Learning Center

generation: The act or process of producing electricity from other forms of energy, such as steam, heat or falling water. The term also refers to the amount of electric energy produced.

generation company (Genco): A regulated or non-regulated entity (depending upon the industry structure) that, in a restructured environment, would operate and maintain generating plants. The Genco may own the generation plants or interact with the short-term market on behalf of plant owners. Genco is sometimes used to describe a specialized "marketer" for the generating plants formerly owned by a vertically integrated utility.

generation costs: Costs to produce electricity or acquire it by contract.

general transfer agreements (GTAs): Transmission arrangement by which BPA wheels federal power over the transmission grid of another (generally, investor-owned -- though not exclusively) utility in order to provide power to public utilities which are not directly connected to the main BPA transmission grid.

geothermal: Power generated from heat energy derived from hot rock, hot water or steam below the earth's surface.

green marketing/green pricing: The offer for sale at either wholesale or retail, power products from renewable resources, i.e., "green power." Providing consumers who believe that the benefits of renewable resources are not fully reflected in market-driven resource development with the opportunity to purchase "green power."

grid: The linking system of transmission lines, regionally and locally.

head: The vertical height of the water in a reservoir above the turbine. In general, the higher the head, the greater the capability to generate electricity.

headwater: The water level above a dam, usually measured in feet above sea level.

historical streamflow record: The unregulated streamflow data base of the 50 years from July 1928 to June 1978. The data are modified to take into account adjustments due to irrigation depletions and evaporations for the particular operating year being studied.

independent power producer: A non-utility power generating entity, defined by the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, that typically sells the power it generates to electric utilities at wholesale prices.

independent system operator (ISO) or independent grid operator (IGO): Independent manager of transmission lines to assure safe and fair transfer of electricity from generators to distribution companies.

industrial bypass: A situation in which large industrial customers buy power directly from a non-utility generator, bypassing the local utility system. Deregulation of generation and transmission has opened up the opportunity for large electricity users to purchase services from a supplier other than the local retail utility.

in-lieu energy: Under the Coordination Agreement, energy exchanged between a reservoir owner and the owner of a downstream project. The agreement allows reservoir owners to retain water above a reservoir's energy content curve; however, owners of downstream projects may request release of such water. Upstream project owners must then release the water or provide an amount of energy in-lieu of the release equal to the amount of energy which could have been generated downstream had the release been made.

insufficiency: The lack of sufficient federal capacity or energy resources to serve BPA's firm load capacity, its energy commitments or both.

integrated resource planning (IRP): Also known as Integrated Resource Management, a planning process for new energy resources that evaluates the full range of alternatives, in order to provide adequate and reliable service to its customers at the lowest system cost. The alternatives can include new generation capacity, power purchases, energy conservation and efficiency, cogeneration and renewable energy resources. In a restructured electric industry there may be no mechanism to continue this process.

integrated utility: A company that provides a complete electric system, generation, transmission and distribution services, for its customers.

interchange energy: Under the Coordination Agreement, interchange energy assures all parties an equal ability to serve their firm loads. If a party cannot meets its load in a given month, that party has the right to request interchange energy from another that has a surplus. The party with excess is obligated to meet the request. The price of interchange energy is set by parties to the agreement.

interruptible loads: Loads that by contract can be interrupted if the supplier needs the energy to meet its firm loads. A portion of BPA's service to the DSIs is interruptible.

inverted rates: A rate structure that prices successive blocks of power use at increasingly higher per-unit prices. The more electricity a customer uses, the greater the per-unit price.

investor-owned utility (IOU): A privately-owned utility organized under state law as a corporation for the purpose of providing electric power service and earning a profit for its stockholders.

irrigation discount: This is a rate discount utilities can offer to customers who use electricity for irrigation pumping. BPA has made such a discount available to its wholesale customers during the irrigation season since 1985; whether this discount will be a feature of new BPA contracts will be determined in the contract negotiations.