A
Accelerator
ACEEE - American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
AFV - Alternative Fuel Vehicle
AGA - American Gas Association
Allowed return on equity
Alpha (investing)
Alternative Fuels
Ambient Intelligence
Objects, that through sensors and communication, draw data from their surroundings. More
AMI - Advance Metering Infrastructure
Anaerobic digester
Equipment used in the production of biogas
Analytic model
Ancillary Services
Services supporting the energy industry and energy value chain
Electric power transmission support services
- Frequency Regulation
- Voltage Control
- Spinning Reserve
- Non-spinning Reserve
- Black Start
Natural gas support services
Renewable energy support services
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
APPA - American Public Power Association
Arbitrage
ASME - American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ASME website
Asset Management
Asset Performance
B
Backup power (grid)
Backup power (building or system)
BACT - Best Available Current Technology
Baseload - load of power available 24 hours a day, regardless of demand
Batteries
bbl - Barrel
Unit of measure for crude oil
bcf - billion cubic feet (unit measure)
A unit measure of natural gas for volume in gas reserves
bcm - billion cubic meters (unit measure)
A unit measure of Natural Gas used in production and distribution
Benchmark
Behind the Meter
BESS - Battery Energy Storage System
Part of an (ESS) Energy Storage System. The BESS is a container system comprised of a (SM) Storage Moduel and (PCS) Power Conversion System
Battery Energy Storage System - see BESS
Beta (investing)
Beta (software, technology)
Biofuel
BIPV - Building Integrated Photovoltaic (solar, equipment, technology)
Black start (ancillary service)
Blockchain
A distributed, timestamped, database which is managed autonomously using a peer-to-peer network. Example: Bitcoin
BPMI - Barclays Capital Power Margin Index (finance, investing)
BPS - Bulk Power Systems
Generation and transmission (G&T)
Bulk storage
Book Value (finance)
Boutique Firm
Brent, Brent Crude
A classification of oil from the North Sea, recognized internationally as a benchmark for other classifications and market pricing
BTMG - Behind the Meter Generation
BTU - British Thermal Unit
Business model
Butane
C
C-Rating (batteries)
C-Suite
CA - Carbon Abatement
CAES - Compressed Air Energy Storage (storage, battery)
CAGR - Compound Annual Growth Rate (finance)
CAIR - Clear Air Interstate Rules (regulatory)
CAISO - CAlifornia ISO
an Independent System Operator serving California
CAPM - Capital Asset Pricing Model (finance)
Capacitor
Capacity
Capacity Auction
Capacity Firming
Capacity Payments
charges paid to generators for a set capacity
Carbon monoxide
CCM - Construction Compliance Management
CERTS—Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions
CH4 - Methane
Channel Partners
Charge/Discharge (battery, storage)
CHP - Combined Heat and Power
Combining 2 generation methods where the waste heat produced by the first turbine turbine generator is used by a second steam turbine to produce electricity. See also cogen, cogeneration, combined cycle.
CIM - Construction Inspection Management
CIP - Critical Infrastructure Protection (USA)
Clean energy
Cleantech
Cleantech Group
Cleantech Innovation Index (finance)
CNG - Compressed Natural Gas
CoGen - Co-Generation
See CHP - Combined Heat and Power.
Community solar
Consolidation
Consumer
Co-op - Cooperative Utility
A utility organized as a cooperative, owned and managed by the people who use the utility.
CC- Combined Cycle
CCCT - Combined Cycle Combustion Turbine
CCM - Construction Compliance Management
CCPP - Combined Cycle Power Plant
CCGT - Combined Cycle Gas Turbine
CGA - Common Ground Alliance
CPP - Critical Peak Pricing
Commerce Commission (Regulatory)
Commissioning (O&M, asset)
Congestion relief
Corporate Transformation
Cryoelectronics, Cryotronics
The study and use of superconductivity at very low temperatures
Cryogenics
The production or use of supercooling to store energy or to convert gas fuels into a liquid state
CT - Combustion Turbine (generation)
Method used by many natural gas powered generators. Detailed description
CTG - Cleantech Group
CTG Monitor
Curtailment Services
Customer Experience
See also Voice of the Customer, VOC.
C & I - Commercial & Industrial
Cycle Time (battery)
Duration of storage per charge (unit = hours)
Cycle life (battery, storage)
D
Dark Spread
The margin on coal or nuclear power production in areas dominated by gas
Deal flow
Deal origination
Deal sourcing
Decarbonization
Decoupling
DEFG
Consulting firm specializing in utility customer experience research. website
Demand charge reduction
Demand Response
Methods of reducing peak demand on a system. DR can be applied before the meter or after the meter.
Deployment
Deployment of capital (finance)
DER - Distributed Energy Resources
Examples:
- Distributed Generation: small to mid-size solar, wind, biofuel (often renewables)
- Microgrid: islanding, community
- Energy Storage: batteries
DER Asset Optimization
DER Database
DER Economics Tool
DER Market Penetration Tool
DER Site Selection Tool
DER System Impact
DER model
DERA
DERMS - Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems
DERP - Distributed Energy Resources Provider
Developer (energy)
Developer (technology, IT)
Development Bank (finance)
DIMP - Distribution Integrity Management Plan,
by PHMSA, US Department of Transportation
DIRT - Damage Information Reporting Tool, Common Ground Alliance (CGA)
DG - Distributed Generation
On-site or near-site, often renewables private generation on a smaller than utility scale: solar, wind, biofuel, etc.
DG - Directorate General (Europe)
Digital Energy
DIMP - Distribution Integrity Management Program
Discharge rate (battery)
Dispatch Curve
A cumulative supply curve by generator type. The order in which generators are used as demand increases.
Distressed Assets (finance)
District energy solution (gas, midstream?)
Distributed
Distribution
Distribution losses
Diversified company
Diversified portfolio (finance)
DOE - Department of Energy (government)
Downstream
DR
DR - Demand Response
DR - Distributed resources (aka. Distributed Energy Resources)
DRAM - Demand Response Auction Mechanism
DSM - Demand Side Management
Management of programs designed to reduce end use consumption of energy and fuels. This includes Utility and State Energy Efficiency and Demand Response programs.
Duck Curve
A duck shaped curve representing utility scaled electric energy production over the course of a day
Duration (battery, storage)
E
Early Stage (finance)
EBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (finance)
E&D - Exploration and Development
Ecosystem
EDC - Economic Development Corporation
EE - Energy Efficiency
EEI - Edison Electric Institute
An electric industry trade organization website
EERS - Energy Efficiency Resource Standards
Regulatory mandates to increase energy efficiency
EES - Electrical Energy Storage
EIA - Energy Information Administration (government)
Electrical storage
Using electrostatic or electromagnetic technologies to store energy
Examples: UltraCap, SMES
Electro-chemical storage
The use of electro-chemical technologies to store energy
Examples: cell and flow batteries
EM field - Electro-magnetic field
Emissions
EMS - Energy Management Systems
Energy
The ability to perform work (unit = watt-hours)
Energy cloud
Energy density
Energy intensity
How much energy it takes to produce a unit of GDP. A lower number indicates greater efficiency.
Energy management
Energy Storage System (ESS)
The ESS is comprised of: (SM) Storage Moduel, (BOS) Balance of System, and (PCS) Power Conversion System
Energy Value Chain - Upstream, Midstream, Downstream
Segments of the fuel supply chain from extraction (gas) / generation (electric) through processing, transmission and distribution to the end use
Enterprise
Enovation = Energy + Innovation
Illustrative portmanteau and tagline of Enovation Partners
Enovation Partners
Strategy consulting and advisory firm specializing in energy and infrastructure
Enterprise
EP - Enovation Partners
EPA - Environmental Protection Agency (government)
EPC - Engineering Procurement and Construction
EPRI - Electric Power Research Institute (industry organization)
ERCOT - Electric Reliability Council of Texas (government)
ERS
ESCO - Energy Service Company (service)
ESS - Energy Storage Systems
A general term encompassing batteries and other energy storage technologies
F
FCM - Forward Capacity Market
FERC - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (government, regulatory)
FERC Major Orders
FERC Order 755 - Frequency Regulation Compensation in the Organized Wholesale Power Markets
"pay-for-performance" compensation for regulation resources based on actual service provided
FERC Order 888 - Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities; Recovery of Stranded Costs by Public Utilities and Transmitting Utilities
Established open, non-discriminatory access to utility-owned transmission infrastructure
FERC Order 889
FERC Order 980
Established “an open, transparent, and coordinated transmission planning process”
FERC Order 1000 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation
Requires planners to give non-transmission alternatives (example: batteries) comparable consideration
FGD - Flue Gas Desulfurization (process)
Flow batteries (battery, storage, technology)
Rechargeable electrochemical battery
Flywheel (storage, technology)
A rotating mechanical device to store energy
Frequency Regulation (Ancillary Service, process)
Synchronizing generation assets within the tolerance bounds for AC on the electric grid. More
FTC - Federal Trade Commission (USA, regulatory)
Fuel Cell
Fuel Switching
Fugitive Gas
Fund-of-Funds (investing)
G
Game-changer
Gas (natural gas)
Gas (petroleum)
Gas (state - solid, liquid, gas)
Gas processing
Gasification
Gathering
Geothermal energy
General Rate Case (regulatory)
Calculated future earnings based on rate and market assumptions
GHG - Greenhouse Gas
GPS - Global Positioning System (technology)
GRC - General Rate Case (regulatory)
Greenhouse Emissions
Greenfield (investing)
Grid
Grid energy storage
Energy storage resources used to support the energy grid during intermitant supply (often wind and solar generation), increase in demand, and outage conditions.
Grid scale
See also utility scale
Grid Security (physical)
Grid Security (cyber)
Growth strategy
G&T - Generation & Transmission
GTI - Gas Technology Institute. website
GTL - Gas to Liquid
GUI - Graphical User Interface
GW - Gigawatts (unit measure, electric power)
GWh - Gigawatt hour (unit measure, electric energy)
H
Haitz's Law - growth prediction of LEDs
Heat Map
Heat Rate
A measure of generator efficiency, how many BTU does it take to produce 1 kWh.
Heat recapture
See also recuperator, and HRSG
Hedge (finance, risk, investing)
Henry Hub Spot Price
Henry Hub is a distribution point for a natural gas pipeline in Louisiana. Historically it sets the price for natural gas in North America on the spot market and the futures market.
HERS - Home Energy Rating Standard
HRSG - Heat Recovery Steam Generation
See also Recuperator, Heat Recapture
Hydrogen
I
IEA - International Energy Agency
IGU - International Gas Union (industry organization)
Impact Investing
Investments made with the goal of supporting social and environmental causes
In the money
Incentives
Incubator
Industry-led
Initiatives led by members of the energy industry to solve energy industry problems. Often this is a consortium of energy companies, research institutions, and industry organizations.
Infrastructure
Hard installed assets used to transport energy from one location to another. Examples: pipelines, transmission towers, electric wires, transformers
Infrastructure Integrity
The ability of infrastructure to resist an outage or leakage, and to maintain working order
Infrastructure Resilience
The ability of infrastructure to recover from an outage or leakage, and return to working order
INGAA - Interstate Natural Gas Pipline Association of America (trade). INGAA website
Innovation
Innovation Index
Installed base
Integration toolkit
Intelligent Inspection
Mobile technology and big data assisted analysis, often field inspections of energy infrastructure.
Inverter
See also rectifier
IoT - Internet of Things
Technology and non-technology objects connected to the internet, creating "ambient intelligence." Often networked with each other and containing sensor data and remote activation functionality.
Examples: Smart vehicles, smart buildings, smart home appliances,
IOU - Investor Owned Utilities
Privately owned utilities. Other ownerships include: public utilities, municipal utilities, and coops.
IPP - Independent Power Producer
A non utility producer of electric power for sale
See also Merchant Power Producer and NUG
IRR - Internal Rate of Return (finance)
Island (energy, grid)
ISO - Independent System Operator
ITC (subsidy)
i3
J
JV - Joint Venture
K
KW - Kilowatts (unit measure, electric power)
KWh - Kilowatt hour (unit measure, electric energy)
L
Late Stage (finance)
LCE - Lithium Carbonate Equivalent
LCOD - Levelized Cost of Delivery (finance)
A cost comparison of different energy delivery mechanisms and options
LCOE - Levelized Cost of Energy (finance)
An industry benchmark and annual study by Lazard comparing alternative energy to conventional energy technologies. LCOE 10.0
LCOS - Levelized Cost of Storage (finance)
The storage version of Lazard's industry benchmark, LCOE. A methodology for comparing energy storage technologies, the annual report is published by Lazard and ongoing development with Enovation Partners. More
LDC - Local Distribution Company
Lead based (battery)
Lead acid
Leak detection
LED - Light Emitting Diode
A very energy efficient lighting technology
Levelized Cost of Delivery - see LCOD above
Levelized Cost of Energy - see LCOE above
Levelized Cost of Storage - see LCOS above
LHS
Lifespan (batteries)
Maximum number of cycles before significant degradation
Li-Ion - Lithium Ion (battery)
Liquidity (finance, investing)
Liquefaction
The process of converting a gas into its liquid state; often used for storage and transportation
Litigation Support
Load Following
LP - Limited Partnership
LNG - Liquified Natural Gas
Load
The amount of electricity in a system at a point in time
Load loss
LPG - Liquified Petroleum Gas
Logistics
M
M2M - Machine to Machine
Machine Learning
Market
Market Assessment
Market Insights
Market Intelligence
Market Value
Mechanical storage
An energy storage technology which uses rotation, gravity, or pressure to store energy
Examples: Flywheel, Pumped Hydro, Hydraulics
Mercaptan
The odor added to natural gas to detect leakage
Merchant Power Producers (see also IPP)
Non-utility owned generators which sell their production at unregulated rates
Metal-air batteries
Methane
Metering
Microgrid
Midstream
Midstream Natural Gas
Midstream Electric
MISO
The RTO servicing portions of the upper Midwest states and Canada
MLP - Master Limited Partnership (finance, investing)
This is a common partnership structure for investing in energy infrastructure and midstream assets; MLPs have certain tax advantages
Modeling
Moore's Law - growth prediction of semi-conductors
Multi-utility
A utility which provides more than one energy or resource. Such as:
Electric and Natural Gas utility
Power and Light (P&L) utility
Water and Gas utility
Munis - Municipalities
A self-governing urban political jurisdiction. A city government. The territory governed under a jurisdiction.
MW - Megawatts (unit measure, electric power)
MWh - megawatt hour (unit measure, electric energy)
N
NaS - Sodium-sulfur
NEM - Net Energy Metering
See Net Metering.
NERC - North American Energy Reliability Council
Net Market Exposure (finance, investing)
Net Metering
NGL (pipeline?)
NGV - Natural Gas Vehicle
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Non-recourse debt (finance)
Non-spinning reserve (Ancillary Service)
NOx - Nitrogen Oxides emissions
NREL - National Renewable Energy Laboratory
NUG- Non-Utility Generator (aka. IPP, Independent Power Producer)
NYSERDA - New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
O
Opportunistic (investing)
Optimization
O & M - Operations & Maintenance
OTD - Operations Technology Development
OTM - Office of Technology Management
P
PCS - Power Conversion System
PE - Private Equity
Peak Shaving
Methods used reduce or mitigate high demand which would strain the system or be cost prohibitive. This might include the use of Demand Response (DR) and battery energy storage.
Peaking Plant
A plant or generator which is used to provide incremental supply when demand exceeds a certain level
Performance contract
Performance improvement (O&M)
Permanent Load Shift
See Load Shift
Photovoltaic
PHMSA - Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, United States Department of Transportation. PHMSA website
Pipes and Wires
Pipeline
Long-Haul
Short-Haul
Pipeline integrity
PJM- Pennsylvania, (New) Jersey, Massachusetts
P&L - Profit and Loss (finance, management, investing)
P&L is on of the three primary financial statements which is used to report company financials to management and investors.
P&L - Power and Light (utility)
A type of utility which provides both power (usually electric or gas) and light to its customers
PPA - Power Purchase Agreement
PP&E - Property Plant & Equipment (accounting, assets)
Physical capital which is essential to business operations and is not easy to liquidate
Policy (regulatory)
Portfolio (investing, finance, management)
Portfolio simulation (investing, assets)
Post-merger
Power
The rate at which energy is delivered (unit = Watts)
Power Conversion System - see PCS above
Power Management
Power utility
A utility which provides power (usually electric, oil, or natural gas) to its service territory
PQ - Power Quality
PQ - Poor Quality
Price signals
Processing
PSC - Public Service Commission (State Regulator)
PSSE, PSS/E - Power System Simulation for Engineers
PUC - Public Utilities Commission (State Regulator)
PUD - Public Utility District (utility)
Public utility serving an area, often a County
Public Utility
Pumped Storage
Pumped Hydro
PURPA - Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act
Private Utility
Program Implementation
Project financing
Propane
Proprietary Database
PTC (subsidy)
PV - Photovoltaic
PV Integration
P2P - Peer to Peer
Q
QA - Quality Assurance
QC - Quality Control
QF - Qualified Facility
Qualified Purchaser (investing)
R
Ramping support
Rate case
Rate class
Rate Base
The regulated return earned by a utility on the assets it owns
RCA - Risk and Compliance Assessment
See RPA
R&D - Research & Development
RE - Renewable Energy
Energy produced from renewable sources. Examples: solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biofuels
REC - Renewable Energy Credit (incentive, subsidy)
RECIP - Renewable Energy Competitive Incentive Program (incentive)
Incentive to deploy cost-effective renewable energy
Recip - Reciprocating (engine, generation)
Reciprocating engine
Type of engine which uses pistons to turn gas pressure (usually steam) into rotating motion to produce power. These engines are often fueled by natural gas and used to power equipment for gas pipelines and gas processing.
Rectifier
Refining
Reforming
Reg A
Reg D
Regasification
Regulation
Regulated Utility
Regenerative energy
Renewable Energy
Reserve power
Residential
Customer or market of energy use at home by equipment installed at the site
Resilience
Resource Aggregation
Resource Efficiency
Resource Efficiency definition by EC: "using the earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising impacts on the environment. It allows us to create more with less and to deliver greater value with less input." more
Retail Energy
Risk arbitrage (investing)
RHS
Roadmap
ROCE - Return on Capital Employed or Return on Common Equity (finance, investing, management)
ROI - Return On Investment (finance, investing, management)
ROIC - Return On Invested Capital (finance, investing)
RPA - Risk and Performance Assurance
An inspection and performance platform developed by GTI and eight gas utilities. More
A phase of Construction Compliance Management (CCM)
RPM - Reliability Pricing Model
RPS - Renewable Portfolio Standards
RRS
RTO - Regional Transmission Organizations
Examples: New England RTO, NY ISO, PJM Interconnection, MISO, SPP RTO, ERCOT ISO, California ISO
S
SCADA - Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
Scouting
SCR - Selective Catalytic Reduction
Sector
SEIA - Solar Energy Industries Association
SEPA - Smart Energy Power Alliance
Service reliability
Service territory
Shale
SM - Storage Module
A rack level system and component of an (ESS) Energy Storage System and an (BESS) Battery Energy Storage System
SMES - Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage
A short duration energy storage technology which uses a superconducting magnetic coil which has been cryogenically chilled. This energy storage technology has a very low loss of energy.
SMR - Small Modular Reactor (generation)
Specific energy
Specific power
Spinning Reserve (Ancillary Service)
The reserve each generator must have in case the largest generator on the grid fails. Grid resilience. More
Spread (investing)
Small Power Production Facility
Renewable fuel sourced generation facility producing less that 80 MW as defined by the Federal Power Act
Smart
Smart cities
Smart grid
Smart home
Smart meter
SNL Energy
SNR - Signal to Noise Ratio
Solar array
Solar Developer
Solar Strategy
Solar Survey
Solar Thermal
Solid-state batteries
SOx - Sulfur Dioxide emissions
Spark Spread
The margin earned on gas power in an area dominated by gas
Special purpose vehicle
Spot price
Stacked use case
Combining multiple use applications of a technology. Stacked use case in LCOS analysis example.
Stranded Cost
The decline in asset value when the price of power falls below its production cost
Strategy
- Corporate Strategy
- Business Unit Strategy
- Portfolio Strategy
- Technology Strategy
Stray voltage
Storage (Energy Storage)
Bulk storage
Data Storage
Energy Storage
- Battery
- Fuel Cell
- Pumped Storage
- Flywheel
Fuel storage
Storage during processing or refinement
Substation power
Supercharger
Supply Chain
Sustainability
Syngas and synthesis gas
T
TAM - Total Addressable Market, Total Available Market, Total Annual Market
Tariffs (regulatory)
tcf - trillion cubic feet (unit measure)
A unit measure of volume in gas reserves
Tcf - Total Cubic Feet (unit measure)
Measure of a gas
T&D - Transmission & Distribution
T&D deferral
Using technologies to extend the life of existing transmission equipment
Thermal runaway
Thermal storage of energy
A storage technology which uses very low or very high temperatures to store energy
Examples: ice, molten salt
Throughput (operations)
Time Shift
TIMP - Transmission Integrity Management Plan
TOU Pricing - Time of Use Pricing
Transaction
Transaction Support
Transactive Energy - TE - (electric)
Energy prices set by transactions between all grid participants instead of regulated bodies. more
Transformer
Transmission
The Long-haul transportation of liquid and gas fuels (via pipes) and electricity (via wires)
Transmission support
Transportation
TSR - Total Shareholder Return
TWh - Total Watts
Measure of electricity
U
UCRC - Utility Customer Research Consortium
Unregulated Utility
UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply
Power supply used to recover from outages. More
Upgrade deferral
Using technology to delay the expense of replacement or upgrade of equipment or other assets
Upstream
Use Case
USRE - Utility Scale Renewable Energy
Utilities
Regulated and deregulated utilities provide services (such as: oil, gas, electric, telecommunication, or water) to a defined geography or one or more service territories.
Utility
Electric utility
(Natural) Gas utility
Multi-utility
Water utility
Utility of the Future
The expanded role of the energy utility after the widespread application and adoption of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) such as renewable energy generation and energy storage technologies, and greater customer engagement.
More
Utility scale
Examples:
Grid energy
V
Value at risk
Value Proposition
Vaporization
VC - Venture Capital
Virtual Power Plants
VOC - Voice of the Customer / Consumer
VOC - Volatile Organic Compounds (materials)
Voice of the Customer / Consumer - VOC
Volatility
Voltage control
The maintenance of consistent voltage in an electrical system.
Voltage support
VOST - Value of Solar Tariff
W
WACC - Weighted Average Cost of Capital (finance)
Water utility
Watson
Watt (unit measure, electric power)
Wh - Watt hour (unit measure, electric energy)
Wholesale (energy)
WEI - Western Electric Institute
Well to Wheels
The transformation process of a fuel from raw material to end use - in this example a vehicle. See also energy value chain
Wind Developer
WTI
X
Y
Yield (finance, investing)
Yield (operations, management)
Z
ZNE - Zero Net Energy (buildings)
A system that generates the energy equivalent of what it consumes, often applied to buildings
#
4CP - Four Critical Periods: June, July, August, September
Peak and spike use which can influence annual averages. Most relevant for utilities in hot climates such as Texas