Glossary

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General Terms

Actual (ACT) Usage: Indicates that your utility company provided an actual meter read.

Estimated (EST) Usage: Indicates that your utility company provided an estimated meter read.

Billing Month: Represents the month in which your utility
dictated meter read cycle is associated to.

Billing Period: Represents your meter read from and meter read to dates.

Distribution Charges: Utility charges that cover various
operating and distribution costs.These vary based on your utility provider, but may include additional charges for meter services and administrative fees.

Energy-related Charges: Charges that are calculated based on usage (or volume) information and are subject to change in the event your usage is revised by your utility company.

Adjustment: Typically limited to financial-related debits or credits that are not calculated based on usage information.

Local Distribution Company (LDC) or Electric Distribution
Company (EDC): Your utility company that provides
distribution services.

Contracted Quantity (CQ): An exact,agreed upon volume of energy that is designated by the customer for the purpose of determining the fixed and variable components of the total energy charges.

Usage Over Contracted Quantity: Monthy usage that is in excess of the amount purchased for the corresponding monthly Contracted Quantity (CQ). Usage that is in excess of CQ results in a charge based on current market conditions.

Usage Under Contracted Quantity: Monthly usage that is less than the amount purchased for the corresponding monthly Contracted Quantity (CQ). Usage that is less than CQ results in a credit based on current market conditions.

Index-based Price: A published price that will change each month, such as Nymex, Inside FERC, Natural Gas Intelligence, Gas Daily Daily, etc.

Fixed Price: A known price for commodity that has been
hedged.

Prior Period Revision(s): A result of either utility initiated
usage changes (such as a meter re-read) or a correction to an energy-related contract price. In either case, a cancellation and re-bill of a previously billed period is required.

 

Electric Related Terms

Delivery Class: For most non-residential customers, delivery class is based on each account’s highest 30-minute demand from the preceding 12 monthly billing periods.

Transmission Charge: A separate charge for the bulk
transfer of electrical energy from a generation facility to
step-down substations, before reaching distribution service providers.

On Peak Hours: Certain hours during weekday days that
are designated by energy suppliers for the purpose of
applying On Peak billing rates.

Off Peak Hours: Certain hours during weekends, holidays, and weekday evenings that are designated by energy suppliers for the purpose of applying Off Peak billing rates.

OATT: Open Access Transmission Tariff.

KiloWatt hour (kWh): A unit of measure of total electricity used for a period of time. One kiloWatt-hour lights a 100-watt bulb for ten hours. Represented by other terms such as usage or consumption.

KiloWatt (kW): A unit of measure of the rate at which
electricity is used at a given instant. Ten 100-watt light
bulbs turned on at the same time use electricity at a rate of 1,000 watts or 1 kiloWatt. Also represents peak demand for billing purposes.

Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Loss Charges: Charges related to electrical losses incurred during transport on the transmission and distribution systems. Loss factors are defined by the transmission and distribution entities, and approved by FERC.

Marginal Losses Credit (MIC): A credit provided by certain RTOs as a result of an over-collection of funds for transmission and distribution losses.

Environmentally Preferred Products: The host of products offered by Exelon Energy that allow customers to do their part to help the environment.

Renewable Energy Certificate (REC): Document
demonstrating the entitlement to the environmental
attributes of one megaWatt hour (MWh) of energy
generated from a renewable resource.

Emission-Free Energy Certificate (EFEC): Document
demonstrating the entitlement to the environmental
attributes of one megaWatt hour (MWh) of power output from a generating unit that does not directly produce any air emissions including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide.

Regional Transmission Organization (RTO): The entity that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity and facilitates the markets for energy and related services within a control area.

 

Natural Gas Terms

CCF (100 cubic feet): A unit of natural gas measurement that is equal to one therm when multiplied by the Btu factor. The ratio of CCF to MCF is 100 to 1.

Therm: a CCF unit of natural gas measurement that
includes a Btu factor. The ratio of therm to dekatherm is 100 to 1.

Btu Factor: A factor expressing the amount of heat content, or quality,of natural gas. When the BTU factor is multiplied by one CCF, the result is one therm.

Shrink Factor (or Lost and Unaccounted For Factor):Natural gas retained by the utility from the shipper that is considered lost during transport from the citygate (utility hub) to the burnertip (meter).

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 odor.

Storage Purchase: In the event a customer begins services with a retail natural gas supplier and has natural gas in storage that changes ownership to the new supplier, a credit is issued to the customer to purchase the amount of natural gas in storage.

Storage Sale: In the event a customer terminates services with a retail natural gas supplier and has natural gas in storage that changes ownership to the customer, a debit is issued to charge the customer for the amount of natural gas in storage.

Pooling Fees: Additional fees that may or may not be
imposed by certain utilities, in addition to distribution
charges.

Bulletin Board Charges: Additional fees that may or may
not be imposed by certain utilities, in addition to
distribution charges.

For utility specific definitions regarding your distribution charges, contact your local distribution company.