Selected Glossary of Energy Industry Terms

• Pages: 235-254

235

SELECTED GLOSSARY OF

ENERGY INDUSTRY TERMS

Alternating Current (AC)—A type of electrical current, the direction of

which is reversed at regular intervals or cycles; in the United States

the standard is 120 reversals or 60 cycles per second.

Availability Factor—The ratio of the hours an electricity generation

facility is ready and capable of producing energy to the total number

of hours in the period.

Average Cost—The total cost of production divided by the total quantity

produced.

Avoided Cost—The incremental cost to an electric power producer to

generate or purchase a unit of electricity or capacity or both.

Balancing—Equalizing the volumes of gas withdrawn from a pipeline

system with the volumes of gas injected into the pipeline. Penalties

may be assessed for transportation imbalances beyond specified

tolerances.

Base Load Capacity—The generating capacity on an electric system

which is dispatched first to serve system demand.

Biochemical Conversion Process—The use of biological processes,

usually microorganisms or enzymes, to convert organic materials

into usable products such as biofuels.

Biodiesel—A diesel-equivalent fuel produced from renewable,

biological sources through the combination of vegetable oils or

animal fats with an alcohol and a catalyst to form ethyl or methyl

ester. The resulting fuel is biodegradable, and produces less net

carbon dioxide emissions than petroleum-based diesel.

Bioenergy—The energy produced from renewable biomass sources,

such as agricultural crops, plant and animal wastes, and other organic

materials. Bioenergy can take the form of liquid fuels, electricity,

heat, and gases.

236 Energy Antitrust Handbook

Biomass—The organic matter derived from plants and animals that can

be used as a biofuel or in the production of other biofuels. Types of

biomass commonly used in biofuel production include agricultural

crops and plant and animal waste.

Biomass Gasification—The conversion of organic biomass into

hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases.

Bituminous Coal—An abundant, dense form of coal used as fuel in

steam-electric power generation.

Bottoming Cycle—A cogeneration system which typically generates

thermal energy for heat, and converts excess heat to steam in order to

power a steam turbine-driven generator.

British Thermal Unit (BTU)—A unit of energy defined as the amount

of heat energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of

water one degree Fahrenheit.

Bundled Sales Service—The sale or transportation of natural gas under

one rate, which does not differentiate separate rate components for

the sale, transportation, distribution, or other services associated with

such sale.

Burner Tip—An attachment to a natural gas line for a burner head that

forms a burner port modifier for a specific application. The burner

tip represents the end of the transportation of natural gas from the

wellhead and the point of consumption.

Busbar—The power conduit of an electric power plant; the starting point

of the electric transmission system.

Busbar Cost—The cost of producing electricity up to the point of the

power plant busbar.

Bypass—A delivery of natural gas to a customer through a pipeline other

than that customer’s traditional supplier, that is, delivery of natural

gas to an end user directly off a transmission pipeline without

moving the natural gas through the end user’s traditional local

distribution company supplier.