CO-OPGLOSSARY
Glossary of Co-op Industry Terms
(as adapted from Use or Usage: A Rural Electric Guide to Style)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
ACRE: Action Committee for Rural Electrification. A political action committee that gives financial support to national candidates who are supportive of electric cooperatives.
All-requirement power contract: An agreement by which a distribution system agrees to purchase all of its wholesale electric power from a single power supplier; primarily used by rural and municipal systems.
Alternating current: A flow of electricity through a conductor that continuously reverses its direction of flow, in contrast to direct current (DC). Nearly all electricity generated in the United States is alternating current.
Amphere (amp): A measure of how much electricity is moving through a conductor. Amperas equal watts divided by volts; a 1,000-watt heater at 120 volts draws 8.33 amps. The term is commonly used to indicate the size of circuit breakers and fuses.
Annual meeting: Once-a-year gathering of members held according to a cooperative’s bylaws for the purpose of electing directors and conducting other business.
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B
Base load: The minimum amount of electric power delivered or required from a generating system over a specified period of time; usually measured in megawatts.
Base rate: The portion of the total electric rate that covers the cost of doing business unrelated to fuel expenses.
Brownout: A small, temporary voltage reduction implemented by a utility to conserve electric power during periods of high use.
Bylaws: Rules for operating a cooperative approved by the membership.
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C
Capacity: The electric load, measured in watts or kilowatts of a piece of electrical equipment or system. Also called capability.
Capital credits: Margins or profits credited to members of a cooperative based on their purchase from the cooperative. Used by cooperative as working capital for a period of time, then paid back to the membership. Also called patronage capital or equity capital.
Certified Rural Electric Communicator: A person who has completed a professional certification program for rural electric communicators.
CFC: National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation.
Circuit: A conductor, such as wire, through which electric current flows.
Clean Air Act: A national law passed in 1963 and amended several times since, giving the U.S. government broad powers to limit air pollution.
Cooperative: A member-owned business with membership open to those who use its services. Democratically controlled and operated on a non-profit basis, a cooperative returns any margins or profits to members on the basis of patronage.
Cooperative Month: An annual October commemoration of the importance of cooperative organizations.
Cost of service: The cost of providing a consumer-member with electric service, not including the cost of electricity.
Current: A flow of electrically charged particles. The unit of measurement is the ampere.
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D
Demand: The amount of electricity drawn from an electric system at any given time, measured in kilowatts.
Department of Energy: The U.S. agency responsible for planning and allocating the nation’s energy needs.
Deregulation: Major reduction of government oversight in a segment of private industry.
Distribution system: The poles, wires, and transformers used to deliver electric energy from a bulk power supplier to the consumer.
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E
Easement: An agreement allowing a utility to use property belonging to another individual or organization for a specific purpose, such as building a transmission line.
Economic Regulatory Administration (ERA): Administers regulatory programs for the Department of Energy, except those assigned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It oversees oil-pricing, allocation and import of programs designed to ensure price stability and equitable supplies of crude oil, petroleum products and natural-gas liquids.
Eminent domain: The power of a government body to condemn and use private property for public use after paying the property owner; sometimes used as a last resort by power companies constructing power lines.
Energy: The capacity for doing work; may be natural or manufactured.
Energy efficiency rating (EER): A measure of how efficiently an appliance uses energy. Determined by dividing the Btu per hour output by the number of watts used. A higher EER means greater efficiency.
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F
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Formed in 1977 to set and enforce the wholesale rates that investor-owned utilities charge rural electric cooperatives and other wholesale customers.
Fossil fuel: Materials such as coal, oil or natural gas used to produce heat or power; also called conventional fuels. These materials were formed in the ground millions of years ago from plant and animals remains.
Fuel adjustment clause: A correction or modification of a consumer’s monthly electric bill caused by an increase or decrease in the cost of an electric utility’s fuel supply. Also called power-cost adjustment.
Fuel cost: The total cost of fuel delivered to a power plant, including freight and other transportation charges, unloading costs and maintenance and mine reclamation costs.
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G
G&T: Generation and transmission cooperative. A power-supply cooperative (such as ODEC) owned by a group of distribution cooperatives. G&Ts generate power or purchase it from public- or investor-owned utilities, or from both.
Generation plant: A plant that has generators and other equipment for producing electricity.
Gigawatts (gw): A measure of electric capacity equal to 1 billion watts or 1 million kilowatts.
Grid: A system of interconnected high-voltage transmission lines and power-generating facilities that allows bulk-power suppliers to share resources on a regional basis. This system provides emergency generation and transmission.
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H
Heat pump: A system supplying both heating and cooling to a structure by moving heat into or out of the structure.
High voltage: Voltage in a power line higher than the 110 to 220 volts used in most residences.
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I
Industrial rate: A special rate for industrial customers of electric cooperatives.
Insulators: Support electric wires and prevent undesired flow of electricity; usually made of glass or porcelain.
Investor-owned utility (IOU): A stockholder-owned power company that generates and distributes electric energy for a profit.
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J
Journeyman lineworker: A non-sexist replacement term for journeyman lineman.
Journeyman lineman: An electrical lineworker who has completed apprenticeship training and has learned the trade.
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K
Kilowatt (kw): The basic unit of electric demands, equal to 1,000 watts; the average household demand is 10 to 20 kilowatts.
Kilowatt-hour (kwh): A unit of energy or work equal to 1,000 watt-hours. The basic measure of electric energy generation or use.
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L
Line: A carrier of electricity on an electric power system.
Lineman: A person who builds and maintains electric lines.
Load: The amount of electric power drawn at a specific time from an electric system, or the total power drawn from the system.
Load factor: The ratio of average demand to peak demand. It is a measure of efficiency that indicates whether a system’s electrical use over a period of time is reasonably stable or if it has extreme peaks and valleys.
Loop transmission system: An electric distribution system that allows consumers to receive electricity from more than one direction, allowing a backup in case of an outage.
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M
Marginal-cost pricing: A method of determining the selling price of a commodity when the fixed costs are paid by units already sold so that the next units can be sold for less.
Margin: The difference between a cooperative’s income and its expenses; returned to members in the form of capital credits as the cooperative’s financial status allows.
Meter: A device used to measure and record the amount of electricity used by a consumer.
Meter tampering: The unlawful and dangerous practice of interfering with the operation of a meter, generally to avoid paying for electricity used.
Municipal: Electric distribution system owned by a city to provide service for its residents.
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N
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association: The Washington, D.C.-based national service organization representing electric cooperatives in the United States.
Natural gas: A fossil fuel used for electric generation and space heating.
Non-profit: Business not entered into for the purpose of making money.
Nuclear fusion: The combination of two light nuclei to form a heavier nucleus with the release of some binding energy.
NUTSEA: National Utility Training and Safety Education Association.
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O
Off-peak power: Electricity supplied during periods of low system demand.
On line: A generating plant that is operating. When an operational plant is not on line, it is “down.”
Outage: Interruption of service to an electric consumer because a power plant, transmission line or other facility is not operating.
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P
Peak demand: The greatest demand placed on an electric system; measured in kilowatts or megawatts; also, the time of day or season of the year when that demand occurs.
Peaking unit: Part of an electric generating plant used only at high-use periods to provide sufficient electric capacity for the system to meet its peak demand.
Powerhouse: An electrical generating station.
Power theft: Tampering with a meter to lower electric bills; a dangerous and illegal act.
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R
Radiator: A device that transfers heat to the air in a room.
Rate of return: The percentage of a profit a utility may earn from its electric rates; generally, it applies only to investor-owned utilities regulated by a state agency.
Regulation: A government’s legal right to govern businesses.
Right of way: Use of property covered by an agreement that allows utilities to construct and operate their facilities there. Sometimes acquired through the right of eminent domain.
Rural Electrification Act: Legislation that established the Rural Electrification Administration in 1936 as a lending agency for electric cooperatives.
Rural electrification: A term used to describe the introduction of electricity to rural areas not served by power companies until then.
R-value: A number showing the ability of insulation to resist the transfer of heat. Higher R-values indicate more efficient insulation.
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S
SCADA: Substation Control and Data Acquisition.
Single-phase power: An electric circuit that consists of one alternating current.
Slag: A residue produced by the combustion of coal.
Statewide Organization: A service organization for electric cooperatives in one or more states. See Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives.
Substation: An electrical facility containing equipment for controlling the flow of electricity from supplier to user.
Surge suppressor: An electronic device that protects equipment from short-term, high- voltage flows of electricity such as lightening strikes.
Synthetic fuel: A source of energy created by changing the molecular structure of hard-to-use fuel to a more usable state.
System demand: The total amount of energy required to supply all consumers.
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T
Three-phase power: An electric circuit that consists of three separate currents delivered at one-third cycle intervals by means of a three-wire circuit.
Time-of-use metering: Measures both electric use and time of use.
Transformer: A device used to raise or lower voltage in electric distribution or transmission lines.
Transmission line: The poles, lines, and conductors used to move bulk electricity from a generating plant to a substation.
Turbine: Converts the energy of moving water, steam or air to rotation, which can then be used to power a generator.
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U-Z
Utility: A cooperative or company that provides electricity, water or gas for residential and commercial use.
Voltage: Potential electric energy.
Watt (w): The standard unit of electric power, named for James Watt, a 19th-century Scottish engineer.
Wholesale customer: A power purchaser that buys for resale to retail customers.
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