Glossary

Energy glossary

747 definitions · page 5 of 13.

ELCON: Electricity Consumers Resources Council. ELCON is an association of 28 large industrial consumers of electricity. ELCON members account for over five percent of all electricity consumed in the United States. ELCON was formed in 1976 "to enable member…
ELECTRIC GENERATOR: A device that converts a heat, chemical or mechanical energy into electricity.
ELECTRIC RADIANT HEATING: A heating system in which electric resistance is used to produce heat which radiates to nearby surfaces. There is no fan component to a radiant heating system.
ELECTRIC RESISTANCE HEATER: A device that produces heat through electric resistance. For example, an electric current is run through a wire coil with a relatively high electric resistance, thereby converting the electric energy into heat which can be transferred to the space by fans.
ELECTRIC UTILITY: Any person or state agency with a monopoly franchise (including any municipality), which sells electric energy to end-use customers; this term includes the Tennessee valley Authority, but does not include other Federal power marketing agency (from EPAct).
ELECTRICITY: A property of the basic particles of matter. A form of energy having magnetic, radiant and chemical effects. Electric current is created by a flow of charged particles (electrons).
ELECTROLYSIS: Breaking a chemical compound down into its elements by passing a direct current through it. Electrolysis of water, for example, produces hydrogen and oxygen.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (EMF): Ordinary every day use of electricity produces magnetic and electric fields. These 60 Hertz fields (fields that go back and forth 60 times a second) are associated with electrical appliances, power lines and wiring in buildings.
ELEMENT: A substance consisting entirely of atoms of the same atomic number.
ELEVATION - 1: The height above sea level (altitude); 2) A geometrical projection, such as a building, on a plane perpendicular to the horizon.
EMBEDDED COSTS EXCEEDING MARKET PRICES (ECEMP): Embedded costs of utility investments exceeding market prices are: i) costs incurred pursuant to a regulatory or contractual obligation; 2) costs that are reflected in cost-based rates; and 3) cost-based rates that exceed the price of alternatives in the…
EMERGENCY CORE COOLING SYSTEM (ECCS): Equipment designed to cool the core of a nuclear reactor in the event of a complete loss of the coolant.
EMISSION STANDARD: The maximum amount of a pollutant legally permitted to be discharged from a single source.
EMISSIVITY: The property of emitting radiation; possessed by all materials to a varying extent.
EMITTANCE: The emissivity of a material, expressed as a fraction. Emittance values range from 0.05 for brightly polished metals to 0.96 for flat black paint.
ENERGY: The capacity for doing work. Forms of energy include: thermal, mechanical, electrical and chemical. Energy may be transformed from one form into another.
ENERGY BUDGET: A requirement in the Building Energy Efficiency Standards that a proposed building be designed to consume no more than a specified number of British thermal units (Btus) per year per square foot of conditioned floor area.
ENERGY CHARGE: The amount of money owed by an electric customer for kilowatt-hours consumed.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION: The amount of energy consumed in the form in which it is acquired by the user. The term excludes electrical generation and distribution losses.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Using less energy/electricity to perform the same function. Programs designed to use electricity more efficiently - doing the same with less. For the purpose of this paper, energy efficiency is distinguished from DSM programs in that the latter are…
ENERGY FUEL DIVERSITY: policy that encourages the development of energy technologies to diversify energy supply sources, thus reducing reliance on conventional (petroleum) fuels; applies to all energy sectors.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: A control system (often computerized) designed to regulate the energy consumption of a building by controlling the operation of energy consuming systems, such as the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting and water heating systems.
ENERGY RESERVES: The portion of total energy resources that is known and can be recovered with presently available technology at an affordable cost.
ENERGY RESOURCES: Everything that could be used by society as a source of energy.
ENERGY RESOURCES PROGRAM ACCOUNT (ERPA): The state law that directs California electric utility companies to gather a state energy surcharge per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed by a customer. These funds are used for operation of the California Energy Commission. As of January 1, 2004, the…
ENERGY SECURITY FUEL SECURITY: policy that considers the risk of dependence on fuel sources located in remote and unstable regions of the world and the benefits of domestic and diverse fuel sources.
ENERGY SECURITY/FUEL SECURITY: policy that considers the risk of dependence on fuel sources located in remote and unstable regions of the world and the benefits of domestic and diverse fuel sources.
ENERGY/FUEL DIVERSITY: policy that encourages the development of energy technologies to diversify energy supply sources, thus reducing reliance on conventional (petroleum) fuels; applies to all energy sectors.
ENTHALPY: The quantity of heat necessary to raise the temperature of a substance from one point to a higher temperature. The quantity of heat includes both latent and sensible.
ENTITLEMENT: Electric energy or generating capacity that a utility has a right to access under power exchange or sales agreements.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA): A federal agency created in 1970 to permit coordinated governmental action for protection of the environment by systematic abatement and control of pollution through integration or research, monitoring, standards setting and enforcement activities.
EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency. A federal agency charged with protecting the environment.
EPAct: The Energy Policy Act of 1992 addresses a wide variety of energy issues. The legislation creates a new class of power generators, exempt wholesale generators (EWGs), that are exempt from the provisions of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935 and…
ESCO: Efficiency Service Company - A company that offers to reduce a client's electricity consumption with the cost savings being split with the client.
ETHANOL: (also know as Ethyl Alcohol or Grain Alcohol, CH3CH2OH) - a liquid that is produced chemically from ethylene or biologically from the fermentation of various sugars from carbohydrates found in agricultural crops and cellulosic residues from crops or wood…
ETHYL TERTIARY BUTYL ETHER (ETBE): an aliphatic ether similar to MTBE. This fuel oxygenate is manufactured by reacting isobutylene with ethanol. Having high octane and low volatility characteristics, ETBE can be added to gasoline up to a level of approximately 17 percent by volume. ETBE is…
ETHYLENE: A colorless gas that burns and is an oil refinery product.
EV (ELECTRIC VEHICLE): a vehicle powered by electricity, usually provided by batteries but may also be provided by photovoltaic (solar) cells or a fuel cell.
EVAPORATIVE COOLING: Cooling by exchange of latent heat from water sprays, jets of water, or wetted material.
EXCEPTIONAL METHOD: An approved alternative calculation method that analyzes designs, materials, or devices that cannot be adequately modeled using public domain computer programs. Exceptional methods must be submitted to and approved by the California Energy Commission. [See…
EXCHANGE (Electric utility): Agreements between utilities providing for purchase, sale and trading of power. Usually relates to capacity (kilowatts) but sometimes energy (kilowatt-hours).
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 6: A provision under the California Emergency Services Act permits the Governor to establish, by Executive Order Number 6, a state Petroleum Fuels Set-Aside Program after proclamation of an energy emergency.
EXEMPT WHOLESALE GENERATOR (EWG): Created under the 1992 Energy Policy Act, these wholesale generators are exempt from certain financial and legal restrictions stipulated in the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935.
Exempt Wholesale Generator(EWG): Created under the 1992 Energy Policy Act, these wholesale generators are exempt from certain financial and legal restrictions stipulated in the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935.
EXFILTRATION: Air flow outward through a wall, building envelope, etc.
EXHAUST: Air removed deliberately from a space, by a fan or other means, usually to remove contaminants from a location near their source.
EXPORTS (Electric utility): Power capacity or energy that a utility is required by contract to supply outside of its own service area and not covered by general rate schedules.
EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE (EHV): Voltage levels higher than those normally used on transmission lines. Generally EHV is considered to be 345,000 volts or higher.
FAHRENHEIT: A temperature scale in which the boiling point of water is 212 degrees and its freezing point is 32 degrees. To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32, multiply by 5, and divide the product by 9. For example: 100 degrees Fahrenheit - 32 = 68; 68 x 5 =…
FAN COIL: A component of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system containing a fan and heating or cooling coil, used to distribute heated or cooled air.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA): The federal agency in charge of disaster recovery in locations that have been declared disaster areas by a state's Governor and the President of the United States.
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC): An independent regulatory commission within the U.S. Department of Energy that has jurisdiction over energy producers that sell or transport fuels for resale in interstate commerce; the authority to set oil and gas pipeline transportation rates and to set…
FENESTRATION: In simplest terms, windows or glass doors. Technically fenestration is described as any transparent or translucent material plus any sash, frame, mullion or divider. This includes windows, sliding glass doors, French doors, skylights, curtain walls and…
FIRM ENERGY: Power supplies that are guaranteed to be delivered under terms defined by contract.
FISSION: A release of energy caused by the splitting of an atom's nucleus. This is the energy process used in conventional nuclear power plants to make the heat needed to run steam electric turbines.
FISSIONABLE MATERIAL: A substance whose atoms can be split by slow neutrons. Uranium-235, plutonium-239 and uranium-233 are fissionable materials.
FLARE GAS: Unwanted natural gas that is disposed of by burning as it is released from an oil field.
FLAT PLATE: A device used to collect solar energy. It is a piece of metal painted black on the side facing the sun, to absorb the sun's heat.
FLAT PLATE .: A device used to collect solar energy. It is a piece of metal painted black on the side facing the sun, to absorb the sun's heat.
FLEXIBLE FUEL VEHICLE (FFV): a vehicle that can operate on either alcohol fuels (methanol or ethanol) or regular unleaded gasoline or any combination of the two from the same tank.