Learning Center

juvenile: The early stage in the life cycle of anadromous fish when they migrate downstream to the ocean.

kilowatt (kW): A unit of electrical power equal to one thousand watts.

kilowatt-hour (kWh): A basic unit of electrical energy which equals one kilowatt of power used for one hour.

levelized life-cycle cost: The present value of the cost of a resource, including capital, financing and operating costs, converted into a stream of equal annual payments. Unlike installed costs, levelized costs permit comparisons of resources with different lifetimes and generating capabilities.

life-line rates: An artificially low charge for a specified basic block of residential electricity followed by a higher rate for use beyond that block. Such rates are to assure that low-income customers have enough electricity for basic uses.

load: The amount of electric power delivered or required at a given point on a system. (Amount of electric power consumed at a location).

load factor: The ratio of average load to peak load during a specific period of time, expressed as a percent.

load management: The management of load patterns in order to better utilize the facilities of the system. Generally, load management attempts to shift load from peak use periods to low use periods.

load shape: The variation in the magnitude of the power load over a daily, weekly or annual period.

low-density discount: This BPA rate discount benefits utilities that provide service to sparsely populated rural areas where distribution costs are spread over fewer customers. The Northwest Power Act mandates that there be such a discount, but the level of the discount is set by BPA.

mainstem: The main channel of a river -- as opposed to the streams and smaller rivers that feed into it.

marginal cost pricing: A system of pricing designed to reflect the cost of adding new power facilities to a system. Sometimes referred to as incremental cost pricing.

megawatt (MW): A unit of electrical power equal to one million watts or one thousand kilowatts.

megawatt-hour (Mwh): A unit of electrical energy which equals one megawatt of power used for one hour.

market forces: Competition for sales, new alliances, innovative pricing structures, customer demand, customer choices of various kinds of services.

market power: Large companies owning a high percentage of generation that can wield size in the market place and dominate prices.

melded rate: A rate which reflects the combined costs of different sources of power. Typically costs of existing hydro projects and costs of newer thermal plants are said to be melded when combined or averaged together in one rate.

Mid-Columbia Bus: A loose description of the interconnected generating facilities stretching from the Grand Coulee Project downriver to the Priest Rapids Project.

Mid-Columbia ServicesTM: A division of Chelan PUD which provides scheduling and other services to power marketers and other utilities.

mill: One-tenth of one cent. The common unit for pricing electricity.

model conservation standards: Construction standards for new electrically heated residential and commercial structures, and conversion standards for residential and commercial structures that switch to electric space heating.

municipal utility: A utility owned and operated by a city.

nameplate capacity (or installed capacity): A measurement indicating the approximate generating capability of a project or unit, as designated by the manufacturer. In many cases, the unit is capable of generating substantially more than the nameplate capacity since most generators installed in newer hydroelectric plants have a continuous overload capacity of 115 percent of the nameplate capacity.

National Energy Policy Act of 1992: A law aimed at increasing efficiency in the electric utility industry by enhancing competition in generation. It opens up transmission access in an unprecedented fashion by giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority to order utilities to provide transmission to other utilities, federal power marketing agencies or anyone else generating electric energy for sale.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969: A law requiring agencies to consider the environmental impacts of major federal actions and to prepare environmental impact statements (EISs) which discuss these impacts and weigh alternatives. The law also requires public participation in the EIS process.

natural monopoly: A situation where one firm can produce a given level of output at a lower cost than can any combination of multiple firms. Natural monopolies occur in industries that exhibit decreasing average long-run costs with increasing size (economies of scale). Historically, electrical generation has been assumed to be a natural monopoly. This assumption is being questioned in the electrical industry restructuring debate.

net billing: A financial arrangement that allowed BPA to underwrite the costs of certain electric generating projects. Under net billing, utilities that owned shares in thermal projects assigned all or part of the generating capability of those resources to BPA. BPA, in turn, credited and continues to credit the wholesale power bills of these utilities to cover the costs of their shares in the thermal resources. BPA sells the output of the thermal plants, averaging the higher costs of the thermal power with lower cost hydropower. Washington Public Power Supply System Nuclear Projects 1, 2, and 3, are net billed.

nitrogen supersaturation: A water condition in which the concentration of dissolved nitrogen exceeds the saturation level of the water. Excess nitrogen can harm the circulatory systems of fish.

nonfirm energy: Energy that is not guaranteed to be continuously available. Nonfirm energy is available in varying amounts depending upon season and weather conditions.

nuclear reactor: A device in which a fission chain reaction can be initiated, maintained and controlled. Nuclear reactors are used in the power industry to produce steam for electricity.