operating hours divided by the weighted sum of the number of buildings.
Mean power output (of a wind turbine): The average power output of a wind energy conversion system at a given mean wind speed based on a Raleigh frequency distribution.
Mean square feet per building: The arithmetic average square feet per building is the weighted sum of the total square feet divided by the weighted sum of the number of buildings.
Measured heated area of residence: The floor area of the housing unit that is enclosed from the weather and heated. Basements are included whether or not they contain finished space. Garages are included if they have a wall in common with the house. Attics that have finished space and attics that have some heated space are included. Crawl spaces are not included even if they are enclosed from the weather. Sheds and other buildings that are not attached to the house are not included. "Measured" area means the measurement of the dimensions of the home, using a metallic, retractable, 50-foot tape measure. "Heated area" is that portion of the measured area that is heated during most of the season. Rooms that are shut off during the heating season to save on fuel are not counted. Attached garages that are unheated and unheated areas in the attics and basements are also not counted.
Measured reserves: See Proved energy reserves.
Measured resources, coal: Coal resources for which estimates of the rank, quality, and quantity have been computed, within a margin of error of less than 20 percent, from sample analyses and measurements from closely spaced and geologically well known sample sites. Measured resources are computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches, mine workings, and drill holes. The points of observation and measurement are so closely spaced and the thickness and extent of coals are so well defined that the tonnage is judged to be accurate within 20 percent. Although the spacing of the points of observation necessary to demonstrate continuity of the coal differs from region to region, according to the character of the coalbeds, the point of observation are no greater than 1/2 mile apart. Measured coal is projected to extend as a belt 1/4 mile wide from the outcrop or points of observation or measurement.
MECS: Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey
Median streamflow: The middle rate of flow of water past a given point for which there have been several greater and lesser rates of flow occurring during a specified period.
Median water condition: The middle precipitation and run-off condition for a distribution of water conditions that have happened over a long period of time. Usually determined by examining the water supply record of the period in question.
Median: The middle number of a data set when the measurements are arranged in ascending (or descending) order.
Medium pressure: For valves and fittings, implies that they are suitable for working pressures between 125 to 175 pounds per square inch.
Medium-temperature collector: A collector designed to operate in the temperature range of 140 degrees to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, but that can also operate at a temperature as low as 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The collector typically consists of a metal frame, metal absorption panels with integral flow channels (attached tubing for liquid collectors or integral ducting for air collectors), and glazing and insulation on the sides and back.
Medium-volatile bituminous coal: See Bituminous coal.
Megavoltamperes (MVA): Millions of voltamperes, which are a measure of apparent power. (See definition for apparent power.)
Megawatt (MW): One million watts of electricity.
Megawatt electric (MWe): One million watts of electric capacity.
Megawatthour (MWh): One thousand kilowatt-hours or 1million watt-hours.
MEID: Merced Irrigation District
MER: Maximum effective rate (of production)
Mercaptan: An organic chemical compound that has a sulfur like odor that is added to natural gas before distribution to the consumer, to give it a distinct, unpleasant odor (smells like rotten eggs). This serves as a safety device by allowing it to be detected in the atmosphere, in cases where leaks occur.
Merchant coke plant: A coke plant where coke is produced primarily for sale on the commercial (open) market.
Merchant facilities: High-risk, high-profit facilities that operate, at least partially, at the whims of the market, as opposed to those facilities that are constructed with close cooperation of municipalities and have significant amounts of waste supply guaranteed.
Merchant MTBE plants: MTBE (methyl tertiary butylether) production facilities primarily located within petrochemical plants rather than refineries. Production from these units is sold under contract or on the spot market to refiners or other gasoline blenders.
Merchant oxygenate plants: Oxygenate production facilities that are not associated with a petroleum refinery. Production from these facilities is sold under contract or on the spot market torefiners or other gasoline blenders.
Mercury vapor lamp: A high-intensity discharge lamp that uses mercury as the primary light-producing element. Includes clear, phosphor coated, and self-ballasted lamps.
Merger: A combining of companies or corporations into one, often by issuing stock of the controlling corporation to replace the greater part of that of the other.
Met: An approximate unit of heat produced by a resting person, equal to about 18.5 Btu per square foot per hour.
Meta-anthracite: See Anthracite.
Metal halide lamp: A high-intensity discharge lamp type that uses mercury and several halide additives as light-producing elements. These lights have the best Color Rendition Index (CRI) of the high-intensity discharge lamps. They can be used for commercial interior lighting or for stadium lights.
Metallic: The metallic material composition of the collector's absorber system.
[Metallurgical coal (or coking coal) meets the requirements for making coke. It must have a low ash and sulfur content and form a coke that is capable of supporting the charge of iron ore and limestone in a blast furnace. A blend of two or more bituminous coals is usually required to make coke.
Metallurgical coal: Coking coal and pulverized coal consumed in making steel.
Metered data: End-use data obtained through the direct measurement of the total energy consumed for specific uses within the individual household. Individual appliances can be submetered by connecting the recording meters directly to individual appliances.
Metered peak demand: The presence of a device to measure the maximum rate of electricity consumption per unit of time. This device allows electric utility companies to bill their customers for maximum consumption, as well as for total consumption.
Methane (CH4): A colorless, flammable, odorless hydrocarbon gas which is the major component of natural gas. It is also an important source of hydrogen in various industrial processes. Methane is a greenhouse gas. See also Greenhouse gases.
Methanogens: Bacteria that synthesize methane, requiring completely anaerobic conditions for growth.
Methanol (CH3OH): A light, volatile alcohol eligible for gasoline blending.
Methanol blend: Mixtures containing 85 percent or more (or such other percentage, but not less than 70 percent) by volume of methanol with gasoline. Pure methanol is considered an "other alternative fuel."
[methanol
Methanotrophs: Bacteria that use methane as food and oxidize it into carbon dioxide.
Methyl chloroform (trichloroethane): An industrial chemical (CH3CCl3) used as a solvent, aerosol propellant, and pesticide and for metal degreasing.
Methylene chloride: A colorless liquid, nonexplosive and practically nonflammable. Used as a refrigerant in centrifugal compressors, a solvent for organic materials, and a component in nonflammable paint removers.
Metric conversion factors (for floorspace): Floorspace estimates may be converted to metric units by using the relationship, 1 square foot is approximately equal to .0929 square meters. Energy estimates may be converted to metric units by using the relationship, 1 Btu is approximately equal to 1,055 joules. One kilowatthour is exactly 3,600,000 joules. One gigajoule is approximately278 kilowatthours (kWh).
Metric ton (mt): A unit of weight equal to 2,204.6 pounds.
Metropolitan area: A geographic area that is a metropolitan statistical area or a consolidated metropolitan statistical area as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA): A county or group of contiguous counties (towns and cities in New England) that has (1) at least one city with 50,000 or more in habitants; or (2) an urbanized area of 50,000 inhabitants and a total population of 100,000 or more inhabitants (75,000 in New England). These areas are defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The contiguous counties or other jurisdictions to be included in an MSA are those that, according to certain criteria, are essentially metropolitan in character and are socially and economically integrated with the central city or urbanized area.
Metropolitan: Located within the boundaries of a metropolitan area.
MG: milli gauss
mgd: million gallons per day
MIA: Manufacturer Impact Analysis
Microcrystalline wax: Wax extracted from certain petroleum residues having a finer and less apparent crystalline structure than paraffin wax and having the following physical characteristics penetration at 77 degrees Fahrenheit (D1321)-60 maximum; viscosity at 210 degrees Fahrenheit in Saybolt Universal Seconds (SUS); (D88)-60 SUS (10.22 centistokes) minimum to 150 SUS (31.8 centistokes) maximum; oil content (D721)-5 percent minimum.
Microgroove: A small groove scribed into the surface of a solar photovoltaic cell which is filled with metal for contacts.
Micrometer (or Micron): One-millionth of a meter. It can also be expressed as 10-6 meter.
Microwave oven: A household cooking appliance consisting of a compartment designed to cook or heat food by means of microwave energy. It may also have a browning coil and convection heating as additional features.
Mid-size passenger car: A passenger car with between110 and 119 cubic feet of interior passenger and luggage volume.
MID: Modesto Irrigation District
[Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania;
Middle distillates: A general classification of refined petroleum products that includes distillate fuel oil and kerosene.
[Middle East and North Africa (includes Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates)
Middlings: In coal preparation, this material called mid-coal is neither clean nor refuse; due to their intermediate specific gravity, middlings sink only partway in the washing vessels and are removed by auxiliary means.
[Midgrade gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index, i.e., octane rating, greater than or equal to 88 and less than or equal to 90. Note: Octane requirements may vary by altitude.
Midgrade gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index, i.e., octane rating, greater than or equal to 88 and less than or equal to 90. Note: Octane requirements may vary by altitude. See Octane Rating.
[Midwest Region. Consists of the Illinois and Michigan Coal Basins. The following comprise the Midwest Region: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and western Kentucky.
[Midwest Region: East North Central division and West North Central division
[Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Miles per gallon (MPG): A measure of vehicle fuel efficiency. Miles per gallon or MPG represents "Fleet Miles per Gallon. "For each subgroup or "table cell," MPG is computed as the ratio of the total number of miles traveled by all vehicles in the subgroup to the total number of gallons consumed. MPGs are assigned to each vehicle using the EPA certification files and adjusted for on-road driving.
Military use: Includes sales to the Armed Forces, including volumes sold to the Defense Fuel Supply Center (DFSC) for use by all branches of the Department of Defense (DOD).
[Military: Kerosene-type jet fuel intended for use in military aircraft.
Mill capital: Cost for transportation and equipping a plant for processing ore or other feed materials.
Mill feed: Uranium ore supplied to a crusher or grinding mill in an ore-dressing process.
Mill: A monetary cost and billing unit used by utilities; it is equal to 1/1000 of the U.S. dollar (equivalent to 1/10of 1 cent).
Milling capacity: The maximum rate at which a mill is capable of treating ore or producing concentrate.
Milling of uranium: The processing of uranium from ore mined by conventional methods, such as underground or open-pit methods, to separate the uranium from the undesired material in the ore.
Milling: The grinding or crushing of ore, concentration, and other beneficiation, including the removal of valueless or harmful constituents and preparation for market.
Million British Thermal Units: MMBtu. See Btu.
Minable: Capable of being mined under current mining technology and environmental and legal restrictions, rules, and regulations.
Mine capital: Cost for exploration and development, pre-mining stripping, shaft sinking, and mine development (including in-situ leaching), as well as the mine plant and its equipment.
Mine count: The number of mines, or mines collocated with preparation plants or tipples, located in a particular geographic area (state or region). If a mine is mining coal across two counties within a state, or across two states, then it is counted as two operations. This is done so that EIA can separate production by state and county.
Mine Type: See Surface Mine and Underground Mine.
Mineral lease: An agreement wherein a mineral interest owner (lessor) conveys to another party (lessee) the rights to explore for, develop, and produce specified minerals. The lessee acquires a working interest and the lessor retains a non-operating interest in the property, referred to as the royalty interest, each in proportions agreed upon.
Mineral rights: The ownership of the minerals beneath the earth's surface with the right to remove them. Mineral rights may be conveyed separately from surface rights.
Mineral-matter-free basis: Mineral matter in coal is the parent material in coal from which ash is derived and which comes from minerals present in the original plant materials that formed the coal, or from extraneous sources such as sediments and precipitates from mineralized water. Mineral matter in coal cannot be analytically determined and is commonly calculated using data on ash and ash-forming constituents. Coal analyses are calculated to the mineral matter free basis by adjusting formulas used in calculations in order to deduct the weight of mineral matter from the total coal.
Mineral: Any of the various naturally occurring in organic substances, such as metals, salt, sand, stone, sulfur, and water, usually obtained from the earth. Note For reporting on the Financial Reporting System the term also includes organic non-renewable substances that are extracted from the earth such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas.
Minimum streamflow: The lowest rate of flow of water past a given point during a specified period.
Mining operation: One mine and/or tipple at a single physical location.
Mining: An energy-consuming subsector of the industrial sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used to extract energy and mineral resources.
Minivan: Small van that first appeared with that designation in 1984. Any of the smaller vans built on an automobile-type frame. Earlier models such as the Volkswagen van are now included in this category.
Minority carrier: A current carrier, either an electron or a hole, that is in the minority in a specific layer of a semiconductor material; the diffusion of minority carriers under the action of the cell junction voltage is the current in a photovoltaic device.
Miscellaneous petroleum products: Includes all finished products not classified elsewhere (e.g., petrolatum lube refining by products (aromatic extracts and tars), absorption oils, ram-jet fuel, petroleum rocket fuels, synthetic natural gas feed stocks, and specialty oils).
Miscellaneous reserves: A supply source having not more than 50 billion cubic feet of dedicated recoverable salable reserves and that falls within the definition of Supply Source.
Mixed waste: Waste containing both radioactive and hazardous constituents.
MM: Million (106).
MMbbl/d: One million (106) barrels of oil per day.
MMBtu: One million (106) British thermal units.
MMcf: One million (106) cubic feet.
MMcfd: Million cubic feet per day (used with natural gas)
MMgal/d: One million (106) gallons per day.
MMmt: One million (106 ) metric tons.
MMS: Minerals Management Service, division of US Department of the Interior
MMst: One million (106) short tons.
MMT: Million metric tons
Mobile home: A housing unit built on a movable chassis and moved to the site. It may be placed on a permanent or temporary foundation and may contain one room or more. If rooms are added to the structure, it is considered a single-family housing unit. A manufactured house assembled on site is a single-family housing unit, not a mobile home.
Moderator: A material, such as ordinary water, heavy water, or graphite, used in a reactor to slow down high-velocity neutrons, thus increasing the likelihood of further fission.
Modules: Photovoltaic cells or an assembly of cells into panels (modules) intended for and shipped for final consumption or to another organization for resale. When exported, incomplete modules and unencapsulated cells are also included. Modules used for space applications are not included.
Moist (coal) basis: Moist coal contains its natural inherent or bed moisture, but does not include water adhering to the surface. Coal analyses expressed on a moist basis are performed or adjusted so as to describe the data when the coal contains only that moisture that exists in the bed in its natural state of deposition and when the coal has not lost any moisture due to drying.
Moisture content: The water content of a substance (a solid fuel) as measured under specified conditions being the "dry basis," which equals the weight of the wet sample minus the weight of a (bone) dry sample divided by the weight of the dry sample times 100 (to get percent); "wet basis," which is equal to the weight of the wet sample minus the weight of the dry sample divided by the weight of the wet sample times 100.
Mole: The quantity of a compound or element that has a weight in grams numerically equal to its molecular weight. Also referred to as "gram molecule" or "gram molecular weight."
Montreal protocol: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987). An international agreement, signed by most of the industrialized nations, to substantially reduce the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Signed in January 1989, the original document called for a 50-percent reduction in CFC use by 1992 relative to 1986 levels. The subsequent London Agreement called for a complete elimination of CFC use by 2000. The Copenhagen Agreement, which called for a complete phase out by January 1, 1996, was implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Motor gasoline (finished): A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in spark-ignition engines. Motor gasoline, as defined in ASTM Specification D 4814 or Federal Specification VV-G-1690C, is characterized as having a boiling range of 122 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10 percent recovery point to 365 to 374 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90 percent recovery point. Motor Gasoline includes conventional gasoline; all types of oxygenated gasoline, including gasohol; and reformulated gasoline, but excludes aviation gasoline. Note: Volumetric data on blending components, such as oxygenates, are not counted in data on finished motor gasoline until the blending components are blended into the gasoline.
Motor gasoline blending components: Naphthas (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, xylene) used for blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline. These components include reformulated gasoline blend stock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) but exclude oxygenates (alcohols, ethers), butane, and pentanes plus. Note Oxygenates are reported as individual components and are included in the total for other hydrocarbons, hydrogens, and oxygenates.
Motor gasoline blending: Mechanical mixing of motor gasoline blending components, and oxygenates when required, to produce finished motor gasoline. Finished motor gasoline may be further mixed with other motor gasoline blending components or oxygenates, resulting in increased volumes of finished motor gasoline and/or changes in the formulation of finished motor gasoline (e.g., conventional motor gasoline mixed with MTBE to produce oxygenated motor gasoline).
Motor speed: The number of revolutions that the motor turns in a given time period (i.e. revolutions per minute, rpm).
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding
[Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming;
[Mountaintop mining, sometimes considered a variation of contour mining, refers to the mining of a coalbed that underlies the top of a mountain. The overburden, which is the mountaintop, is completely removed so that all of the coal can be recovered. The overburden material is later replaced in the mined-out area. This method leaves large plateaus of level land.
MPE: maximum probable earthquake
MPG shortfall: The difference between actual on-road MPG and EPA laboratory test MPG. MPG short fall is expressed as gallons per mile ratio (GPMR).
MPG: See Miles Per Gallon
MRC: Maximum Reservoir Contact
MS: Mail Station
MSA: See Metropolitan Statistical Area
MSHA ID number: Seven (7)-digit code assigned to a mining operation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
MSHA: Mine Safety and Health Administration
MSW: See Municipal Solid Waste
MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) (CH3)3COCH3: An ether intended for gasoline blending as described in "Oxygenates."
MTBE: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether
Multiple completion well: A well equipped to produce oil and/or gas separately from more than one reservoir. Such wells contain multiple strings of tubing or other equipment that permit production from the various completions to be measured and accounted for separately. For statistical purposes, a multiple completion well is reported as one well and classified as either an oil well or a gas well. If one of the several completions in a given well is an oil completion, the well is classified as an oil well. If all of the completions in a given well are gas completions, the well is classified as a gas well.
Multiple cropping: A system of growing several crops on the same field in one year.
Multiple purpose project: The development of hydroelectric facilities to serve more than one function. Some of the uses include hydroelectric power, irrigation, water supply, water quality control, and/or fish and wildlife enhancement.
Multiple purpose reservoir: Stored water and its usage governed by advanced water resource conservation practices to achieve more than one water control objective. Some of the objectives include flood control, hydroelectric power development, irrigation, recreation usage, and wilderness protection.
Municipal solid waste: Residential solid waste and some nonhazardous commercial, institutional, and industrial wastes.
Municipal waste to energy project or plant: A facility that produces fuel or energy from municipal solid waste.
Municipal waste: As defined in the Energy Security Act (P.L. 96-294; 1980) as "any organic matter, including sewage, sewage sludge, and industrial or commercial waste, and mixtures of such matter and inorganic refuse from any publicly or privately operated municipal waste collection or similar disposal system, or from similar waste flows (other than such flows which constitute agricultural wastes or residues, or wood wastes or residues from wood harvesting activities or production of forest products)."
Municipality: A village town, city, county, or other political subdivision of a State.
MV: megavolt
MVA: megavolt-amperes
MVAR: megavolt-ampere reactive
MW (all capitals) / MWh: megawatt / megawatt-hour
MW: megawatt (million watts)
MW: See Megawatt
MWA: Mojave Water Agency
MWD: Metropolitan Water District
MWe: See Megawatt electric
MWh: megawatt hour
MWh: See Megawatthour
MWp: peak megawatt
N-1: one transmission circuit out
N-2: two transmission circuits out
N2O: Nitrous Oxide
NAAQS: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NAAQS: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NAICS (North American Industry Classification System): A coding system developed jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to classify businesses and industries according to the type of economic activity in which they are engaged. NAICS replaces the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.
NAICS: North American Industry Classification System
Name plate capacity: See Generator name plate capacity (installed).
Name plate: A metal tag attached to a machine or appliance that contains information such as brand name, serial number, voltage, power ratings under specified conditions, and other manufacturer supplied data.
Naphtha less than 401 degrees Fahrenheit: See Petrochemical feedstocks.
Naphtha-type jet fuel: A fuel in the heavy naphtha boiling range having an average gravity of 52.8 degrees API, 20% to 90% distillation temperatures of 290 degrees to 470 degrees Fahrenheit, and meeting Military Specification MIL-T-5624L (Grade JP-4).It is used primarily for military turbojet and turboprop aircraft engines because it has a lower freeze point than other aviation fuels and meets engine requirements at high altitudes and speeds. Note: Beginning with January 2004 data, naphtha-type jet fuel is included in Miscellaneous Products .
Naphtha: A generic term applied to a refined or partially refined petroleum fraction with an approximate boiling range between 122 degrees and 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Naphthas: Refined or partly refined light distillates with an approximate boiling point range between 122 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Blended further or mixed with other materials, they make high-grade motor gasoline or jet fuel. Also, used as solvents, petrochemical feedstocks, or as raw materials for the production of town gas.
NARUC: See National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC): An affiliation of the public service commissioners to promote the uniform treatment of members of the railroad, public utilities, and public service commissions of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territory of the Virgin Islands.
National Defense Authorization Act: The federal law, enacted in 1994 and amended in 1995, that required the Secretary of Energy to prepare the Baseline Report.
National priorities list: The Environmental Protection Agency's list of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for possible long-term remedial action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The list is based primarily on the score a site receives from the Environmental Protection Agency Hazard Ranking System. The Environmental Protection Agency is required to update the National Priorities List at least once a year.
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA): A national organization dedicated to representing the interests of cooperative electric utilities and the consumers they serve. Members come from the 46 states that have an electric distribution cooperative.
National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE): A program begun by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1974 to make a comprehensive evaluation of U.S. uranium resources and continued through1983 by the AEC's successor agencies, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), and the Department of Energy (DOE).The NURE program included aerial radiometric and magnetic surveys, hydrogeochemical and stream sediment surveys, geologic drilling in selected areas, geophysical logging of selected bore holes, and geologic studies to identify and evaluate geologic environments favorable for uranium.
Native gas: Gas in place at the time that a reservoir was converted to use as an underground storage reservoir in contrast to injected gas volumes.
Native load (electric): The end-use customers that the Load-Serving Entity is obligated to serve. NERC definition
Natural gas field facility: A field facility designed to process natural gas produced from more than one lease for the purpose of recovering condensate from a stream of natural gas; however, some field facilities are designed to recover propane, normal butane, pentanes plus, etc., and to control the quality of natural gas to be marketed.
Natural gas gross withdrawals: Full well-stream volume of produced natural gas, excluding condensate separated at the lease.
Natural gas hydrates: Solid, crystalline, wax-like substances composed of water, methane, and usually a small amount of other gases, with the gases being trapped in the interstices of a water-ice lattice. They form beneath permafrost and on the ocean floor under conditions of moderately high pressure and at temperatures near the freezing point of water.
Natural gas lease production: Gross withdrawals of natural gas minus gas production injected on the lease into producing reservoirs, vented, flared, used as fuel on the lease, and nonhydrocarbon gases removed in treating or processing operations on the lease.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL): A group of hydrocarbons including ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline. Generally include natural gas plant liquids and all liquefied refinery gases except olefins.
Natural gas liquids production: The volume of natural gas liquids removed from natural gas in lease separators, field facilities, gas processing plants, or cycling plants during the report year.
Natural gas marketed production: Gross withdrawals of natural gas from production reservoirs, less gas used for reservoir repressuring, nonhydrocarbon gases removed in treating and processing operations, and quantities vented and flared.
Natural gas marketer: A company that arranges purchases and sales of natural gas. Unlike pipeline companies or local distribution companies, a marketer does not own physical assets commonly used in the supply of natural gas, such as pipelines or storage fields. A marketer may be an affiliate of another company, such as a local distribution company, natural gas pipeline, or producer, but it operates independently of other segments of the company. In States with residential choice programs, marketers serve as alternative suppliers to residential users of natural gas, which is delivered by a local distribution company.
Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL) production: The extraction of gas plant liquids constituents such as ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline, sometimes referred to as extraction loss. Usually reported in barrels or gallons, but may be reported in cubic feet for purposes of comparison with dry natural gas volumes.
Natural gas plant liquids (NGPL): Those hydrocarbons in natural gas that are separated as liquids at natural gas processing, fractionating, and cycling plants. Products obtained include ethane, liquefied petroleum gases (propane, normal butane, and isobutane), and natural gasoline. Component products may be fractionated or mixed. Lease condensate and plant condensate are excluded. Note: Some EIA publications categorize NGPL production as field production, in accordance with definitions used prior to January 2014.
Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA): Signed into law on November 9, 1978, the NGPA is a framework for the regulation of most facets of the natural gas industry.
Natural gas processing plant: Facilities designed to recover natural gas liquids from a stream of natural gas that may or may not have passed through lease separators and/or field separation facilities. These facilities control the quality of the natural gas to be marketed. Cycling plants are classified as gas processing plants.
Natural gas production: See Dry natural gas production.
Natural Gas Used for Injection: Natural gas used to pressurize crude oil reservoirs in an attempt to increase oil recovery or in instances where there is no market for the natural gas. Natural gas used for injection is sometimes referred to as repressuring.
Natural gas utility demand-side management (DSM) program sponsor: A DSM (demand-side management) program sponsored by a natural gas utility that suggests ways to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, to reduce energy costs, to change the usage patterns, or to promote the use of a different energy source.
Natural gas, "dry": See Dry natural gas.
Natural gas: A gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, the primary one being methane.
Natural Gasoline and Isopentane: A mixture of hydrocarbons, mostly pentanes and heavier, extracted from natural gas, that meets vapor pressure, end-point, and other specifications for natural gasoline set by the Gas Processors Association. Includes isopentane which is a saturated branch-chain hydrocarbon, (C5H12), obtained by fractionation of natural gasoline or isomerization of normal pentane.
Natural gasoline: A commodity product commonly traded in NGL markets that comprises liquid hydrocarbons (mostly pentanes and hexanes) and generally remains liquid at ambient temperatures and atmospheric pressure. Natural gasoline is equivalent to pentanes plus.
Natural reservoir pressure: The energy within an oil or gas reservoir that causes the oil or gas to rise (unassisted by other forces) to the earth's surface when the reservoir is penetrated by an oil or gas well. The energy may be the result of "dissolved gas drive," "gas cap drive," or "water drive." Regardless of the type of drive, the principle is the same: the energy of the gas or water, creating a natural pressure, forces the oil or gas to the well bore.
Natural streamflow: The rate of flow of water past a given point of an uncontrolled stream or regulated streamflow adjusted to eliminate the effects of reservoir storage or upstream diversions at a set time interval.
Natural uranium: Uranium with the U-235 isotope present at a concentration of 0.711 percent (by weight), that is, uranium with its isotopic content exactly as it is found in nature.
NCI: Navigant Consulting, Inc. (formerly Arthur D. Little, Inc.)
NCPA: Northern California Power Agency
Near-month contract for energy futures: The near-month contract, a term used in energy futures and options trading and other transactions, is the active contract with the shortest time to maturity. It is the contract that will expire first (often, but not always, within the next month). The near month is also called the prompt month, the front month, the lead month, and the first nearby.
NEEA: Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, also known as The Alliance.
NEEP: Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership
NEMA: National Electrical Manufacturers Association
NEMS: National Energy Modeling System
NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act (federal "equivalent" of CEQA) of 1969
NERC: North American Electric Reliability Council
NERC: See North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
NES: National Energy Savings
NESHAPS: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
[Net - Gross acreage adjusted to reflect the percentage of ownership in the working interest in the acreage.
Net actual interchange (electric): The algebraic sum of all metered interchange over all interconnections between two physically Adjacent Balancing Authority Areas. NERC definition
Net cell shipments: Represents the difference between cell shipments and cell purchases.
Net electricity consumption: Consumption of electricity computed as generation, plus imports, minus exports, minus transmission and distribution losses.
Net energy for load (electric): Net Balancing Authority Area generation, plus energy received from other Balancing Authority Areas, less energy delivered to Balancing Authority Areas through interchange. It includes Balancing Authority Area losses but excludes energy required for storage at energy storage facilities. NERC definition
Net energy for load: Net generation of main generating units that are system-owned or system-operated, plus energy receipts minus energy deliveries.
Net energy for system: The sum of energy an electric utility needs to satisfy their service areas, including full and partial requirements consumers.
Net generation: The amount of gross generation less the electrical energy consumed at the generating station(s) for station service or auxiliaries. Note: Electricity required for pumping at pumped-storage plants is regarded as electricity for station service and is deducted from gross generation.
Net head: The gross head minus all hydraulic losses except those chargeable to the turbine.
Net income: Operating income plus other income and extraordinary income less operating expenses, taxes, interest charges, other deductions, and extraordinary deductions.
Net interstate flow of electricity: The difference between the sum of electricity sales and losses within a state and the total amount of electricity generated within that state. A positive number indicates that more electricity (including associated losses) came into the state than went out of the state during the year; conversely, a negative number indicates that more electricity (including associated losses) went out of the state than came into the state.
Net module shipments: Represents the difference between module shipments and module purchases. When exported, incomplete modules and unencapsulated cells are also included.
Net operable capacity: Total owned capacity less in operable capacity.
Net photovoltaic module shipment: The difference between photovoltaic module shipments and photovoltaic module purchases.
Net profits interest: A contractual arrangement under which the beneficiary, in exchange for consideration paid, receives a stated percentage of the net profits. That type of arrangement is considered a nonoperating interest, as distinguished from a working interest, because it does not involve the rights and obligations of operating a mineral property (costs of exploration, development, and operation). The net profits interest does not bear any part of net losses.
Net Receipts: The difference between total movements into and total movements out of each PAD District by pipeline, tanker, and barge.
Net summer capacity: The maximum output, commonly expressed in megawatts (MW), that generating equipment can supply to system load, as demonstrated by a multi-hour test, at the time of summer peak demand (period of June 1 through September 30.) This output reflects a reduction in capacity due to electricity use for station service or auxiliaries.
Net winter capacity: The maximum output, commonly expressed in megawatts (MW), that generating equipment can supply to system load, as demonstrated by a multi-hour test, at the time of peak winter demand (period of December 1 through February 28). This output reflects a reduction in capacity due to electricity use for station service or auxiliaries.
[Net working interest. The reporting company's working interest is not including any basic royalty or overriding royalty interests.
Netback purchase: Refers to a crude oil purchase agreement wherein the price paid for the crude is determined by sales prices of the types of products that are derivable from that crude as well as other considerations (e.g., transportation and processing costs). Typically, the price is calculated based on product prices extant on or near the cargo's date of importation.
[New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont;
New field discoveries: The volumes of proved reserves of crude oil, natural gas, and/or natural gas liquids discovered in new fields during the report year.
New field: A field discovered during the report year.
New reservoir: A reservoir discovered during the report year.
NG: Natural gas (mainly methane)
NGL: Natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and natural gasoline)
NGL: See Natural gas liquids.
NGPA: See Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978.
NGPL: Natural Gas Plant Liquids
NGV: Natural Gas Vehicle
NHA: National Hydropower Association
[Nigeria (1971-present)
NIMBY: Not In My Backyard
Nitrogen dioxide: A compound of nitrogen and oxygen formed by the oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) which is produced by the combustion of solid fuels.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx): Compounds of nitrogen and oxygen produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
Nitrous oxide (N2O): A colorless gas, naturally occurring in the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide has a 100-year Global Warming Potential of 310.
NL: no-load losses
NMFS: National Marine Fisheries Service
NMHC: nonmethane hydrocarbons
[No. 1 Diesel Fuel: A light distillate fuel oil that has distillation temperatures of 550 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 975. It is used in high-speed diesel engines, such as those in city buses and similar vehicles. See No. 1 Distillate.
No. 1 diesel fuel: A light distillate fuel oil that has a distillation temperature of 550 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 975. It is used in high speed diesel engines generally operated under frequent speed and load changes, such as those in city buses and similar vehicles. See No. 1 distillate.
[No. 1 Distillate: A light petroleum distillate that can be used as either a diesel fuel (see No. 1 Diesel Fuel) or a fuel oil. See No.1 Fuel Oil .
No. 1 distillate: A light petroleum distillate that can be used as either a diesel fuel (see No. 1 diesel fuel) or a fuel oil (see No. 1 fuel oil).
[No. 1 Fuel Oil: A light distillate fuel oil that has distillation temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point and 550 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 396. It is used primarily as fuel for portable outdoor stoves and portable outdoor heaters. See No. 1 Distillate.
No. 1 fuel oil: A light distillate fuel oil that has distillation temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point and 550 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 396. It is used primarily as fuel for portable outdoor stoves and portable outdoor heaters. See No. 1 Distillate.
[No. 2 Diesel Fuel: A fuel that has a distillation temperature of 640 degrees Fahrenheit l used for low- and medium-speed diesel engines and conforms to ASTM Specification D 975.
No. 2 diesel fuel: A distillate fuel oil that has a distillation temperature of 640 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 975. It is used in high-speed diesel engines that are generally operated under uniform speed and load conditions, such as those in railroad locomotives, trucks, and automobiles. See No. 2 Distillate.
[No. 2 Distillate: A petroleum distillate that can be used as either a diesel fuel (see No. 2 Diesel Fuel definition) or a fuel oil. See No. 2 Fuel oil.
No. 2 distillate: A petroleum distillate that can be used as either a diesel fuel (see No. 2 diesel fuel) or a fuel oil (see No. 2 fuel oil).
No. 2 fuel oil (heating oil): A distillate fuel oil that has distillation temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point and 640 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point and meets the specifications defined in ASTM Specification D 396. It is used in atomizing type burners for domestic heating or for moderate capacity commercial/industrial burner units. See No. 2 Distillate.
No. 2 fuel oil and No. 2 diesel sold to consumers for all other end uses: Those consumers who purchase fuel oil or diesel fuel for their own use including commercial/institutional buildings (including apartment buildings), manufacturing and nonmanufacturing establishments, farms (including farm houses), motor vehicles, commercial or private boats, military, governments, electric utilities, railroads, construction, logging or any other nonresidential end-use purpose.
No. 2 fuel oil sold to private homes for heating: Private household customers who purchase fuel oil for the specific purpose of heating their home, water heating, cooking, etc., excluding farm houses, farming and apartment buildings.
[No. 4 Diesel Fuel and No. 4 Fuel Oil: See No. 4 Fuel.
No. 4 fuel oil: A distillate fuel oil made by blending distillate fuel oil and residual fuel oil stocks. It conforms with ASTM Specification D 396 or Federal Specification VV-F-815C and is used extensively in industrial plants and in commercial burner installations that are not equipped with preheating facilities. It also includes No. 4 diesel fuel used for low- and medium-speed diesel engines and conforms to ASTM Specification D 975.
No. 5 Residual fuel oil: A residual fuel oil of medium viscosity, used in steam-powered vessels in government service and power plants, which is also known as “Navy Special” and is defined in Military Specification MIL-F-859E, including Amendment 2 (NATO Symbol F-770). See residual fuel oil.
No. 6 Residual fuel oil: Includes Bunker C fuel oil and is used for the production of electric power, space heating, vessel bunkering, and various industrial purposes. See residual fuel oil.
NO2: nitrogen dioxide
NO: nitrogen oxide
NOAA division: One of the 345 weather divisions designated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) encompassing the 48 contiguous states. These divisions usually follow county borders to encompass counties with similar weather conditions. The NOAA division does not follow county borders when weather conditions vary considerably within a county; such is likely toen when the county borders the ocean or contains high mountains. A state contains an average of seven NOAA divisions; a NOAA division contains an average of nine counties.
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOC: National oil company (e.g., Saudi Aramco)
NOI: Notice of Intention
NOL: North of Lugo
Noload loss: Power and energy lost by an electric system when not operating under demand.
NOM: Normas Oficiales Mexicanas-NOM (official Mexican standards)
Nominal dollars: A measure used to express nominal price.
Nominal price: The price paid for a product or service at the time of the transaction. Nominal prices are those that have not been adjusted to remove the effect of changes in the purchasing power of the dollar; they reflect buying power in the year in which the transaction occurred.
Non-biomass waste: Material of non-biological origin that is a byproduct or a discarded product. "Non-biomass waste" includes municipal solid waste from non-biogenic sources, such as plastics, and tire-derived fuels.
Nonassociated natural gas: Natural gas that is not in contact with significant quantities of crude oil in the reservoir. See natural gas.
Nonattainment area: Any area that does not meet the national primary or secondary ambient air quality standard established by the Environmental Protection Agency for designated pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and ozone.
Nonbranded product: Any refined petroleum product that is not a branded product.
Noncoincident demand: Sum of two or more demands on individual systems that do not occur in the same demand interval.
Noncoincidental peak load: The sum of two or more peak loads on individual systems that do not occur in the same time intervalhicle](TODO): A motor vehicle capable of operating on an alternative fuel and /or on either gasoline or diesel.
Nonfirm power: Power or power-producing capacity supplied or available under a commitment having limited or no assured availability.
Nonfuel components: Components that are not associated with a particular fuel. These include, but are not limited to, control spiders, burnable poison rod assemblies, control rod elements, thimble plugs, fission chambers, primary and secondary neutron sources, and BWR (boiling water reactor) channels.
Nonfuel use (of energy): Use of energy as feedstock or raw material input.
Nonfungible product: A gasoline blend or blendstock that cannot be shipped via existing petroleum product distribution systems because of incompatibility problems. Gasoline/ethanol blends, for example, are contaminated by water that is typically present in petroleum product distribution systems.
[nonhydrocarbon gases where they occur insufficient quantity to render the gas unmarketable.
Nonhydrocarbon gases: Typical nonhydrocarbon gases that may be present in reservoir natural gas, such as carbondioxide, helium, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen.
Nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC): Organic compounds, other than methane, that participate in atmospheric photochemical reactions.
Nonoperating interest: Any mineral lease interest (e.g., royalty, production payment, net profits interest) that does not involve the rights and obligations of operating a mineral property.
Nonproducing reservoir: Reservoir in which oil and/or gas proved reserves have been identified, but which did not produce during the report year to the owned or contracted interest of the reporting company regardless of the availability and/or operation of production, gathering, or transportation facilities.
Nonrenewable fuels: Fuels that cannot be easily made or "renewed," such as oil, natural gas, and coal.
Nonrequirements consumer: A wholesale consumer (unlike a full or partial requirements consumer) that purchases economic or coordination power to supplement their own or another system's energy needs.
Nonresidential building: A building used for some purpose other than residential. Nonresidential buildings comprise three groups commercial, manufacturing/industrial, and agricultural.
Nonroad alternative fuel vehicle (nonroad AFV): An alternative fuel vehicle designed for off-road operation and use for surface/air transportation, industrial, or commercial purposes. Nonroad AFVs include forklifts and other industrial vehicles, rail locomotives, self-propelled electric rail cars, aircraft, airport service vehicles, construction vehicles, agricultural vehicles, and marine vessels. Recreational AFVs (golf carts, snow mobiles, pleasure watercraft, etc.) are excluded from the definition.
Nonspinning reserve: The generating capacity not currently running but capable of being connected to the bus and load within a specified time.
Nonutility generation: Electric generation by end-users, or small power producers under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, to supply electric power for industrial, commercial, andmilitary operations, or sales to electric utilities.
Nonutility power producer: A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality that owns or operates facilities for electric generation and is not an electric utility. Nonutility power producers include qualifying cogenerators, qualifying small power producers, and other nonutility generators (including independent power producers). Non-utility power producers are without a designated franchised service area and do not file forms listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 141
NOP: Notice of Preparation (of EIR)
NOPR: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
NOPR: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Normal butane (C4H10): A straight-chain saturated (paraffinic) hydrocarbon extracted from both natural gas and refinery gas streams, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. It is a colorless gas that boils at a temperature of 31 degrees Fahrenheit.
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC): A nonprofit corporation formed in 2006 as the successor to the North American Electric Reliability Council established to develop and maintain mandatory reliability standards for the bulk electric system, with the fundamental goal of maintaining and improving the reliability of that system. NERC consists of regional reliability entities covering the interconnected power regions of the contiguous United States, Canada, and Mexico. See the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Regions.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): A new classification scheme, developed by the Office of Management and Budget to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System, that categorizes establishments according to the types of production processes they primarily use.
[Northeast Region: New England division and Middle Atlantic division
[Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
[Northern Appalachian Region: Consists of Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Northern West Virginia.
[Northern: Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, Duluth, MN, Minneapolis, MN, St. Louis, MO, Pembina, ND, Cleveland, OH, Milwaukee, WI.
[Note: Each division is a sub-area within a broader Census Region. For the relationship between Regions and divisions, see Census Region/division. In some cases, the Pacific division is subdivided into the Pacific Contiguous area (California, Oregon, and Washington)and the Pacific Noncontiguous area (Alaska and Hawaii).
[Note: Each region comprises two or three sub-areas called Census divisions. For the relationship between Regions and divisions, see Census Region/division.
[Note: In some cases, the Pacific division is subdivided into the Pacific Contiguous area (California, Oregon, and Washington) and the Pacific Noncontiguous area (Alaska and Hawaii).
[Note: Oxygenated gasoline excludes oxygenated fuels program reformulated gasoline (OPRG) and reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB). Data on gasohol that has at least 2.7 percent oxygen, by weight, and is intended for sale inside CO nonattainment areas are included in data on oxygenated gasoline. Other data on gasohol (for use outside of nonattainment areas) are included in data on conventional gasoline.
[Note: Oxygenated gasoline excludes oxygenated fuels program reformulated gasoline (OPRG) and reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB).
NOV: Notice of Violation
NOx or NOx: nitrogen oxides
NOx: nitrogen oxides
NOx: nitrogen oxides
NOx: See Nitrogen oxides
NPV: net present value
NRC: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRCan: Natural Resources Canada
NRDC: Natural Resources Defense Council
NRECA: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
NRECA: See National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
NREL: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a laboratory of the US Department of Energy
NRTA: Northwest Regional Transmission Association
NSCAPCD: Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District
NSPS: New Source Performance Standards
NSR: New Source Review
Nuclear electric power (nuclear power): Electricity generated by the use of the thermal energy released from the fission of nuclear fuel in a reactor.
Nuclear fuel: Fissionable materials that have been enriched to such a composition that, when placed in a nuclear reactor, will support a self-sustaining fission chain reaction, producing heat in a controlled manner for process use.
Nuclear reactor: An apparatus in which a nuclear fission chain reaction can be initiated, controlled, and sustained at a specific rate. A reactor includes fuel (fissionable material), moderating material to control the rate of fission, a heavy-walled pressure vessel to house reactor components, shielding to protect personnel, a system to conduct heat away from the reactor, and instrumentation for monitoring and controlling the reactor's systems.
NUG: Nonutility Generator
Number of mines: The number of mines, or mines collocated with preparation plants or tipples, located in a particular geographic area (State or region). If a mine is mining coal across two counties within a State, or across two States, then it is counted as two operations. This is done so that EIA can separate production by State and county.
Number of mining operations: The number of mining operations includes preparation plants with greater than 5,000 total direct labor hours. Mining operations that consist of a mine and preparation plant, or a preparation plant only, will be counted as two operations if the preparation plant processes both underground and surface coal. Excluded are silt, culm, refuse bank, slurry dam, and dredge operations except for Pennsylvania anthracite. Excludes mines producing less than 10,000 short tons of coal during the year.
NURE: See National Uranium Resource Evaluation
NWEC: Northwest Energy Coalition
NWPP: Northwest Power Pool
NWPPA: Northwest Public Power Association
NWPPC: Northwest Power Planning Council
Nymex: New York Mercantile Exchange
NYMEX: New York Merchantile EXchange
NYSERDA: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
O&M: Operation and Maintenance.
O&M: operation and maintenance
O3: Ozone
O3: See Ozone.
OASIS: Open Access Same-Time Information System
OCB: oil circuit breaker
Occupancy sensors: These are also known as "ultrasonic switchers." When movement is detected, the lights are turned on and remain on as long as there is movement in the room.
Ocean energy systems: Energy conversion technologies that harness the energy in tides, waves, and thermal gradients in the oceans.
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC): The process or technologies for producing energy by harnessing the temperature differences (thermal gradients) between ocean surface waters and that of ocean depths. Warm surface water is pumped through an evaporator containing a working fluid in a closed Rankine-cycle system. The vaporized fluid drives a turbine/generator.
OCS: See Outer Continental Shelf.
OCSG: Operating Capability Study Group
Octane rating: A number used to indicate gasoline's antiknock performance in motor vehicle engines. The two recognized laboratory engine test methods for determining the antiknock rating, i.e., octane rating, of gasolines are the Research method and the Motor method. To provide a single number as guidance to the consumer, the antiknock index (R + M)/2, which is the average of the Research and Motor octane numbers, was developed.
Octane: A flammable liquid hydrocarbon found in petroleum. Used as a standard to measure the anti-knock properties of motor fuel.
ODAC: Oil Depletion Analysis Centre
OECD: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
OECD: See Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
OEE: Office of Energy Efficiency
OEFSC: Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council
OEM: See Original Equipment Manufacturer(s).
OEMs: original equipment manufacturers
Off peak gas: Gas that is to be delivered and taken on demand when demand is not at its peak.
Off peak: Period of relatively low system demand. These periods often occur in daily, weekly, and seasonal patterns; these off-peak periods differ for each individual electric utility.
Off-highway use: Includes petroleum products sales for use in:
Off-hours equipment reduction: A conservation feature where there is a change in the temperature setting or reduction in the use of heating, cooling, domestic hot water heating, lighting or any other equipment either manually or automatically.
Off-system: Any point not on or directly interconnected with a transportation, storage, and/or distribution system operated by a natural gas company within a state.
Offshore reserves and production: Unless otherwise dedicated, reserves and production that are in either state or Federal domains, located seaward of the coastline.
Offshore: That geographic area that lies seaward of the coastline. In general, the coastline is the line of ordinary low water along with that portion of the coast that is in direct contact with the open sea or the line marking the seaward limit of inland water. If a state agency uses a different basis for classifying onshore and offshore areas, the state classification should be used (e.g., Cook Inlet in Alaska is classified as offshore; for Louisiana, the coastline is defined as the Chapman Line, as modified by subsequent adjudication).
Offsite-produced energy for heat, power, and electricity generation: This measure of energy consumption, which is equivalent to purchased energy includes energy produced off-site and consumed onsite. It excludes energy produced and consumed onsite, energy used as raw material input, and electricity losses.
Offsystem (natural gas): Natural gas that is transported to the end user by the company making final delivery of the gas to the end user. The end user purchases the gas from another company, such as a producer or marketer, not from the delivering company (typically a local distribution company or a pipeline company).
OGJ: The Oil & Gas Journal
Ohm's Law: In a given electrical circuit, the amount of current in amperes is equal to the pressure in volts divided by the resistance, in ohms. The principle is named after the German scientist Georg Simon Ohm.
Ohm: A measure of the electrical resistance of a material equal to the resistance of a circuit in which the potential difference of 1 volt produces a current of 1 ampere.
Oil company use: Includes sales to drilling companies, pipelines or other related oil companies not engaged in the selling of petroleum products. Includes fuel oil that was purchased or produced and used by company facilities for the operation of drilling equipment, other field or refinery operations, and space heating at petroleum refineries, pipeline companies, and oil-drilling companies. Oil used to bunker vessels is counted under vessel bunkering. Sales to other oil companies for field use are included, but sales for use as refinery charging stocks are excluded.
[oil content (D721)-0.5 percent maximum;
[oil content (D721)-0.51 percent minimum to 15 percent maximum.
Oil reservoir: An underground pool of liquid consisting of hydrocarbons, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen trapped within a geological formation and protected from evaporation by the overlying mineral strata.
Oil shale: A sedimentary rock containing kerogen, a solid organic material.
Oil stocks: Oil stocks include crude oil (including strategic reserves), unfinished oils, natural gas plant liquids, and refined petroleum products.
Oil well (casing head) gas: Associated and dissolved gas produced along with crude oil from oil completions.
Oil well: A well completed for the production of crude oil from at least one oil zone or reservoir.
Oil: A mixture of hydrocarbons usually existing in the liquid state in natural underground pools or reservoirs. Gas is often found in association with oil. Also see Petroleum.
OIRA: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Old field: A field discovered prior to the report year.
Old reservoir: A reservoir discovered prior to the report year.
Olefinic hydrocarbons (olefins): Unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds with the general formula CnH2n containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double-bond. Olefins are produced at crude oil refineries and petrochemical plants and are not naturally occurring constituents of oil and natural gas. Sometimes referred to as alkenes or unsaturated hydrocarbons. Excludes aromatics.
OMB: Office of Management and Budget
On-highway use (diesel): Includes sales for use in motor vehicles. Volumes used by companies in the marketing and distribution of petroleum products are also included.
On-peak: Periods of relatively high system demand. These periods often occur in daily, weekly, and seasonal patterns; these on-peak periods differ for each individual electric utility.
On-system sales: Sales to customers where the delivery point is a point on, or directly interconnected with, a transportation, storage, and/or distribution system operated by the reporting company.
On-system: Any point on or directly interconnected with a transportation, storage, or distribution system operated by a natural gas company.
One sun: Natural solar insulation falling on an object without concentration or diffusion of the solar rays.
One-time fee: The fee assessed a nuclear utility for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) or solidified high-level radioactive waste derived from SNF, which fuel was used to generate electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor prior to April 7, 1983, and which isassessed by applying industry-wide average dollar-per-kilogram charges to four distinct ranges of fuel burn up so that equivalent to an industry-wide average charge of 1.0 mill per kilowatthour.
Onsite transportation: The direct nonprocess end use that includes energy used in vehicles and transportation equipment that primarily consume energy within the boundaries of the establishment. Energy used in vehicles that are found primarily offsite, such as delivery trucks, is not measured by the MECS (an EIA survey).
Onsystem (natural gas): Natural gas that is sold (and transported) to the end user by the company making final delivery of the gas to the end user. Companies that make final delivery of natural gas are typically local distribution companies or pipeline companies.
OOIP: Original oil in place
OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries): An intergovernmental organization whose stated objective is to "coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of member countries." It was created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10-14, 1960. Current members (with years of membership) include:
OPEC: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
OPEC: See Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Open access (electric): Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order No. 888 requires public utilities to provide non-discriminatory transmission service over their transmission facilities to third parties to move bulk power from one point to another on a nondiscriminatory basis for a cost-based fee. Order 890 expanded Open Access to cover the methodology for calculating available transmission transfer capability; improvements that opened a coordinated transmission planning processes; standardization of energy and generation imbalance charges; and other reforms regarding the designation and undesignation of transmission network resources. See NERC definition.
Open access transmission tariff (electric): Electronic transmission tariff accepted by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requiring the Transmission Service Provider to furnish to all shippers with non-discriminating service comparable to that provided by Transmission Owners to themselves. See NERC definition.
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.
Open Market Coal: Coal sold in the open market (i.e., coal sold to companies other than in the reporting company’s parent company or an operating subsidiary of the parent company).
Open refrigeration unit: Refrigeration in cabinets (units) without covers or with flexible covers made of plastic or some other material, hung in strips or curtains (fringed material, usually plastic, that push aside like a bead curtain). Flexible covers stop the flow of warm air into the refrigerated space.
[Open-pit coal mining is essentially a combination of contour and area mining methods and is used to mine thick, steeply inclined coalbeds. The overburden is removed by power shovels and trucks.
Operable capacity: The amount of capacity that, at the beginning of the period, is in operation; not in operation and not under active repair, but capable of being placed in operation within 30 days; or not in operation but under active repair that can be completed within 90 days. Operable capacity is the sum of the operating and idle capacity and is measured in barrels per calendar day or barrels per stream day.
Operable generators/units: Electric generators or generating units that are available to provide power to the grid or generating units that have been providing power to the grid but are temporarily shut down. This includes units in standby status, units out of service for an indefinite period, and new units that have their construction complete and are ready to provide test generation. A nuclear unit is operable once it receives its Full Power Operating License.
Operable nuclear unit (foreign): A nuclear generating unit outside the United States that generates electricity for a grid.
Operable nuclear unit (U.S.): A U.S. nuclear generating unit that has completed low-power testing and is in possession of a full-power operating license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Operable refineries: Refineries that were in one of the following three categories at the beginning of a given year in operation; not in operation and not under active repair, but capable of being placed into operation within 30 days; or not in operation, but under active repair that could be completed within 90 days.
Operable unit: A unit available to provide electric power to the grid. See definition for operating unit.
Operable utilization rate: Represents the use of the atmospheric crude oil distillation units. The rate is calculated by dividing the gross input to these units by the operable refining capacity of the units.
Operated: Exercised management responsibility for the day-to-day operations of natural gas production, gathering, treating, processing, transportation, storage, and/or distribution facilities and/or a synthetic natural gas plant.
Operating capacity: The component of operable capacity that is in operation at the beginning of the period.
Operating day: A normal business day. Days when a company conducts business due to emergencies or other unexpected events are not included.
Operating expenses: Segment expenses related both to revenue from sales to unaffiliated customers and revenue from intersegment sales or transfers, excluding loss on disposition of property, plant, and equipment; interest expenses and financial charges; foreign currency translation effects; minority interest; and income taxes.
Operating income: Operating revenues less operating expenses. Excludes items of other revenue and expense, such as equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates, dividends, interest income and expense, income taxes, extraordinary items, and cumulative effects of accounting changes.
Operating revenues: Segment revenues both from sales to unaffiliated customers (i.e., revenue from customers outside the enterprise as reported in the company's consolidated income statement) and from intersegment sales or transfers, if any, of product and services similar to those sold to unaffiliated customers, excluding equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates; dividend and interest income; gain on disposition of property, plant, and equipment; and foreign currency translation effects.
Operating subsidiary: Company that operates a coal mining operation and is owned by another company (i.e., the parent company).
Operating unit: A unit that is in operation at the beginning of the reporting period.
Operating utilization rate: Represents the use of the atmospheric crude oil distillation units. The rate is calculated by dividing the gross input to these units by the operating refining capacity of the units.
Operator, gas plant: The person responsible for the management and day-to-day operation of one or more natural gas processing plants as of December 31 of the report year. The operator is generally a working-interest owner or a company under contract to the working-interest owner(s). Plants shut down during the report year are also to be considered "operated" as of December 31
Operator, oil and/or gas well: The person responsible for the management and day-to-day operation of one or more crude oil and/or natural gas wells as of December 31 of the report year. The operator is generally a working-interest owner or a company under contract to the working-interest owner(s). Wells included are those that have proved reserves of crude oil, natural gas, and/or lease condensate in the reservoirs associated with them, whether or not they are producing. Wells abandoned during the report year are also to be considered "operated" as of December 31.
OPRG: Oxygenated fuels Program Reformulated Gasoline is reformulated gasoline that is intended for use in an oxygenated fuels program control area during an oxygenated fuels program control period.
OPS: Optimized Program Service, Inc.
Optional delivery commitment: A provision to allow the conditional purchase or sale of a specific quantity of material in addition to the firm quantity in the contract.
OPUC: Oregon Public Utilties Commission
[or
ORA: Office of Ratepayer Advocates
Order: A ruling issued by a utility commission granting or denying an application in whole or in part. The order explains the basis for the decision, noting any dispute with the factual assertions of the applicant. Also applied to a final regulation of a utility commission.
Organic content: The share of a substance that is of animal or plant origin.
Organic waste: Waste material of animal or plant origin.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): An international organization helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalized economy. Its membership comprises about 30 member countries. With active relationships with some 70 other countries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, it has a global reach. For details about the organization, visit http://www.oecd.org.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Original cost: The initial amount of money spent to acquire an asset. It is equal to the price paid, or present value of the liability incurred, or fair value of stock issued, plus normal incidental costs necessary to put the asset into its initial use.
Original equipment manufacturer (OEM): A company that provides the original design and materials for manufacture and engages in the assembly of vehicles. The OEM is directly responsible for manufacturing, marketing, and providing warranties for the finished product.
Original equipment manufacturer vehicle: A vehicle produced and marketed by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), including gasoline and diesel vehicles as well as alternative-fuel vehicles. A vehicle manufactured by an OEM but converted to an alternative-fuel vehicle before its initial delivery to an end-user (for example, through a contract between a conversion company and the OEM) is considered to be an OEM vehicle as long as that vehicle is still covered under the OEM's warranty.
ORNL: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
OSB: Oversight Board
OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (or Act)
OTEC: See Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.
[other +20 color, Saybolt minimum.
Other capital costs: Costs for items or activities not included elsewhere under capital-cost tabulations, such as for and decommissioning, dismantling, and reclamation.
Other demand-side management (DSM) assistance programs: A DSM program assistance that includes alternative-rate, fuel-switching, and any other DSM assistance programs that are offered to consumers to encourage their participation in DSM programs.
Other end users: For motor gasoline, all direct sales to end users other than those made through company outlets. For No. 2 distillate, all direct sales to end users other than residential, commercial/institutional, industrial sales, and sales through company outlets. Included in the "other end users" category are sales to utilities and agricultural users.
Other energy operations: Energy operations not included under Petroleum or Coal. "Other energy" includes nuclear, oil shale, tar sands, coal liquefaction and gasification, geothermal, solar, and other forms of on conventional energy.
Other finished: Motor gasoline not included in the oxygenated or reformulated gasoline categories.
Other gas: Includes manufactured gas, coke-oven gas, blast-furnace gas, and refinery gas. Manufactured gas is obtained by distillation of coal, by the thermal decomposition of oil, or by the reaction of steam passing through a bed of heated coal or coke.
Other generation: Electricity originating from these sources biomass, fuel cells, geothermal heat, solar power, waste, wind, and wood.
Other Hydrocarbons: Materials received by a refinery and consumed as a raw material. Includes hydrogen, coal tar derivatives, gilsonite. Excludes natural gas used for fuel or hydrogen feedstock.
Other industrial plant: Industrial users, not including coke plants, engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products (manufacturing); and companies engaged in the agriculture, mining, or construction industries.
Other load management: Demand-Side Management (DSM) program other than Direct Load Control and Interruptible Load that limits or shifts peak load from on-peak to off-peak time periods. It includes technologies that primarily shift all or part of a load from one time-of-day to another and secondarily may have an impact on energy consumption. Examples include space heating and water heating storage systems, cool storage systems, and load limiting devices in energy management systems. This category also includes programs that aggressively promote time-of-use rates and other innovative rates such as real time pricing. These rates are intended to reduce consumer bills and shift hours of operation of equipment from on-peak to off-peak periods through the application of time-differentiated rates.
Other oils equal to or greater than 401 degrees Fahrenheit: Oils with a boiling range equal to or greater than 401 degrees Fahrenheit that are intended for use as a petrochemical feedstock.
Other operating costs: Costs for other items or activities not included elsewhere in operating-cost tabulations, but required to support the calculation of a cutoff grade for ore reserves estimation.
Other oxygenates: Other aliphatic alcohols and aliphatic ethers intended for motor gasoline blending (e.g., isopropylether (IPE) or n-propanol).
Other power producers: Independent power producers that generate electricity and cogeneration plants that are not included in the other industrial, coke and commercial sectors.
Other refiners: Refiners with a total refinery capacity in the United States and its possessions of less than 275,000 barrels per day as of January 1, 1982.
Other service to public authorities: Electricity supplied to municipalities, divisions or agencies of state or Federal governments, under special contracts or agreements or service classifications applicable only to public authorities.
Other single-unit truck: A motor vehicle consisting primarily of a single motorized device with more than two axles or more than four tires.
Other supply contracts: Any contracted gas supply other than owned reserves, producer-contracted reserves, and interstate pipeline purchases that are used for acts and services for which the company has received certificate authorization from FERC. Purchases from intrastate pipelines pursuant to Section 311(b) of the NGPA of 1978 are included with other supply contracts.
[Other tests include the determination of the ash softening temperature, the ash fusion temperature (the temperature at which the ash forms clinkers or slag), the free swelling index (a guide to a coal's coking characteristics), the Gray King test (which determines the suitability of coal for making coke), and the Hardgrove grindability index (a measure of the ease with which coal can be pulverized). In a petrographic analysis, thin sections of coal or highly polished blocks of coal are studied with a microscope to determine the physical composition, both for scientific purposes and for estimating the rank and coking potential.
Other trucks/vans: Those trucks and vans that weigh more than 8,500 lbs GVW.
Other unavailable capability: Net capability of main generating units that are unavailable for load for reasons other than full-forced outage or scheduled maintenance. Legal restrictions or other causes make these units unavailable.
[Other. Sales for off-highway uses other than construction. Sales for logging are included in this category. Volumes for off-highway use by the agriculture industry are reported under "Farm Use" (which includes sales for use in tractors, irrigation pumps, other agricultural machinery, etc.)
Other: The "other" category is defined as representing electricity consumers not elsewhere classified. This category includes public street and highway lighting service, public authority service to public authorities, railroad and railway service, and interdepartmental services.
Outage: The period during which a generating unit, transmission line, or other facility is out of service.
Outer Continental Shelf: Offshore Federal domain.
Output: The amount of power or energy produced by a generating unit, station, or system.
Oven: An appliance that is an enclosed compartment supplied with heat and used for cooking food. Toaster ovens are not considered ovens. The range stove top or burners and the oven are considered two separate appliances, although they are often purchased as one appliance.
Overburden ratio: Overburden ratio refers to the amount of overburden that must be removed to excavate a given quantity of coal. It is commonly expressed in cubic yards per ton of coal, but is sometimes expressed as a ratio comparing the thickness of the overburden with the thickness of the coalbed.
Overburden: Any material, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a coal deposit.
Overriding royalty: A royalty interest, in addition to the basic royalty, created out of the working interest; it is, therefore, limited in its duration to the life of the lease under which it is created.
Owned reserves: Any reserve of natural gas that the reporting company owns as a result of oil and gas leases, fee-mineral ownership, royalty reservations, or lease or royalty reservations and assignments committed to services under certificate authorizations by FERC. Company-owned recoverable natural gas in underground storage is classified as owned reserves.
Owned/rented: (As used in EIA's consumption surveys.) The relationship of a housing unit's occupants to the structure itself, not the land on which the structure is located. "Owned" means the owner or co-owner is a member of the household and the housing unit is either fully paid for or mortgaged. A household is classified "rented" even if the rent is paid by someone not living in the unit. "Rent-free" means the unit is not owned or being bought and no money is paid or contracted for rent. Such units are usually provided in exchange for services rendered or as an allowance or favor from a relative or friend not living in the unit. Unless shown separately, rent-free households are grouped with rented households.
Owner occupied: (As used in EIA's consumption surveys.) Having the owner or the owner's business represented at the site. A building is considered owner occupied if an employee or representative of the owner (such as a building engineer or building manager) maintains office space in the building. Similarly, a chain store is considered owner occupied even though the actual owner may not be in the building but headquartered elsewhere. Other examples of the owner's business occupying a building include State-owned university buildings, elementary and secondary schools owned by a public school district, and a post office where the building is owned by the U.S. Postal Service.
Owners equity: Interest of the owners in the assets of the business represented by capital contributions and retained earnings.
Ownership of building: (As used in EIA's consumption surveys.) The individual, agency, or organization that owns the building. For certain EIA consumption surveys, building ownership is grouped into the following categories Federal, State, or local government agency; a privately owned utility company; a church, synagogue, or other religious group; or any other type of individual or group.
Ownership: (See Owned/rented.)
Oxidize: To chemically transform a substance by combining it with oxygen.
Oxygenated gasoline (includes Gasohol): Finished motor gasoline, other than reformulated gasoline, having an oxygen content of 1.8 percent or higher by weight. This includes gasohol irrespective of where it is consumed.
Oxygenated gasoline: Finished motor gasoline, other than reformulated gasoline, having an oxygen content of 2.7percent or higher by weight and required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be sold in areas designated by EPA as carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment areas. See Nonattainment area.
Oxygenates: Substances which, when added to gasoline, increase the amount of oxygen in that gasoline blend. Fuel ethanol, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE), Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE), and methanol are common oxygenates.
Ozone precursors: Chemical compounds, such as carbon monoxide, methane, non methane hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides, which in the presence of solar radiation react with other chemical compounds to form ozone.
Ozone: A molecule made up of three atoms of oxygen. Occurs naturally in the stratosphere and provides a protective layer shielding the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the troposphere, it is a chemical oxidant, a greenhouse gas, and a major component of photochemical smog.
P/Q: Hubbert Production "P" to Cumulative Production "Q"
[Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.
Packaged air conditioning units: Usually mounted on the roof or on a slab beside the building. (These are known as self-contained units, or Direct Expansion (DX). They contain air conditioning equipment as well as fans, and may or may not include heating equipment.) These are self-contained units that contain the equipment that generates cool air and the equipment that distributes the cooled air. These units commonly consume natural gas or electricity. The units are mounted on the roof top, exposed to the elements. They typically blow cool air into the building through duct work, but other types of distribution systems may exist. The units usually serve more than one room. There are often several units on the roof of a single building. Also known as Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners (PTAC). These packaged units are often constructed as a single unit for heating and for cooling.
Packaged units: Units built and assembled at a factory and installed as a self-contained unit to heat or cool all or portions of a building. Packaged units are in contrast to engineer-specified units built up from individual components for use in a given building. Packaged Units can apply to heating equipment, cooling equipment, or combined heating and cooling equipment. Some types of electric packaged units are also called "Direct Expansion" or DX units.
PAD Districts or PADD: See Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts.
[PADD 1 (East Coast):
[PADD 1A (New England): Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
[PADD 1B (Central Atlantic): Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
[PADD 1C (Lower Atlantic): Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
[PADD 2 (Midwest): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
[PADD 3 (Gulf Coast): Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas.
[PADD 4 (Rocky Mountain): Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.
[PADD 5 (West Coast): Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Parabolic dish: A high-temperature (above 180 degrees Fahrenheit) solar thermal concentrator, generally bowl-shaped, with two-axis tracking.
Parabolic trough: A high-temperature (above 180 degrees Fahrenheit) solar thermal concentrator with the capacity for tracking the sun using one axis of rotation.
Paraffin (oil): A light-colored, wax-free oil obtained by pressing paraffin distillate.
Paraffin (wax): The wax removed from paraffin distillates by chilling and pressing. When separating from solutions, it is a colorless, more or less translucent, crystalline mass, without odor and taste, slightly greasy to touch, and consisting of a mixture of solid hydrocarbons in which the paraffin series predominates.
Paraffinic hydrocarbons: Saturated hydrocarbon compounds with the general formula CnH2n+2 containing only single bonds. Sometimes referred to as alkanes or natural gas liquids.
[Parent - A firm that is not directly or indirectly controlled by another entity.
[Parent and Affiliated Firms - A parent and those firms that are its consolidated and/or unconsolidated entities.
[Parent and its Consolidated Entities - A parent and those firms (if any) that are affiliated with the parent entity for purposes of financial statements prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). An individual shall be deemed to control a firm that is directly or indirectly controlled by him/her or by his/her father, mother, spouse, children, or grandchildren.
Parent and its Consolidated Entities: A parent and those firms (if any) that are affiliated with the parent entity for purposes of financial statements prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). An individual shall be deemed to control a firm that is directly or indirectly controlled by him/her or by his/her father, mother, spouse, children, or grandchildren. See firm.
Parent company: An affiliated company that exercises ultimate control over a business entity, either directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries.
Parent: A firm that directly or indirectly controls another entity.
Partial requirements consumer: A wholesale consumer with generating resources insufficient to carry all its load and whose energy seller is a long-term firm power source supplemental to the consumer's own generation or energy received from others. The terms and conditions of sale are similar to those for a full requirements consumer.
Particulate: A small, discrete mass of solid or liquid matter that remains individually dispersed in gas or liquid emissions. Particulates take the form of aerosol, dust, fume, mist, smoke, or spray. Each of these forms has different properties.
Parting: A layer of rock within a coalbed that lies roughly parallel to the coalbed and has the effect of splitting the bed into two divisions.
Passenger-miles traveled: The total distance traveled by all passengers. It is calculated as the product of the occupancy rate in vehicles and the vehicle miles traveled.
Passive solar heating: A solar heating system that uses no external mechanical power, such as pumps or blowers, to move the collected solar heat.
Payables to municipality: The amounts payable by the utility department to the municipality or its other departments that are subject to current settlement.
Payment method for utilities: The method by which fuel suppliers or utility companies are paid for all electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, kerosene, or liquefied petroleum gas used by a household. Households that pay the utility company directly are classified as "all paid by household." Households that pay directly for at least one but not all of their fuels used and that has at least one fuel charge included in the rent were classified as "some paid, some included in rent." Households for which all fuels used are included in rent were classified as "all included in rent." If the household did not fall into one of these categories, it was classified as "other." Examples of households falling into the "other" category are (1)households for which fuel bills were paid by a social service agency or a relative, and (2) households that paid for some of their fuels used but paid for other fuels through another arrangement.
PBL: Power Business Line of BPA
PBP: payback period
PBR: pebble-bed reactor
PBR: Performance-Based Rates
PC: product class
PCB: PolyChlorinated Biphenyl
PCI: Per Capita Income
PDCI: Pacific DC Intertie
Peak day withdrawal: The maximum daily withdrawal rate (Mcf/d) experienced during the reporting period.
Peak demand: The maximum load during a specified period of time.
Peak kilowatt: One thousand peak watts.
Peak load month: The month of greatest plant electrical generation during the winter heating season (Oct-Mar) and summer cooling season (Apr-Sept), respectively.
Peak load plant: A plant usually housing old, low-efficiency steam units, gas turbines, diesels, or pumped-storage hydroelectric equipment normally used during the peak-load periods.
Peak load: The maximum load during a specified period of time.
Peak megawatt: One million peak watts.
Peak watt: A manufacturer's unit indicating the amount of power a photovoltaic cell or module will produce at standard test conditions (normally 1,000 watts per square meter and 25 degrees Celsius).
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.
Peat: Peat consists of partially decomposed plant debris. It is considered an early stage in the development of coal. Peat is distinguished from lignite by the presence of free cellulose and a high moisture content (exceeding 70 percent). The heat content of air-dried peat (about 50 percent moisture) is about 9 million Btu per ton. Most U.S. peat is used as a soil conditioner. The first U.S. electric power plant fueled by peat began operation in Maine in 1990.
[Pennsylvania Anthracite. All mines in the following counties: Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Sullivan, and Susquehanna. All anthracite mines in Bradford County.
[Pennsylvania Bituminous. All mines located in the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, Somerset, Venango, Washington, and Westmoreland, and all bituminous mines in Bradford County.
Pentanes plus: A mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, mostly pentanes and heavier, extracted from natural gas in a gas processing plant. Pentanes plus is equivalent to natural gasoline.
Percent difference: The relative change in a quantity over a specified time period. It is calculated as follows: the current value has the previous value subtracted from it; this new number is divided by the absolute value of the previous value; then this new number is multiplied by 100.
Percent utilization: The ratio of total production to productive capacity, times 100.
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs): A group of man-made chemicals composed of one or two carbon atoms and four to six fluorine atoms, containing no chlorine. PFCs have no commercial uses and are emitted as a byproduct of aluminum smelting and semiconductor manufacturing. PFCs have very high 100-year Global Warming Potentials and are very long-lived in the atmosphere.
Perfluoromethane: A compound (CF4) emitted as a byproduct of aluminum smelting.
Permanently discharged fuel: Spent nuclear fuel for which there are no plans for reinsertion in the reactor core.
Permeability: The ease with which fluid flows through a porous medium.
Persian Gulf: The countries that surround the Persian Gulf are: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. See http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/pgulf.html for more information.
Person-year: One whole year, or fraction thereof, worked by an employee, including contracted man power. Expressed as a quotient (to two decimal places) of the time units worked during a year (hours, weeks, or months) divided by the like total time units in a year. For example: 80 hours worked is 0.04 (rounded) of a person-year; 8 weeks worked is 0.15 (rounded) of a person-year; 12 months worked is 1 person-year. Contracted manpower includes survey crews, drilling crews, consultants, and other persons who worked under contract to support a firm's ongoing operations.
Person: An individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a business trust, or an unincorporated organization.
Personal computer: A microcomputer for producing written, programmed, or coded material; playing games; or doing calculations. Laptop and notebook computers are excluded for the purposes of EIA surveys.
Petrochemical feedstocks: Chemical feedstocks derived from refined or partially refined petroleum fraction, principally for use in the manufacturing of chemicals, synthetic rubber, and a variety of plastics.
Petrochemicals: Organic and in organic compounds and mixtures that include but are not limited to organic chemicals, cyclic intermediates, plastics and resins, synthetic fibers, elastomers, organic dyes, organic pigments, detergents, surface active agents, carbon black, and ammonia.
Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD): A geographic aggregation of the 50 States and the District of Columbia into five Districts, with PADD 1 further split into three subdistricts. The PADDs include the States listed below:
Petroleum and other liquids: All petroleum including crude oil and products of petroleum refining, natural gas liquids, biofuels, and liquids derived from other hydrocarbon sources (including coal to liquids and gas to liquids). Not included are liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid hydrogen. See liquid fuels.
Petroleum coke, catalyst: The carbonaceous residue that is deposited on the catalyst used in many catalytic operations (e.g., catalytic cracking). Carbon is deposited on the catalyst, thus deactivating the catalyst. The catalyst is reactivated by burning off the carbon producing heat and CO2. The carbonaceous residue is not recoverable as a product.
Petroleum coke, marketable: Those grades of coke produced in delayed or fluid cokers that may be recovered as relatively pure carbon. Marketable petroleum coke may be sold as is or further purified by calcining.
Petroleum coke: See Coke (petroleum).
Petroleum consumption: See Products supplied
Petroleum imports: Imports of petroleum into the 50 states and the District of Columbia from foreign countries and from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories and possessions. Included are imports for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and withdrawals from bonded warehouses for onshore consumption, offshore bunker use, and military use. Excluded are receipts of foreign petroleum into bonded warehouses and into U.S. territories and U.S. Foreign Trade Zones.
Petroleum jelly: A semi-solid oily product produced from de-waxing lubricating oil basestocks.
Petroleum products: Petroleum products are obtained from the processing of crude oil (including lease condensate), natural gas, and other hydrocarbon compounds. Petroleum products include unfinished oils, liquefied petroleum gases, pentanes plus, aviation gasoline, motor gasoline, naphtha-type jet fuel, kerosene-type jet fuel, kerosene, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, petrochemical feedstocks, special naphthas, lubricants, waxes, petroleum coke, asphalt, road oil, still gas, and miscellaneous products.
Petroleum refinery: An installation that manufactures finished petroleum products from crude oil, unfinished oils, natural gas liquids, other hydrocarbons, and alcohol.
Petroleum stocks, primary: For individual products, quantities that are held at refineries, in pipelines and at bulk terminals that have a capacity of 50,000 barrels or more, or that are in transit thereto. Stocks held by product retailers and resellers, as well as tertiary stocks held at the point of consumption, are excluded. Stocks of individual products held at gas processing plants are excluded from individual product estimates but are included in other oils estimates and total.
Petroleum: A broadly defined class of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures. Included are crude oil, lease condensate, unfinished oils, refined products obtained from the processing of crude oil, and natural gas plant liquids. Note: Volumes of finished petroleum products include non hydrocarbon compounds, such as additives and detergents, after they have been blended into the products.
PFCs: See Perfluorocarbons
PG&E: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
PGA: Purchased Gas Adjustment
PGC: Public Goods Charge
PGE: Portland General Electric
PGP: Public Generating Pool
pH: A measure of acidity or alkalinity. A pH of 7 represents neutrality. Acid substances have lower pH. Basic substances have higher pH.
PHC(S): Prehearing Conference (Statement)
Photosynthesis: The manufacture by plants of carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll, with sunlight as the energy source. Carbon is sequestered and oxygen and water vapor are released in the process.
Photovoltaic and solar thermal energy (as usedat electric utilities): Energy radiated by the sun as electromagnetic waves (electromagnetic radiation) that is converted at electric utilities into electricity by means of solar (photovoltaic) cells or concentrating (focusing) collectors.
Photovoltaic cell (PVC): An electronic device consisting of layers of semiconductor materials fabricated to form a junction (adjacent layers of materials with different electronic characteristics) and electrical contacts and being capable of converting incident light directly into electricity (direct current).
Photovoltaic cell net shipments: Represents the difference between photovoltaic cell shipments and photovoltaic cell purchases.
Photovoltaic module: An integrated assembly of interconnected photovoltaic cells designed to deliver a selected level of working voltage and current at its output terminals, packaged for protection against environmental degradation, and suited for incorporation in photovoltaic power systems.
PIER Program: Public Interest Energy Research Program
PIFUA: Federal Powerplant & Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978
Pig iron: Crude, high-carbon iron produced by reduction of iron ore in a blast furnace.
Pipeline (natural gas): A continuous pipe conduit, complete with such equipment as valves, compressor stations, communications systems, and meters for transporting natural and/or supplemental gas from one point to another, usually from a point in or beyond the producing field or processing plant to another pipeline or to points of utilization. Also refers to a company operating such facilities.
Pipeline (petroleum): Crude oil and product pipelines used to transport crude oil and petroleum products, respectively (including interstate, intrastate, and intracompany pipelines), within the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Pipeline freight: Refers to freight carried through pipelines, including natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum products (excluding water). Energy is consumed by various electrical components of the pipeline, including, valves, other, appurtenances attaches to the pipe, compressor units, metering stations, regulator stations, delivery stations, holders and fabricated assemblies.
Pipeline fuel: Gas consumed in the operation of pipelines, primarily in compressors.
Pipeline purchases: Gas supply contracted from and volumes purchased from other natural gas companies as defined by the Natural Gas Act, as amended (52 Stat. 821), excluding independent producers, as defined in Paragraph 154.91(a), Chapter I, Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Pipeline quality natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbon compounds existing in the gaseous phase with sufficient energy content, generally above 900 British thermal units, and a small enough share of impurities for transport through commercial gas pipelines and sale to end-users.
Pipeline, distribution: A pipeline that conveys gas from a transmission pipeline to its ultimate consumer.
Pipeline, gathering: A pipeline that conveys gas from a production well/field to a gas processing plant or transmission pipeline for eventual delivery to end-use consumers.
Pipeline, transmission: A pipeline that conveys gas from a region where it is produced to a region where it is to be distributed.
Pipelines, rate regulated: FRS (Financial Reporting System Survey) establishes three pipeline segments: crude/liquid (raw materials); natural gas; and refined products. The pipelines included in these segments are all federally or State rate-regulated pipeline operations, which are included in the reporting company's consolidated financial statements. However, at the reporting company's option, intrastate pipeline operations may be included in the U.S. Refining/Marketing Segment if they would comprise less than 5 percent of U.S. Refining/Marketing Segment net PPE, revenues, and earnings in the aggregate; and if the inclusion of such pipelines in the consolidated financial statements adds less than $100 million to the net PPE reported for the U.S. Refining/Marketing Segment.
Pitcheblende: Uranium oxide (U3O8). It is the main component of high-grade African or domestic uranium ore and also contains other oxides and sulfides, including radium, thorium, and lead components.
Place in service: A vehicle is placed in service if that vehicle is new to the fleet and has not previously been in service for the fleet. These vehicles can be acquired as additional vehicles (increases the size of the company fleet), or as replacement vehicles to replace vehicles that are being retired from service (does not increase the size of the company fleet).
Planetary albedo: The fraction of incident solar radiation that is reflected by the Earth-atmosphere system and returned to space, mostly by back scatter from clouds in the atmosphere.
Planned generator: A proposal by a company to install electric generating equipment at an existing or planned facility or site. The proposal is based on the owner having obtained either (1) all environmental and regulatory approvals, (2) a signed contract for the electric energy, or (3) financial closure for the facility.
Planning authority (electric): The responsible entity that coordinates and integrates transmission facility and service plans, resource plans, and protection systems. NERC definition
Plant condensate: Liquid hydrocarbons recovered at inlet separators or scrubbers in natural gas processing plants at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperatures. Mostly pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons.
Plant hours connected to load: The number of hours the plant is synchronized to load over a time interval usually of 1 year.
Plant liquids: Those volumes of natural gas liquids recovered in natural gas processing plants.
Plant or gas processing plant: A facility designated to achieve the recovery of natural gas liquids from the stream of natural gas, which may or may not have been processed through lease separators and field facilities, and to control the quality of the natural gas to be marketed.
Plant products: Natural gas liquids recovered from natural gas processing plants (and in some cases from field facilities), including ethane, propane, butane, butane-propane mixtures, natural gasoline, plant condensate, and lease condensate.
Plant use: The electric energy used in the operation of a plant. Included is the energy required for pumping at pump-storage plants.
Plant-use electricity: The electric energy used in the operation of a plant. This energy total is subtracted from the gross energy production of the plant.
Plant: A term commonly used either as a synonym for an industrial establishment or a generating facility or to refer to a particular process within an establishment.
Play : A set of known or postulated oil and gas accumulations sharing similar geologic, geographic, and temporal properties, such as source rock, migration pathway, timing, trapping mechanism, and hydrocarbon type. A play differs from an assessment unit; an assessment unit can include one or more plays. A play is often used to refer to a natural gas accumulation, i.e., a natural gas shale play. http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/WEcont/chaps/GL.pdf
Plugged-back footage: Under certain conditions, drilling operations may be continued to a greater depth than that at which a potentially productive formation is found. If production is not established at the greater depth, the well may be completed in the shallower formation. Except in special situations, the length of the well bore from the deepest depth at which the well is completed to the maximum depth drilled is defined as "plugged-back footage." Plugged-back footage is included in total footage drilled but is not reported separately.
Plutonium (Pu): A heavy, fissionable, radioactive, metallic element (atomic number 94) that occurs naturally in trace amounts. It can also result as a byproduct of the fission reaction in a uranium-fuel nuclear reactor and can be recovered for future use.
PM10: particulate matter 10 microns and smaller in diameter
PM2.5: particulate matter 2.5 microns and smaller in diameter
PM: particulate matter
PM: Project Manager
PMA: Power Marketing Authority
Pneumatic device: A device moved or worked by air pressure.
PNGC: Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative
PNUCC: Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee
PO: peak oil
Pole-mile: A unit of measuring the simple length of an electric transmission/distribution line/feeder carrying electric conductors, without regard to the number of conductors carried.
Pole/Tower type: The type of transmission line supporting structure.
Polystyrene: A polymer of styrene that is a rigid, transparent thermoplastic with good physical and electrical insulating properties, used in molded products, foams, and sheet materials.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC): A polymer of vinylchloride. Tasteless, odorless, insoluble in most organic solvents. A member of the family vinyl resin, used in soft flexible films for food packaging and in molded rigid products, such as pipes, fibers, upholstery, and bristles.
Pondage: The amount of water stored behind a hydroelectric dam of relatively small storage capacity; the dam is usually used for daily or weekly control of the flow of the river.
Pool site: One or more spent fuel storage pools that has a single cask loading area. Each dry cask storage area is considered a separate site.
Pool: In general, a reservoir. In certain situations, a pool may consist of more than one reservoir.
Population-weighted Degree Days: Heating or cooling degree days weighted by the population of the area in which the degree days are recorded. To compute national population-weighted degree days, the Nation is divided into nine Census regions comprised of from three to eight states that are assigned weights based on the ratio of the population of the region to the total population of the Nation. Degree day readings for each region are multiplied by the corresponding population weight for each region, and these products are then summed to arrive at the national population weighted degree day figure.
Pore space: The open spaces or voids of a rock taken collectively. It is a measure of the amount of liquid or gas that may be absorbed or yielded by a particular formation.
Portable electric heater: A heater that uses electricity and that can be picked up and moved.
Portable fan: Box fans, oscillating fans, table or floor fans, or other fans that can be moved.
Portable kerosene heater: A heater that uses kerosene and that can be picked up and moved.
Post-mining emissions: Emissions of methane from coal occurring after the coal has been mined, during transport or pulverization.
Potential consumption: The total amount of consumption that would have occurred had the intensity of consumption remained the same over a period of time.
Potential peak reduction: The potential annual peak load reduction (measured in kilowatts) that can be deployed from Direct Load Control, Interruptible Load, Other Load Management, and Other DSM Program activities. (Please note that Energy Efficiency and Load Building are not included in Potential Peak Reduction.) It represents the load that can be reduced either by the direct control of the utility system operator or by the consumer in response to a utility request to curtail load. It reflects the installed load reduction capability, as opposed to the Actual Peak Reduction achieved by participants, during the time of annual system peak load.
Pounds (district heat): A weight quantity of steam, also used to denote a quantity of energy in the form of steam. The amount of usable energy obtained from a pound of steam depends on its temperature and pressure at the point of consumption and on the drop in pressure after consumption.
[Powder River Basin: Consists of the Montana counties of Big Horn, Custer, Powder River, Rosebud, and Treasure and the Wyoming counties of Campbell, Converse, Crook, Johnson, Natrona, Niobrara, Sheridan, and Weston.
Power (electrical): An electric measurement unit of power called a voltampere is equal to the product of 1 volt and 1 ampere. This is equivalent to 1 watt for a direct current system, and a unit of apparent power is separated into real and reactive power. Real power is the work-producing part of apparent power that measures the rate of supply of energy and is denoted as kilowatts (kW). Reactive power is the portion of apparent power that does no work and is referred to as kilovars; this type of power must be supplied to mtrostatic equipment. Voltamperes are usually divided by 1,000 and called kilovoltamperes (kVA). Energy is denoted by the product of real power and the length of time utilized; this product is expressed as kilowatthours.
Power ascension: The period of time between a plant's initial fuel loading date and its date of first commercial operation (including the low-power testing period). Plants in the first operating cycle (the time from initial fuel loading to the first refueling), which lasts approximately 2 years, operate at an average capacity factor of about 40 percent.
Power exchange generation: Generation scheduled by the power exchange. See definition for power exchange.
Power exchange load: Load that has been scheduled by the power exchange and is received through the use of transmission or distribution facilities owned by participating transmission owners.
Power exchange: An entity providing a competitive spot market for electric power through day- and/or hour-ahead auction of generation and demand bids.
Power factor: The ratio of real power (kilowatt) to apparent power kilovolt-ampere for any given load and time.
Power loss: The difference between electricity input and output as a result of an energy transfer between two points.
Power marketers: Business entities engaged in buying and selling 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 (FERC) 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.
Power production plant: All the land and land rights, structures and improvements, boiler or reactor vessel equipment, engines and engine-driven generator, turbo generator units, accessory electric equipment, and miscellaneous power plant equipment are grouped together for each individual facility.
power shovel: removes overburden and loads coal by means of a digging bucket mounted at the end of an arm suspended from a broom. The shovel digs by pushing the bucket forward and upward. It does not dig below the level at which it stands.
Power transfer limit: The maximum power that can be transferred from one electric utility system to another without overloading any facility in either system.
Power: The rate of producing, transferring, or using energy, most commonly associated with electricity. Power is measured in watts and often expressed in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (mW). Also known as "real" or "active" power. See Active Power, Apparent Power, Reactive Power, Real Power
Powerhouse: A structure at a hydroelectric plant site that contains the turbine and generator.
ppb: parts per billion
PPC: Public Power Council
PPE, additions to: The current year's expenditures on property, plant, and equipment (PPE). The amount is predicated upon each reporting company's accounting practice. That is, accounting practices with regard to capitalization of certain items may differ across companies, and therefore this figure in FRS (Financial Reporting System) will be a function of each reporting company's policy.
PPHH: Persons Per Household
PPI: Producer Price Index
ppm: parts per million
ppmvd: parts per million by volume, dry
ppt: parts per thousand
PRC: California Public Resources Code
PRC: Public Resources Code
Prediscovery costs: All costs incurred in an extractive industry operation prior to the actual discovery of minerals in commercially recoverable quantities; normally includes prospecting, acquisition, and exploration costs and may include some development costs.
Pregnant solution: A solution containing dissolved extractable mineral that was leached from the ore; uranium leach solution pumped up from the underground ore zone though a production hole.
Preliminary permit (hydroelectric power): A single site permit granted by the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), which gives the recipient priority over anyone else to apply for a hydroelectric license. The preliminary permit enables the recipient to prepare a license application and conduct various studies for economic feasibility and environmental impacts. The period for a preliminary permit may extend to 3 years.
[Premium gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index, i.e., octane rating, greater than 90. Note: Octane requirements may vary by altitude.
Premium gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index, i.e., octane rating, greater than 90. Includes both leaded premium gasoline as well as unleaded premium gasoline. Note: Octane requirements may vary by altitude. See Octane Rating.
Preparation plant: A mining facility at which coal is crushed, screened, and mechanically cleaned.
Preproduction costs: Costs of prospecting for, acquiring, exploring, and developing mineral reserves incurred prior to the point when production of commercially recoverable quantities of minerals commences.
Pressurized-water reactor (PWR): A nuclear reactor in which heat is transferred from the core to a heat exchanger via water kept under high pressure, so that high temperatures can be maintained in the primary system without boiling the water. Steam is generated in a secondary circuit.
Preventive maintenance program for heating and/or cooling equipment: A HVAC conservation feature consisting of a program of routine inspection and service for the heating and/or cooling equipment. The inspection is performed on a regular basis, even if there are no apparent problems.
PRF: peak responsibility factor
Price: The amount of money or consideration-in-kind for which a service is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
Primary coal: All coal milled and, when necessary, washed and sorted.
Primary energy consumption expenditures: Expenditures for energy consumed in each of the four major end-use sectors, excluding energy in the form of electricity, plus expenditures by the electric utilities sector for energy used to generate electricity. There are no fuel-associated expenditures for associated expenditures for hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, photovoltaic and solar energy, or wind energy. Also excluded are the quantifiable consumption expenditures that are an integral part of process fuel consumption.
Primary energy consumption: Consumption of primary energy. (Energy sources that are produced from other energy sources, e.g., coal coke from coal, are included in primary energy consumption only if their energy content has not already been included as part of the original energy source. Thus, U.S. primary energy consumption does include net imports of coal coke, but not the coal coke produced from domestic coal.) The U.S. Energy Information Administration includes the following in U.S. primary energy consumption: coal consumption; coal coke net imports; petroleum consumption (petroleum products supplied, including natural gas plant liquids and crude oil burned as fuel); dry natural gas excluding supplemental gaseous fuels consumption; nuclear electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the nuclear plants heat rates); conventional hydroelectricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates); geothermal electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates), and geothermal heat pump energy and geothermal direct use energy; solar thermal and photovoltaic electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates), and solar thermal direct use energy; wind electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates); wood and wood-derived fuels consumption; biomass waste consumption; fuel ethanol and biodiesel consumption; losses and co-products from the production of fuel ethanol and biodiesel; and electricity net imports (converted to Btu using the electricity heat content of 3,412 Btu per kilowatthour).
Primary energy production: Production of primary energy. The U.S. Energy Information Administration includes the following in U.S. primary energy production: coal production, waste coal supplied, and coal refuse recovery; crude oil and lease condensate production; natural gas plant liquids production; dry natural gas excluding supplemental gaseous fuels production; nuclear electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the nuclear plant heat rates); conventional hydroelectricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates); geothermal electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates), and geothermal heat pump energy and geothermal direct use energy; solar thermal and photovoltaic electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates), and solar thermal direct use energy; wind electricity net generation (converted to Btu using the fossil-fuels plant heat rates); wood and wood-derived fuels consumption; biomass waste consumption; and biofuels feedstock.
Primary energy: Energy in the form that it is first accounted for in a statistical energy balance, before any transformation to secondary or tertiary forms of energy. For example, coal can be converted to synthetic gas, which can be converted to electricity; in this example, coal is primary energy, synthetic gas is secondary energy, and electricity is tertiary energy. See Primary energy production and Primary energy consumption.
Primary fuels: Fuels that can be used continuously. They can sustain the boiler sufficiently for the production of electricity.
Primary metropolitan statistical area (PMSA): A component area of a Consolidated metropolitan statistical area consisting of a large urbanized county or cluster of counties (cities and towns in New England) that demonstrate strong internal economic and social links in addition to close ties with the central core of the larger area. To qualify, an area must meet specified statistical criteria that demonstrate these links and have the support of local opinion.
Primary recovery: The crude oil or natural gas recovered by any method that may be employed to produce them where the fluid enters the well bore by the action of natural reservoir pressure(energy or gravity).
Primary transportation: Conveyance of large shipments of petroleum raw materials and refined products usually by pipeline, barge, or ocean-going vessel. All crude oil transportation is primary, including the small amounts moved by truck. All refined product transportation by pipeline, barge, or ocean-going vessel is primary transportation.
Prime mover: The engine, turbine, water wheel, or similar machine that drives an electric generator; or, for reporting purposes, a device that converts energy to electricity directly (e.g., photovoltaic solar and fuel cells).
Prime supplier: A firm that produces, imports, or transports selected petroleum products across State boundaries and local marketing areas, and sells the product to local distributors, local retailers, or end users.
Private fueling facility: A fueling facility which normally services only fleets and is not open to the general public.
Privately owned electric utility: A class of ownership found in the electric power industry where the utility is regulated and authorized to achieve an allowed rate of return.
Probable (indicated) reserves, coal: Reserves or resources for which tonnage and grade are computed partly from specific measurements, samples, or production data and partly from projection for a reasonable distance on the basis of geological evidence. The sites available are too widely or otherwise in appropriately spaced to permit the mineral bodies to be outlined completely or the grade established throughout.
Probable energy reserves: Estimated quantities of energy sources that, on the basis of geologic evidence that supports projections from proved reserves, can reasonably be expected to exist and be recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. Site information is insufficient to establish with confidence the location, quality, and grades of the energy source. Note: This term is equivalent to "Indicated Reserves" as defined in the resource/reserve classification contained in the U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831, 1980. Measured and indicated reserves, when combined, constitute demonstrated reserves.
Process cooling and refrigeration: The direct process end use in which energy is used to lower the temperature of substances involved in the manufacturing process. Examples include freezing processed meats for later sale in the food industry and lowering the temperature of chemical feedstocks below ambient temperature for use in reactions in the chemical industries. Not included are uses such as air-conditioning for personal comfort and cafeteria refrigeration.
Process fuel: All energy consumed in the acquisition, processing, and transportation of energy. Quantifiable process fuel includes three categories natural gas lease and plant operations, natural gas pipeline operations, and oil refinery operations.
Process heating or cooling demand-side management (DSM) program: A DSM program designed to promote increased electric energy efficiency applications in industrial process heating or cooling.
Process heating or cooling waste heatrecovery: An energy conservation system whereby some space heating or water heating is done by actively capturing byproduct heat that would otherwise be ejected into the environment. In nonresidential buildings, sources of waste heat include refrigeration/air-conditioner compressors, manufacturing or other processes, data processing centers, lighting fixtures, ventilation exhaust air, and the occupants themselves. Not to be considered is the passive use of radiant heat from lighting, workers, motors, ovens, etc., when there are no special systems for collecting and redistributing heat.
Processed gas: Natural gas that has gone through a processing plant.
Processing gain: The volumetric amount by which total output is greater than input for a given period of time. This difference is due to the processing of crude oil into products which, in total, have a lower specific gravity than the crude oil processed.
Processing loss: The volumetric amount by which total refinery output is less than input for a given period of time. This difference is due to the processing of crude oil into products which, in total, have a higher specific gravity than the crude oil processed.
Processing of uranium: The recovery of uranium produced by nonconventional mining methods, i.e., in situ leach mining, as a byproduct of copper or phosphate mining, or heap leaching.
Processing plant: A surface installation designed to separate and recover natural gas liquids from a stream of produced natural gas through the processes of condensation, absorption, adsorption, refrigeration, or other methods and to control the quality of natural gas marketed and/or returned to oil or gas reservoirs for pressure maintenance, repressuring, or cycling.
Processing: Uranium-recovery operations whether at a mill, an in situ leach, byproduct plant, or other type of recovery operation.
Producer and distributor coal stocks: Producer and distributor coal stocks consist of coal held in stock by producers/distributors at the end of a reporting period.
Producer contracted reserves: The volume of recoverable salable gas reserves committed to or controlled by the reporting pipeline company as the buyer in gas purchase contracts with the independent producer as seller, including warranty contracts, and which are used for acts and services for which the company has received certificate authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Producer: A company engaged in the production and sale of natural gas from gas or oil wells with delivery generally at a point at or near the wellhead, the field, or the tailgate of a gas processing plant. For the purpose of company classification, a company primarily engaged in the exploration for, development of, and/or production of oil and/or natural gas.
Producing property: A term often used in reference to a property, well, or mine that produces wasting natural resources. The term means a property that produces in paying quantities (that is, one for which proceeds from production exceed operating expenses).
[producing services related to the production of crude or natural gas.
Product supplied: Approximately represents consumption of petroleum products because it measures the disappearance of these products from primary sources, i.e., refineries, natural gas-processing plants, blending plants, pipelines, and bulk terminals. In general, product supplied of each product in any given period is computed as follows field production, plus refinery production, plus imports, plus unaccounted-for crude oil (plus net receipts when calculated on a PAD District basis) minus stock change, minus crude oil losses, minus refinery inputs, and minus exports.
Production capacity: The amount of product that can be produced from processing facilities.
Production costs: Costs incurred to operate and maintain wells and related equipment and facilities, including depreciation and applicable operating costs of support equipment and facilities and other costs of operating and maintaining those wells and related equipment and facilities. They become part of the cost of oil and gas produced. The following are examples of production costs (sometimes called lifting costs): costs of labor to operate the wells and related equipment and facilities; repair and maintenance costs; the costs of materials, supplies, and fuels consumed and services utilized in operating the wells and related equipment and facilities; the costs of property taxes and insurance applicable to proved properties and wells and related equipment and facilities; the costs of severance taxes. Depreciation, depletion, and amortization (DDA) of capitalized acquisition, exploration, and development costs are not production costs, but also become part of the cost of oil and gas produced along with production (lifting) costs identified above. Production costs include the following subcategories of costs: well workers and maintenance; operating fluid injections and improved recovery programs; operating gas processing plants; ad valorem taxes; production or severance taxes; other, including overhead.
Production expenses: Costs incurred in the production of electric power that conform to the accounting requirements of the Operation and Maintenance Expense Accounts of the FERC Uniform System of Accounts.
Production payments: A contractual arrangement providing a mineral interest that gives the owner a right to receive a fraction of production, or of proceeds from the sale of production, until a specified quantity of minerals (or a definite sum of money, including interest) has been received.
Production plant liquids: The volume of liquids removed from natural gas in natural gas processing plants or cycling plants during the year.
Production, crude oil: The volumes of crude oil that are extracted from oil reservoirs. These volumes are determined through measurement of the volumes delivered from lease storage tanks or at the point of custody transfer, with adjustment for (1) net differences between opening and closing lease inventories and (2) basic sediment and water. Crude oil used on the lease is considered production.
Production, lease condensate: The volume of lease condensate produced. Lease condensate volumes include only those volumes recovered from lease or field separation facilities.
Production, natural gas liquids: Production of natural gas liquids is classified as follows:
Production, natural gas, dry: The volume of natural gas withdrawn from reservoirs during the report year less:
Production, natural gas, wet after lease separation: The volume of natural gas withdrawn from reservoirs less (1) the volume returned to such reservoirs in cycling, repressuring of oil reservoirs, and conservation operations; less (2) shrinkage resulting from the removal of lease condensate; and less (3) nonhydrocarbon gases where they occur in sufficient quantity to render the gas unmarketable. Note: Volumes of gas withdrawn from gas storage reservoirs and native gas that has been transferred to the storage category are not considered part of production. This production concept is not the same as marketed production, which excludes vented and flared gas.
Production, natural gas: The volume of natural gas withdrawn from reservoirs less (1) the volume returned to such reservoirs in cycling, repressuring of oil reservoirs, and conservation operations; less (2) shrinkage resulting from the removal of lease condensate; and less (3) nonhydrocarbon gases where they occur in sufficient quantity to render the gas unmarketable. Volumes of gas withdrawn from gas storage reservoirs and native gas, which has been transferred to the storage category, are not considered production. Flared and vented gas is also considered production. (This differs from "Marketed Production" which excludes flared and vented gas.)
Production, oil and gas: The lifting of oil and gas to the surface and gathering, treating, field processing (as in the case of processing gas to extract liquid hydrocarbons), and field storage. The production function shall normally be regarded as terminating at the outlet valve on the lease or field production storage tank. If unusual physical or operational circumstances exist, it may be more appropriate to regard the production function as terminating at the first point at which oil, gas, or gas liquids are delivered to a main pipeline, a common carrier, a refinery, or a marine terminal.
Production, wet after lease separation: See production, natural gas, wet after lease separation.
[production-related underground and open pit drilling done for control of mining operations.
Production: See production terms associated with specific energy types.
Productive capacity: The maximum amount of coal that a mining operation can produce or process during a period with the existing mining equipment and/or preparation plant in place, assuming that the labor and materials sufficient to utilize the plant and equipment are available, and that the market exists for the maximum production.
Profit: The income remaining after all business expenses are paid.
Program cost: Utility costs that reflect the total cash expenditures for the year, reported in nominal dollars, that flowed out to support DSM (demand-side management) programs. They are reported in the year they are incurred, regardless of when the actual effects occur.
Propane (C3H8): A straight-chain saturated (paraffinic) hydrocarbon extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. It is a colorless gas that boils at a temperature of -44 degrees Fahrenheit. It includes all products designated in ASTM Specification D1835 and Gas Processors Association specifications for commercial (HD-5) propane.
Propane air: A mixture of propane and air resulting in a gaseous fuel suitable for pipeline distribution.
Propane, consumer grade: A normally gaseous paraffinic compound (C3H8), which includes all products covered by Natural Gas Policy Act Specifications for commercial and HD-5 propane and ASTM Specification D 1835. Excludes: feedstock propanes, which are propanes not classified as consumer grade propanes, including the propane portion of any natural gas liquid mixes, i.e., butane-propane mix.
Proportional interest in investee reserves: The proportional interest at the end of the year in the reserves of investees that are accounted for by the equity method.
Proposed rates: New electric rate schedule proposed by an applicant to become effective at a future date.
Propylene (C3H6): An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery or petrochemical processes, which is gaseous at standard temperature and pressure. Propylene is an important petrochemical feedstock.
Prospecting costs: Direct and indirect costs incurred to identify areas of interest that may warrant detailed exploration. Such costs include those incurred for topographical, geological, and geophysical studies; rights of access to properties in order to conduct such studies, salaries, equipment, instruments, and supplies for geologists, including geophysical crews, and others conducting such studies; and overhead that can be identified with those activities.
Prospecting: The search for an area of probable mineralization; the search normally includes topographical, geological, and geophysical studies of relatively large areas undertaken in an attempt to locate specific areas warranting detailed exploration. Prospecting usually occurs prior to the acquisition of mineral rights.
Proved (measured) reserves, coal: Reserves or resources for which tonnage is computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches, workings, and drill holes and for which the grade is computed from the results of detailed sampling. The sites for inspection, sampling, and measurement are spaced so closely and the geologic character is so well defined that size, shape, and mineral content are well established. The computed tonnage and grade are judged to be accurate within limits that are stated, and no such limit is judged to be different from the computed tonnage or grade by more than 20 percent.
Proved energy reserves: Estimated quantities of energy sources that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. The location, quantity, and grade of the energy source are usually considered to be well established in such reserves. Note: This term is equivalent to "Measured Reserves" as defined in the resource/reserve classification contained in the U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831, 1980. Measured and indicated reserves, when combined, constitute demonstrated reserves.
[Provide improved recovery systems.
[Proximate analysis, determines, on an as-received basis, the moisture content, volatile matter (gases released when coal is heated), fixed carbon (solid fuel left after the volatile matter is driven off), and ash (impurities consisting of silica, iron, alumina, and other incombustible matter). The moisture content affects the ease with which coal can be handled and burned. The amount of volatile matter and fixed carbon provides guidelines for determining the intensity of the heat produced. Ash increases the weight of coal, adds to the cost of handling, and can cause problems such as clinkering and slagging in boilers and furnaces.
PSD: Prevention of Significant Deterioration
PSE: Puget Sound Energy
PSRC: Plumas Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative
PT: potential transformer
PTO: Permit to Operate
PU: per unit
Public authorities: Electricity supplied to municipalities, divisions, or agencies of state and Federal governments, usually under special contracts or agreements that are applicable only to public authorities.
Public authority service to public authorities: Public authority service includes electricity supplied and services rendered to municipalities or divisions or agencies of State or Federal governments under special contracts, agreements, or service classifications applicable only to public authorities.
Public street and highway lighting: Electricity supplied and services rendered for the purpose of lighting streets, highways, parks, and other public places; or for traffic or other signal system service, for municipalities or other divisions or agencies of State or Federal governments.
Public utility district: Municipal corporations organized to provide electric service to both incorporated cities and towns and unincorporated rural areas.
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA): This act prohibits acquisition of any wholesale or retail electric business through a holding company unless that business forms part of an integrated public utility system when combined with the utility's other electric business. The legislation also restricts ownership of an electric business by non-utility corporations.
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978: The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of1978, passed by the U.S. Congress. This statute requires States to implement utility conservation programs and create special markets for co-generators and small producers who meet certain standards, including the requirement that States set the prices and quantities of power the utilities must buy from such facilities.
Public Utility Regulatory PoliciesAct (PURPA) of 1978: One part of the National Energy Act, PURPA contains measures designed to encourage the conservation of energy, more efficient use of resources, and equitable rates. Principal among these were suggested retail rate reforms and new incentives for production of electricity by cogenerators and users of renewable resources. The Commission has primary authority for implementing several key PURPA programs.
Public utility: Enterprise providing essential public services, such as electric, gas, telephone, water, and sewer under legally established monopoly conditions.
Publicly owned electric utility: A class of ownership found in the electric power industry. This group includes those utilities operated by municipalities and State and Federal power agencies.
PUC: (California) Public Utilities Commission
PUD: See Public Utility District
PUHCA: See Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
Pulp chips: Timber or residues processed into small pieces of wood of more or less uniform dimensions with minimal amounts of bark.
Pulp wood: Roundwood, whole-tree chips, or wood residues.
Pulping liquor (black liquor): The alkaline spent liquor removed from the digesters in the process of chemically pulping wood. After evaporation, the liquor is burned as a fuel in a recovery furnace that permits the recovery of certain basic chemicals.
[Pulverized coal is a coal that has been crushed to a fine dust in a grinding mill. It is blown into the combustion zone of a furnace and burns very rapidly and efficiently.
Pumped-storage hydroelectric plant: A plant that usually generates electric energy during peak load periods by using water previously pumped into an elevated storage reservoir during off-peak periods when excess generating capacity is available to do so. When additional generating capacity is needed, the water can be released from the reservoir through a conduit to turbine generators located in a power plant at a lower level.
punch mine: a type of small drift mine used to recover coal from strip-mine highwalls or from small, otherwise uneconomical, coal deposits. A shaft mine is driven vertically to the coal deposit. A slope mine is driven at an angle to reach the coal deposit.
Purchase-contract imports of uranium: The amount of foreign-origin uranium material that enters the United States during a survey year as reported on the "Uranium Industry Annual Survey (UIAS), Form EIA-858, as purchases of uranium ore, U3O8, natural UF6, or enriched UF6. The amount of foreign-origin uranium materials that enter the country during a survey year under other types of contracts, i.e., loans and exchanges, is excluded.
Purchased power adjustment: A clause in a rate schedule that provides for adjustments to the bill when energy from another electric system is acquired and its cost varies from a specified unit base amount.
Purchased power: Power purchased or available for purchase from a source outside the system.
Purchased: Receipts into transportation, storage, and/or distribution facilities within a state under gas purchase contracts or agreements whether or not billing or payment occurred during the report year.
[Purchases of fuel
Pure pumped-storage hydroelectric plant: A plant that produces power only from water that has previously been pumped to an upper reservoir.
PURPA: Federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978
PURPA: See Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
PV: Photovoltaic
PV: photovoltaic
PVC: See Photovoltaic Cell; polyvinyl chloride
PVCs that convert sunlight directly into energy: A method for producing energy by converting sunlight using photovoltaic cells (PVCs) that are solid-state single converter devices. Although currently not in wide usage, commercial customers have a growing interest in usage and, therefore, DOE has a growing interest in the impact of PVCs on energy consumption. Economically, PVCs are competitive with other sources of electricity.
PWR: See Pressurized-Water Reactor
Pyrolysis: The thermal decomposition of biomass at high temperatures (greater than 400° F, or 200° C) in the absence of air. The end product of pyrolysis is a mixture of solids (char), liquids (oxygenated oils), and gases (methane, carbon monoxide, and carbondioxide) with proportions determined by operating temperature, pressure, oxygen content, and other conditions.
QA/QC: Quality Assurance/Quality Control
[Qatar (1961-present)
QF: Qualifying Facility
QF: See Qualifying Facility
QFER: Quarterly Fuel and Energy Reports
Qt: The estimated URR from a Hubbert Linearization
Quad: one quadrillion (1015) British thermal units
QUAD: Quadrillion Btu 1015 Btu.
Quadrillion: The quantity 1,000,000,000,000,000(10 to the 15th power).
Qualifying facility (QF): A cogeneration or small power production facility that meets certain ownership, operating, and efficiency criteria established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA).
Quality or grade (of coal): An informal classification of coal relating to its suitability for use for a particular purpose. Refers to individual measurements such as heat value, fixed carbon, moisture, ash, sulfur, major, minor, and trace elements, coking properties, petrologic properties, and particular organic constituents. The individual quality elements may be aggregated in various ways to classify coal for such special purposes as metallurgical, gas, petrochemical, and blending usages.
Quantity wires charge: A fee for moving electricity over the transmission and/or distribution system that is based on the quantity of electricity that is transmitted.
R-value: A measure of a material's resistance to heat flow in units of Fahrenheit degrees x hours x square feet per Btu. The higher the R-value of a material, the greater its insulating capability. The R-value of some insulating materials is 3.7 per inch for fiber glass and cellulose, 2.5 per inch for vermiculite, and more than 4 per inch for foam. All building materials have some R-value. For example, a 4-inch brick has an R-value of 0.8, and half-inch plywood has an R-value of 0.6. The table below converts the most common "R" values to inches. For other "R" values, divide the "R" value by 3 to get the number of inches.
RAC: Refiners' Acquisition Cost.
Rack sales: Wholesale truckload sales or smaller of gasoline where title transfers at a terminal.
RACT: Reasonably Available Control Technology
Radiant barrier: A thin, reflective foil sheet that exhibits low radiant energy transmission and under certain conditions can block radiant heat transfer; installed in attics to reduce heat flow through a roof assembly into the living space.
Radiant ceiling panels: Ceiling panels that contain electric resistance heating elements embedded within them to provide radiant heat to a room.
Radiant energy: Energy that transmits away from its source in all directions.
Radiation: The transfer of heat through matter or space by means of electromagnetic waves.
Radiative forcing: A change in average net radiation at the top of the troposphere (known as the tropopause) because of a change in either incoming solar or exiting infrared radiation. A positive radiative forcing tends on average to warm the earth's surface; a negative radiative forcing on average tends to cool the earth's surface. Greenhouse gases, when emitted into the atmosphere, trap infrared energy radiated from the earth's surface and therefore tend to produce positive radiative forcing. Also see Greenhouse gases.
Radiatively active gases: Gases that absorb incoming solar radiation or outgoing infrared radiation, affecting the vertical temperature profile of the atmosphere. Also see Radiative forcing.
Radiator: A heating unit usually exposed to view within the room or space to be heated; it transfers heat by radiation to objects within visible range and by conduction to the surrounding air, which in turn is circulated by natural convection; usually fed by steam or hot water.
Radioactive waste: Materials left over from making nuclear energy. Radioactive waste can destroy living organisms if it is not stored safely.
Radioactivity: The spontaneous emission of radiation from the nucleus of an atom. Radionuclides lose particles and energy through this process.
Radioisotope: A radioactive isotope.
Radon: A naturally occurring radioactive gas found in the United States in nearly all types of soil, rock, and water. It can migrate into most buildings. Studies have linked high concentrations of radon to lung cancer.
Rail (method of transportation to consumers): Shipments of coal moved to consumers by rail (private or public/commercial). Includes coal hauled to or away from a railroad siding by truck.
Railroad and railway electric service: Electricity supplied to railroads and interurban and street railways, for general railroad use, including the propulsion of cars or locomotives, where such electricity is supplied under separate and distinct rate schedules.
Railroad locomotive: Self-propelled vehicle that runs on rails and is used for moving railroad cars.
Railroad use: Sales to railroads for any use, including that used for heating buildings operated by railroads.
[Ram car or shuttle ram is a rubber-tired haulage vehicle that is unloaded through the use of a movable steel plate located at the back of the haulage bed.
Range top: The range burners or stove top and the oven are considered two separate appliances. Counted also with range tops are stand-alone "cook tops."
Rankine cycle engine: The Rankine cycle system uses a liquid that evaporates when heated and expands to produce work, such as turning a turbine, which when connected to a generator, produces electricity. The exhaust vapor expelled from the turbine condenses and the liquid is pumped back to the boiler to repeat the cycle. The working fluid most commonly used is water, though other liquids can also be used. Rankine cycle design is used by most commercial electric power plants. The traditional steam locomotive is also a common form of the Rankine cycle engine. The Rankine engine itself can be either a piston engine or a turbine.
Rankine cycle: The thermodynamic cycle that is an ideal standard for comparing performance of heat-engines, steam power plants, steam turbines, and heat pump systems that use a condensable vapor as the working fluid. Efficiency is measured as work done divided by sensible heat supplied.
RAR: See Reasonable Assured Resources.
RASS: Residential Appliance Saturation Survey
Rate base (electric): The value of property, upon which, a utility is permitted to earn a specified rate of return as established by a regulatory authority. See FERC definition.
Rate base: The value of property upon which a utility is permitted to earn a specified rate of return as established by a regulatory authority. The rate base generally represents the value of property used by the utility in providing service and may be calculated by any one or a combination of the following accounting methods: fair value, prudent investment, reproduction cost, or original cost. Depending on which method is used, the rate base includes cash, working capital, materials and supplies, deductions for accumulated provisions for depreciation, contributions in aid of construction, customer advances for construction, accumulated deferred income taxes, and accumulated deferred investment tax credits.
Rate case: A proceeding, usually before a regulatory commission, involving the rates to be charged for a public utility service.
Rate features: Special rate schedules or tariffs offered to customers by electric and/or natural gas utilities.
Rate of return on rate base: The ratio of net operating income earned by a utility, calculated as a percentageof its rate base.
Rate of return: The ratio of net operating income earned by a utility is calculated as a percentage of its rate base.
Rate schedule (electric): The rates, charges, and provisions under which service is supplied to the designated class of customers. See FERC definition.
Ratemaking authority: A utility commission's legal authority to fix, modify, approve, or disapprove rates as determined by the powers given the commission by a State or Federal legislature.
Rates: The authorized charges per unit or level of consumption for a specified time period for any of the classes of utility services provided to a customer.
Rating: A manufacturer's guaranteed performance of a machine, transmission line, or other electrical apparatus, based on design features and test data. The rating will specify such limits as load, voltage, temperature, and frequency. The rating is generally printed on a nameplate attached to equipment and is commonly referred to as the nameplate rating or nameplate capacity.
Ratio estimate: The ratio of two population aggregates (totals). For example, "average miles traveled per vehicle" is the ratio of total miles driven by all vehicles, over the total number of vehicles, within any subgroup. There are two types of ratio estimates those computed using aggregates for vehicles and those computed using aggregates for households.
Ratoon crop: A crop cultivated from the shoots of a perennial plant.
Raw Coal: Coal that has received no preparation other than possibly screening.
Rayleigh frequency distribution: A mathematical representation of the frequency or ratio that specific wind speeds occur within a specified time interval.
RBOB: Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending.
RD&D: research, development, and demonstration
RDF: refuse derived fuel
RDF: See Refuse-Derived Fuel.
REA: See Rural Electrification Administration.
Reactance: A phenomenon associated with AC power characterized by the existence of a time difference between voltage and current variations.
Reactive power: The portion of electricity that establishes and sustains the electric and magnetic fields of alternating-current equipment. Reactive power must be supplied to most types of magnetic equipment, such as motors and transformers. Reactive power is provided by generators, synchronous condensers, or electrostatic equipment such as capacitors and directly influences electric system voltage. It is a derived value equal to the vector difference between the apparent power and the real power. It is usually expressed as kilovolt-amperes reactive (KVAR) or megavolt-ampere reactive (MVAR). See Apparent Power, Power, Real Power.
Real dollars: These are dollars that have been adjusted for inflation.
Real Power: The component of electric power that performs work, typically measured in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts(MW)--sometimes referred to as Active Power. The terms "real" or "active" are often use

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