Energy Glossary

A glossary to help you with your energy savings.

Aggregator

An individual or entity that gathers, organizes, and classifies things into groups. In our case, we bring our clients together to get bids for energy on the entire load.

Balancing

Equalizing the volumes of gas withdrawn from a pipeline system with the volumes of gas injected into the pipeline. Penalties may be assessed for transportation imbalances beyond specified tolerances.

Base Load

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

British Thermal Unit (BTU)

Common measurement of natural gas. Defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb. of liquid water by 1 at a constant pressure of one atmosphere.

Broker

An energy broker is an individual or company acting on someone's behalf to obtain the best deal or contract terms.

Burner Tip

The end of the transportation of natural gas from the wellhead, and the point of consumption.

Capacity

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.

Carbon Footprint

The total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event, product, or person.

Carbon Offsetting

Reducing a carbon footprint.

City Gate (City Station Town Border Station)

Location at which natural gas ownership passes from one party to another, neither of which is the ultimate consumer; the point at which interstate and intrastate pipelines sell and deliver natural gas to local distribution companies.

Degree Days

Used in the energy industry as a representation of outside temperatures and how it relates to energy consumption.

Demand Response

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.

Demand Side Management

The costs incurred by the utility to achieve the capacity and energy savings from the demand side management program. Costs incurred by consumers or third parties are excluded. The costs are to be reported in nominal dollars in the year in which they are incurred, regardless of when the savings occur.

Deregulation

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

Energy Information Administration (EIA)

An Agency with the Department of Energy (DOE) that provides policy-neutral data, forecasts and analyses to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

ERCOT

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

Geothermal

Relating to the heat produced inside Earth.

Gigawatt (GW)

Unit of electric power equal to one billion watts, one thousand megawatts, or 1.34 million horsepower enough to supply a medium city.

Grid

Network of synchronized power providers and consumers that are connected by transmission and distribution lines and operated by one or more control centers.

Heat Rate

Used to calculate how efficiently a generator uses heat energy. It is expressed as the number of BTUs of heat required to produce a kilowatt-hour of energy. Power / Natural gas = Market Implied Heat Rate.

Hedging

A position established in one market in an attempt to offset exposure to price changes or fluctuations with the goal to minimize risk.

Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking)

The process of pumping fluid under pressure underground to fracture rock containing oil or gas. Hydraulic fracturing creates fissures that increase the surface area in order to allow greater quantities of hydrocarbons to flow out of a reservoir.

Kilowatt Hour (KWH)

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

Load Factor

Average consumption divided by the peak power over a period of time.

Mcf

One thousand cubic feet of natural gas.

Megawatt

One million watts, a watt being a unit of measure of power, or how fast energy is used. Megawatts are typically used to describe large quantities of power, such as the power output of an electrical generating plant.

Peak Demand

Refers to a historically high point in the sales record of a particular product.

Price Cap

Sets a cap on the price that the utility provider can charge.

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)

Tradable, non-tangible energy commodities in the U.S. that represent proof that 1 MWh of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource.

Retail Energy Provider (REP)

A private supplier that provides energy as part of a competitive retail energy market.

Utility

A company in the electric or natural gas industry (often a public utility) that engages in generation and distribution in a regulated market.

Dekatherms

A dekatherm (dth) is a unit of energy used primarily to measure natural gas, developed in about 1972 by the Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation, a natural gas pipeline company. It is equal to 10 therms of 1,000,000 British thermal units (MMBtu) or 1.055 GJ.

ISO

A regional transmission organization or independent system operator (RTO or ISO) serves as a third-party independent operator of the transmission system.

  • Energy Advisory Service is our energy partner because they deliver a comprehensive energy/risk management line-up of services. The energy prices and ancillary revenue terms they negotiated was impressive, but what was more impressive was their follow up.  They worked with the suppliers to maximize our ancillary revenue by creating marketing programs that maximized resident enrollment and also created detailed reports that allowed us to measure our results.
    United Dominion Realty Trust
  • We could never duplicate in-house the results Energy Advisory Service achieved.  The combination of their energy industry know-how and their ability to bring large aggregation groups together to create market power is exceptional.
    Harbor Group Management
  • We have partnered with a firm that provides some stability in these difficult times.  Not only does EAS pursue the best deals in a given market, but they assist and educate us on different courses of action, they provide us with a sense of security when it comes to dealing with various energy providers.  Their efforts have saved both AMLI and our resident’s expense in energy costs.
    Bob Faitz
    Vice President
    AMLI Residential
  • EAS has been a fantastic partner for us, enabling us to keep our energy expenses down and drive returns to the bottom line.
    Peter
    Pizzaroni Subs & Grill
  • I have been a client of EAS for over 10 years and the best thing about EAS is their people.  I am a VERY small client yet they always treat me like I am their most important client.  They are very customer service oriented which I greatly appreciate.
    Doug MacFarland
    Vice President of Property Management
    Regency Apartments
  • EAS has produced great results for my company in keeping our energy cost down and purchasing at the right time.
    Tom Manzo
    President - Multifamily Operations
    JRK Property Holdings
  • Energy Advisory Service works to get the best pricing and contract available. We have seen fee reduction and increased revenue year over year. Thank you Energy Advisory!
    Debra Claytor Caps
    Senior Vice President Operations
    Landmark Residential
  • EAS is a Lifesaver. Even though we are a larger company, it would be cost prohibitive to hire the kind of expertise and focus that EAS brings as our energy partner.
    Buddy J. Green CPM
    Director of Technical Services
    Harbor Group Management Company
  • Laramar was pleased to award EAS its 2012 Service Provider of the Year Award. Our relationship with EAS began in 2010 and our trust in them has done nothing but grow over the years. They have not only helped us significantly reduce our energy cost but have also been there to educate us on energy options, answer questions and provide service support. Thumbs up to our 2012 Service Provider of the Year!
    Steve Boyack
    Senior Vice President, Asset Management
    Laramar Group

Illuminate your energy savings today. Contact us to learn more!