Be empowered.

A wholesale buyer or broker of a utility service, such as electricity or long-distance telephone service, who packages it and sells it to consumers.

The minimum level of demand on an electrical supply system over 24 hours. Base load power sources are those plants which can generate dependable power to consistently meet demand.

An energy broker is an individual or company acting on someone’s behalf, like a middleman or negotiator, to obtain the best deal or contract terms.

The net capacity factor of a power plant is the ratio of its actual output over a period of time, to its potential output if it were possible for it to operate at full nameplate capacity indefinitely.

A voluntary program that compensates end-use (retail) customers for reducing their electricity use (load), when requested, during periods of high power prices or when the reliability of the grid is threatened.

The costs incurred by the utility to achieve the capacity and energy savings from the Demand-Side Management Program. Costs (expenditures) incurred by consumers or third parties are to be excluded. The costs are to be reported in nominal dollars in the year in which they are incurred, regardless of when the savings occur. Program costs include expensed items incurred to implement the program, incentive payments provided to consumers to install Demand-Side Management measures, and annual operation and maintenance expenses incurred during the year. Utility costs that are general, administrative, or not specific to a particular Demand-Side Management category are to be included in “other” costs.

A market where consumers have their choice of electricity generation suppliers.

A company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) operates the electric grid and manages the deregulated market for 75 percent of the state.

Unit of electric power equal to one billion (10^9) watts, one thousand megawatts, or 1.34 million horsepower enough to supply a medium size city.

The energy outputs of large power plants over long periods of time, or the energy consumption of states or nations, can be expressed in gigawatt hours (GWh), where 1 GWh = 1,000 MWh = 10⁶ kWh. The kilowatt-hour is rarely used to express energy in any form other than electrical.

An electric grid is a network of synchronized power providers and consumers that are connected by transmission and distribution lines and operated by one or more control centers. When most people talk about the power “grid,” they’re referring to the transmission system for electricity.

A measure of electrical energy equivalent to a power consumption of 1,000 watts for 1 hour.

Refers to a historically high point in the sales record of a particular product. In terms of energy use, peak demand describes a period of simultaneous, strong consumer demand or a period of highest demand in a billing period.

Sets a cap on the price that the utility provider can charge. The cap is set according to several economic factors, such as the price cap index, expected efficiency savings and inflation.

A Retail Energy Provider (REP) or is a private supplier that provides energy as part of a competitive retail energy market. For the most part, residential areas receive power from regulated default providers—like the city. REPs buy electricity from default providers at wholesale and then distribute it privately.

The rules that a company must agree to abide by in order to use a service. 

Refers to the purchase and sale of energy products – primarily electricity, but also steam and natural gas – in the wholesale market by energy producers and energy retailers.