FAQ/Acronyms

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ISO-NE and what does it do?

• An Independent System Operator (ISO) is a non-profit company authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to operate a regional electric grid, administer the wholesale electricity market, and plan the evolution of the grid. An ISO in North America is also a regional transmission organization (RTO) that manages the regional transmission grid (or what we often call, the grid).
• ISO-NE is New England’s ISO, and covers most of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The ISO-NE explainersummarizes these three key roles:
  • Grid Operation: forecast, dispatch and direct the flow of electricity over the region’s high-voltage transmission system.
  • Market Administration: design, run, and oversee markets that attract a large and diverse mix of participants to buy and sell wholesale electricity at the most competitive prices.
  • Grid Planning: conduct the studies, analyses, and planning to make sure New England’s electricity needs will be met by considering the evolution of the grid over the next 10 years and beyond.

What is FERC and what does it do?

• FERC is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It is an independent agency that regulatesinterstate natural gas pipelines, LNG terminals, and hydropower plants, and the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, and electricity
• FERC also regulates all ISOs/RTOs across the country, including ISO New England. As the ISO-NE websiteexplains, some ISO-NE actions require approval from FERC, including changes to market rules. The ISO-NE in general must comply with FERC rules and rule changes.

What is NEPOOL and what does it do?

• The ISO-NE has control over proposing changes related to its own structure and electricity market rules, however, it must do so in consultation with the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL). NEPOOL consists of all the designated participants in ISO markets plus other designated stakeholders, including generators, transmission owners, energy service companies, electric consumers, and nonprofits. FERC approved this body to advise and vote on ISO-NE electric market rules and transmission tariffs.
• NEPOOL is a member of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which is responsible for ensuring the reliability of the electric power system in North America.

What’s the practical difference between NEPOOL and ISO-NE?

• ISO-NE carries out the mandate of the organization, while NEPOOL is the governance body that consults and votes on the market rules and changes. ISO-NE must consult NEPOOL when ISO-NE wants to make changes to rules or governing documents.
• NEPOOL is made up of a large group of members (ranging from generation companies to large industrial consumers to environmental advocates) that discuss and revise the proposals the ISO-New England is considering, and take non-binding “advisory” votes as to what they think the ISO-New England board should do. Corporate participants dominate voting, and corporate families have multiple companies in NEPOOL, and thus multiple votes.
• NEPOOL existed before FERC and ISO-NE were created. A timeline with simple explanations of the reasons for creating each of the organizations is here.
• The relationship between ISO-NE and NEPOOL is defined in a participants agreement with amendments and in an MOU (memorandum of understanding) that also defines the relationship between these two entities and NESCOE (see below for more on NESCOE).

What do electricity generating companies do?

• Generation companies own and operate the generation plants that supply electricity to the grid. In New England, most generation companies are investor-owned (private) companies that operate independent of utilities and state utility regulation. They seek to profit by selling their electricity either directly (through bilateral contracts) to wholesale electricity consumers such as utilities, or by selling their electricity in ISO-NE markets.
• Most of the remaining generation is owned by electric utilities. New England has dozens of municipal light plants (MLPs); these are allowed to own and generate electricity. In Vermont, investor-owned utilities still own generation, and even in the other five New England states which forced utilities to sell off their generation facilities during electric restructuring in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there are exceptions–e.g. in Massachusetts utilities may own some solar generation.

What do Electric Utility Companies do?

• Electric Utility Companies are sometimes called LDCs, local distribution companies, and include both state-regulated, investor-owned utilities like Eversource, Green Mountain Power, and Central Maine Power, and municipal utilities owned by the city or town in which they’re located.
• Utilities build and maintain distribution systems, buy power from the wholesale electricity markets and sell it to end-user customers, and meter and bill for each customer’s use. Utility-owned infrastructure generally includes substations, poles, wires and meters. Municipal utilities may also own their own generating plants. Most investor-owned utilities don’t make money off of generating electricity or providing transmission, but rather profit on the distribution infrastructure they build, usually set at about 9-11%.

Who regulates electric utilities?

• Each state has its own utility commission, a regulatory body: Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU), Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC), New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and Vermont Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
• These departments oversee investor-owned utilities such as electric power, natural gas, and water companies. In particular, they set profit limits that investor-owned utilities can make, generally about 9-11%, and they generally require universal, safe and reliable access to electricity.

What do environmental agencies at the federal and state levels do that is related to electric power systems?

• At the federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implements laws passed by the U.S. Congress, including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. It sets national standards for air and water quality. Air quality standards limit the pollutants that a fossil fuel burning power plant can emit. Water quality standards limit the ability of power plants to use local water bodies for cooling or to release effluent, and set standards for impacts from hydropower.
• Other federal agencies may also play important roles. The US Army Corps of Engineers gives permits for construction near “navigable waters,” which include many to most waterways, and may undertake an Environmental Impact Statement or Environmental Assessment required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when a pipeline or transmission line is to be built. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service have responsibility to ensure protection of endangered and threatened species and their critical habitats.
• States and tribes enforce these federal standards through their own regulations, and may pass more stringent regulations.
• At the state level, state environmental agencies oversee environmental regulatory programs, including for air, water, waste and land use. For example, the Massachusetts DEP“has the authority and responsibility for the management and control of air quality, regulation of the activities affecting wetlands, oversight and regulation of the quality of drinking water, management of water quality, control of pollution of all waters of the Commonwealth including groundwater, control of aquatic vegetation, regulation of the disposal of all solid wastes, the storage and transportation of hazardous wastes.” Other agencies are often responsible for fish and wildlife, and for recreational lands like parks.

Why is electricity in New England so expensive these days?

• One reason is because our grid relies significantly on natural gas, which makes up the biggest share of New England’s fuel mix. The market for natural gas is global, and when Russia invaded Ukraine, gas supplies in Europe were constrained, and global prices went up. That made our natural gas, and our electricity, more expensive. Natural gas is regularly imported into New England from domestic and international sources. New England is also a net importer of electricity which is generated from Canada and New York. See ISO-NE’s Explainer here.
• Additionally, as ISO-NE argues, our region relies on just-in-time fuel delivered through pipelines, barges, or trucks. New England’s pipeline infrastructure is relatively small compared to other regions, and these factors result in greater imbalances in the supply and demand curve when supply cannot meet demand for these reasons.
• For more info, see slides from the FTG-sponsored Electric Bills Webinar.

Who runs ISO-NE?

• ISO-New England is run by a small board of directors, while full time professional staff carry out daily operations.

How do ISO employees get paid?

• To fund the services the ISO provides,ISO-NE “collects fees from the buyers and sellers in the region’s wholesale electricity markets and from the customers that use regional transmission services. Those service rates are set at a level that lets them recover only what they need to operate.” Part of that operation cost is employee’s salaries.

What is ISO New England’s mission statement?

• The mission statement includes three main roles: “Through collaboration and innovation, ISO New England plans the transmission system, administers the region’s wholesale markets, and operates the power system to ensure reliable and competitively priced wholesale electricity.”

Is a mission of any of ISO-NE’s goals to speed up deployment of renewables? If not, is there a way that that could be made part of their mission? Do they have a timetable? Are there consequences if they do not meet targets?

• The formal mission statement does not contain any reference to renewables or clean energy. However, a part of ISO-NE’s vision for the future is “to harness the power of competition and advanced technologies to reliably plan and operate the grid as the region transitions to clean energy.” This vision is also outlined in their strategic plan, including four pillars to support this vision, which entails “significant amounts of clean energy, balancing resources, energy adequacy, and transmission investment.” However, ISO-NE does not have a timetable with deadlines to realize concrete goals.

Is the public privy to ISO-NE or NEPOOL deliberations? No. While the ISO-NE website contains a wealth of information on forecasting, reports, planning and other areas of their work, NEPOOL deliberations and votes are private and closed. In addition, prior to the 2022 ISO-NE board meeting, the public was not able to comment on or attend board meetings. The minutes and presentations to NEPOOL are available on theISO-NE website, including the monthly Chief Operating Officer reports to the NEPOOL participants Committee. How can I get a monthly overview of ISO-NE and FERC-related proceedings and trends? The monthly report by ISO-NE to the NECPUC (New England Conference of Public Utility Commissioners) contains a useful summary. The June 2023 edition is linkedhereandthe external affairswebsite contains all monthly reports. How can state officials influence the decision making process at ISO-NE?

• There are three main ways that state officials can influence decision-making processes at ISO-NE:
  • Appealing to the NEPOOL Participants Committee: Multiple members of each sector, including municipal light departments, are registered as participants in NEPOOL. This includes a representative from the MA Attorney General’s Office, who sits as a Vice-Chair (Source). Public entities that sit as decision makers for NEPOOL would be subject to pressure from local or state officials.
  • Renewable resource and transmission advocacy: in order to shift ISO-NE’s decisionmaking, state and local officials can push for increased renewable energy policy in their state that in turn impacts what generation ISO-NE has at its disposal when trying to meet regional demand. Local officials could also participate in the planning process of new transmission lines where applicable.
  • The New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE) represents the collective perspectives of all six New England states in regional electricity matters. The governors in each state appoint members of NESCOE, but ISO-NE does not have to necessarily pass or implement NESCOE recommendations or policies. More information on the relationship between NESCOE and ISO-NE is available here and more on how NESCOE has been actively pushing ISO-NE on clean energy can be found in this article.

What is under the purview of states and their Dept. of Public Utilities vs. ISO-NE?

• Public utility commissions (PUCs) regulate the investor-owned utilities (IOUs) that operate within the state, which include electric and gas utilities. PUCs set retail rates for the utilities and monitor their compliance with both federal and state regulation.
• ISO-NE, in contrast, operates the bulk power system and the New England grid. ISO-NE operates wholesale electricity markets. PUCs and ISO-NE do not usually overlap in their responsibilities: PUCs regulate IOUs, and ISO-NE manages the regional power system.

How much of the ISO-NE Grid relies on fossil fuels?

• Our grid uses electricity generated here in New England and imported from other regions including New York and Canada. About 45% of demand (or load) in 2022 was met by natural gas. Nuclear provided 23%, renewables including solar, wind, refuse and wood 11%, and non-imported hydropower 7%.

Is there a map of all generation sources, including fossil fuels, in our region? This mapoverlays the majority of New England’s generation sources and also includes EJ communities. An explainer document can be foundhere. Why is methane gas (or natural gas, as the industry calls it) normally so cheap and why are we in ISO-NE so reliant on it?

• The fracked shale revolution, which has been ongoing for decades and subsidized by government money and ratepayers, has led to cheap natural gas. In our region, we’ve gone from 15% of our electricity mix consisting of natural gas in 2000, to over 45% today. The Marcellus play is closest to New England and most prolific. Environmental and health costs are externalized, meaning that we do not pay for them in the price of natural gas. More recently, prices have skyrocketed due to shortages associated with the war in Ukraine.

Acronyms

A

• A&G - Administrative and General Expenses
• A/S - Ancillary Services
• AAQS - Ambient Air Quality Standards
• ABF - Aquatic Base Flow
• AC - Alternating current
• ACA - Annual Charge Adjustment
• ACE - Area Control Error
• ACHP - Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
• ACRS - Accelerated Cost Recovery System
• ADIT - Accumulated Deferred Income Taxes
• ADITC - Accumulated Deferred Investment Tax Credit
• ADR - Asset Depreciation Range or Alternative Dispute Resolution
• AFE - Authority for Expenditure or Authorization for Expenditure
• AFUDC - Allowance for Funds Used During Construction
• AG&T - Generation of Transmission Cooperative
• AGA - American Gas Association
• AGC - Automatic Generation Control
• AGD - Associated Gas Distributors
• AI - Agricultural Inspector
• AIMA - Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement
• AIRFA - American Indian Religious Freedom Act
• ALJ - Administrative Law Judge
• AMI - Advance Metering Infrastructure
• ANGTA - Alaskan Natural Gas Transportation Act of 1976
• ANGTS - Alaskan Natural Gas Transportation System
• ANSI - American National Standars Institute
• AOS - Authorized Overrun Service
• APA - Administrative Procedure Act or Alaska Power Administration
• APE - Area of potential effect
• API - The American Petroleum Institute
• APPA - American Public Power Association
• AQCR - Air Quality Control Region
• ARPA - Archeological Resources Protection Act
• ASAL - Atlantic salmon population model developed by FWS
• ASCC - (Affiliate) Alaskan System Coordination Council
• ASRSC - Atlantic Sea-Run Salmon Commission
• ATC - Available Transfer Capability

B

• BA - Biological Assessment
• BACT - Best Available Control Technology
• BCD - Barrels per Calendar Day
• Bcf - Billion Cubic Feet
• BCNS - Breathe Clean North Shore
• BCP - Blackstart Capability Plan
• BES - Bulk Electric System
• BIA - Bureau of Indian Affairs
• BLM - Bureau of Land Management, The Dept. of Interior
• BPA - Bonneville Power Administration
• BPR - Bureau of Parks and Recreation
• BPS - Bulk-Power System
• BS&W - Bottom sediments of water
• BTU - British Thermal Unit
• BuRec - Bureau of Reclamation

C

• CAA - Clean Air Act
• CAISO - California Independent System Operator Corporation
• CAP - Capacity Market Programs
• CAPM - Capital Asset Pricing Model
• CBM - Capacity Benefit Margin
• CD - Certificate of Deposit
• CEO - Chief Executive Officer
• CEQ - Council on Environmental Quality
• CERCLA - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
• CERCLIS - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System
• Certificate - Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
• CF - Cubic Feet
• CFD - Contracts for Differences
• CFO - Chief Financial Officer
• CFR - Code of Federal Regulations
• cfs - Cubic Feet Per Second
• CFTC - Commodity Future Trade Commission
• CIAC - Contribution of Aid of Construction
• CMVE - Competitive Market Value Estimate
• CNG - Compressed Natural Gas
• CO - Carbon Monoxide
• CO2 - Carbon Dioxide
• COC - Cost of Capital
• COE - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• COO - Chief Operating Officer
• CP - Certificate Proceeding
• CPI - Consumer Price Index
• CPP - Critical Peak Pricing
• cps - Cycles Per Second
• CPS - Control Performance Standard
• CRMP - Cultural Resource Management Plans
• CRP - Conservation Reserve Program
• CRT - Capacity Reservation Tariff
• CSP - Curtailment Service Provider
• CWA - Clean Water Act
• CWIP - Construction Work In Progress
• CZMA - Coastal Zone Management Act

D

• D.B.A. - Doing business as
• dBA - Decibles on the A-weighted scale
• DBH - Diameter Breast Height
• dc - Direct Current
• DCLM - Direct Control Load Management
• DCS - Disturbance Control Standard
• DEIS - Draft Environmental Impact Statement
• DF - Distribution Factor
• DFG - Department of Fish and Game
• DLC - Direct Load Control
• DME - Disturbance Monitoring Equipment
• DO - Dissolved Oxygen
• DOE - Department of Energy
• DOE Act - Department of Energy Organization Act
• DOE/FE - Department of Energy - Office of Fossil Energy
• DOI - Department of Interior
• DOT - Department of Transportation
• DR - Demand Response
• DSM - Demand-Side Management
• Dth - Dekatherm (equivalent to 1 MMBTU)

E

• E&D - Expenses Exploration and development expenses
• e.g. - Exempli gratia
• EA - Environmental Assessment
• EBB - Electronic Bulletin Board
• ECAR - East Central Area Reliability Coordination Agreement
• ECPA - Electric Consumers Protection Act
• EDRP - Emergency Demand Response Program
• EEI - Edison Electric Institute
• EHV - Extra High Voltage
• EI - Environmental Inspector
• EIA - Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy
• EIS - Environmental Impact Statement
• ELCON - Electricity Consumers Resources Council
• EMF - Electro Magnetic Fields
• EPA - Environmental Protection Act
• EPAct - National Energy Policy Act of 1992
• EPAct 2005 - Energy Policy Act of 2005
• EPRI - Electric Power Research Institute
• EPS - Earnings Per Share
• EQR - Electric Quarterly Report
• ERA - Economic Regulatory Administration (now called Fossil Energy FE)
• ERCOT - Electric Reliability Council of Texas
• ERO - Electric Reliability Organization
• ERTA - Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
• ESA - Endangered Species Act
• ESCO - Efficiency Service Company
• ESOT - Employee Stock Ownership Trust
• EWG - Exempt Wholesale Generator

F

• FAC - Fuel Adjustment Clause
• FACTS - Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System
• FASB - The Financial Accounting Standards Board
• FCITC - First Contingency Incremental Transfer Capability
• FEIS - Final Environmental Impact Statement
• FELCC - Firm Energy Load Carrying Capability
• FERC - or Commission Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• FIFO - First-in, first-out
• Fishway - Fish Ladder
• FLPMA - Federal Land Policy and Management Act
• FOIA - Freedom of Information Act
• FONSI - Finding of no significant impact
• FPA - Federal Power Act
• FPC - Federal Power Commission
• FPS - Firm peaking service
• FR - Full Requirements
• FR or F.R. - or Fed Reg Federal Register
• FRCC - Florida Reliability Coordinating Council
• FS - Forest Service
• FSO4 - Final Standard Offer Four
• FT - Firm Transportation Service
• FTC - Federal Trade Commission
• FTR - Firm Transmission Rights
• FTS - Firm transportation service
• FUA - The Fuel Use Act
• FUCO - Foreign Utility Company
• FWPA - Federal Water Power Act
• FWS - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

G

• GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
• GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
• Genco - Generation Company
• GIC - Gas Inventory Charge
• GISB - Gas Industry Standards Board (now NAESB
• GLDF - Generator-to-Load Distribution Factor
• GRI - Gas Research Institute
• Gridco - Transmission Company (a Transco)
• GSF - Generator-to-Load Distribution Factor
• GSR - costs Gas Supply Realignment Costs
• GT&C - General terms and conditions
• GTI - Gas Technology Institute
• GW - Gigawatt
• Gwh - Gigawatt-Hour

H

• HCA - Host Control Area
• HEP - Habitat Evaluation Procedure
• HHI - Hirschman Herfindahl Index
• hp - Horsepower
• HQI - Habitat Quality Index
• HVAR - Highly Valued Aquatic Resource

I

• IBC - International Boundary Commission
• IBES - Institutional Brokers’ Estimate System
• ICAP - Installed Capacity
• ICT - Independent Coordinator of Transmission
• IDC - Interchange Distribution Calculator
• IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
• IER - Incremental Energy Rate
• IFIM - Instream Flow Incremental Methodology
• IGIC - Interim gas inventory charge
• IGSC - Interim gas supply charge
• IGT - Institute of Gas Technology
• IHR - Incremental Heat Rate
• IJC - International Joint Commission
• ILP - Integrated Licensing Process
• INGAA - Interstate Natural Gas Association of America
• IOS - Interconnected Operations Services
• IOU - Investor Owned Utility
• IP - Implementation plan
• IPAA - Independent Petroleum Association of America
• IPPs - Independent Power Producers
• IROL - Interconnection Reliability Operating Limit
• IRP - Integrated Resource Planning
• IRR - Internal Rate of Return
• IRS - Internal Revenue Service
• ISO - Independent System Operator
• ISO-NE - ISO New England, Inc.
• ISP - Incentive Sales Program
• ISS - Interruptible Sales Service
• IT - Interruptible Transportation
• ITC - Investment Tax Credit
• ITS - Interruptible transportation service

J

• J.A.S. - Joint Association Survey

K

• KN - Kansas-Nebraska
• kV - Kilovolt
• KVA - Kilovolt-Ampere
• kvar - Kilovar
• Kw - Kilowatt
• KWH - Kilowatt-Hour

L

• LBO - Leveraged Buyout
• LDC - Local Distribution Company
• LIBOR - The London Interbank Offered Rate of Interest
• LIFO - Last-in, First Out
• LIHEAP - Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
• LNG - Liquified Natural Gas
• LODF - Line Outage Distribution Factor
• LOLE - Loss of Load Expectation
• LPG - Liquified Petroleum Gas
• LPN - Lender Participation Notes
• LSE - Load Serving Entity
• LSF - Load Shift Factor
• LSFO - Low-sulfur fuel oil

M

• MAAC - Mid-Atlantic Area Council
• MAIN - Mid-America Interconnected Network
• MAOP - Maximum allowable operating pressure
• MAPP - Mid-Continent Area Power Pool
• MBR - Market-based Rates
• Mcf - One Thousand Cubic Feet
• MDD - Maximum Daily Delivery Obligations
• MDDQ - Maximum Daily Delivery Quantity
• MDQ - Maximum Daily Quantities
• MER - Maximum Efficient Rate
• MFV - Modified Fixed-Variable Rate
• MISO - Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.
• MLP - Maximum lawful price
• MLRA - Major Land Resource Areas
• MM - Used to denote million in gas usage
• MMBtu - 1 million British Thermal Unit
• MMC - Market Monitoring Center
• MMcf - 1 million cubic feet of gas
• MMS - Mineral Management Service
• MODFLOW - model of groundwater flow
• MOU - Memorandum of Understanding
• MP - Milepost
• MRO - Midwest Reliability Organization
• MSL - Mean sea level
• MSW - Municipal Solid Waste
• Muni - Municipality
• MVA - Megavolt-Amperes
• MW - Megawatts

N

• NAAQS - National Ambient Air Quality Standards
• NAESB - North American Energy Standards Board (formerly GISB)
• NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement
• NARUC - National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
• NASDAQS - National Ass’n of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation Sys.
• NASUCA - National Association of Utility Consumer Advocates
• NATC - Non-Recallable Available Transfer Capability
• NBS - National Bureau of Standards
• NCD - Non-coincidental Demand
• NCSL - National Conference of State Legislatures
• NEA of 1978 - The National Energy Act of 1978
• NEB - National Energy Board
• NEPA - National Environmental Policy Act
• NEPOOL - New England Power Pool
• NERC - North American Electric Reliability Corporation
• NGA - Natural Gas Act
• NGAA - Natural Gasoline Association of America
• NGL - Natural Gas Liquids
• NGPA - Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978
• NGPSA - Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968
• NGSA - Natural Gas Supply Association
• NHPA - National Historic Preservation Act
• NITC - Normal Incremental Transfer Capability
• NMFS - National Marine Fisheries Service
• NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• NOI - Notice of Intent or Notice of Inquiry or Notice of Investigation
• NOPR - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
• NPCC - Northeast Power Coordinating Council
• NPS - National Park Service
• NPV - Net Present Value
• NRC - Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• NRCS - National Resource Conservation Service
• NREPA - National Resource and Environmental Protection Act
• NRHP - National Register of Historic Places
• NRI - National Rivers Inventory
• NSA - Noise sensitive area
• NUG - Non-Utility Generator
• NWI - National Wetland Inventory
• NYISO - New York Independent System Operator, Inc.
• NYSDEC - New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

O

• O&M - Operation and maintenance
• OASIS - Open Access Same Time Information Systems
• OATT - Open Access Transmission Tariff
• OC - Optical Certificate
• OCS - Outer Continental Shelf
• OCSLA - Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
• OFO - Operational Flow Order
• OMP - Operation and Maintenance Plan
• Ontario IESO - Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator
• OPEC - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
• OSHA - U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• OTAG - Ozone Transport Assessment Group
• OTDF - Outage Transfer Distribution Factor

P

• PA - Programmatic Agreement
• PBR - Performance-Based Regulation
• PCB - Polychlorinated biphenyls
• PD - Preliminary Determination
• PGA - Purchased Gas Adjustment
• PHA - Production Handling Agreement
• PHFFU - Plant held for future use
• PIDX - Petroleum Industry Data Exchange
• PIFUA - Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978
• PJM - PJM Interconnection, LLC
• Plan - FERC’s Upland Erosion Control, Revegetation, and Maintenance Plan (when used in gas certificate proceedings)
• PM - Particulate matter
• PM&E - Protection, mitigation and enhancement
• PMA - Power Marketing Administration or Fed. Power Marketing Agency
• POD - Point of Delivery
• POR - Point of Receipt
• PPA - Power Purchase Agreement
• ppm - Parts per million
• Procedures - FERC’s Wetland & Waterbody Construction Mitigation Procedures (when used in gas certificate proceedings)
• PSC - Public Service Commission
• PSD - Prevention of Significant Deterioration
• PSI - Pounds per square inch
• PTDF - Power Transfer Distribution Factor
• PTP - Point to Point Transmission Service
• PUC - Public Utility Commission
• PUD - Public Utility District
• PUHCA - Public Utility Holding Company Act
• PURPA - Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act
• PX - Power Exchange

Q

• QF - Qualifying Facility
• QFs - Qualifying Facilities
• QUAD - A quadrillion Btus

R

• R/P - Reserves-to-Production
• RAB - Regional Advisory Body
• RAS - Remedial Action Scheme
• RATC - Recallable Available Transmission Capability
• RC - Reliability Coordinator
• RCIS - Reliability Coordinator Information System
• RCRA - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• RFA - Regulatory Flexibility Act
• RFC - Reliability First Corporation
• RFI - Request for Interchange
• RM - Rulemaking
• RMR - Reliability Must Run
• ROA - Return of Assets
• ROE - Return of Equity
• ROFR - Right of First Refusal
• ROI - Return on Investment
• ROW - Right-of-Way
• RPM - Reliability Pricing Model
• RRO - Regional Reliability Organization
• RSE - Revenue Stream Estimate
• RTG - Regional Transmission Group
• RTO - Regional Transmission Organization
• RTP - Real-time Pricing
• RTU - Remote Terminal Unit
• RUS - Rural Utilities Service

S

• SCADA - Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
• SCF - Standard Cubic Foot of Natural Gas
• SCO - Stranded Cost Obligation
• SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission
• SECRETARY - Generally refers to Secretary of the Commission
• SERC - SERC Reliability Corporation
• SFEIS - Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement
• SFV - Straight Fixed-Variable
• SGR - State game refuge
• SHPO - State Historic Preservation Office
• SIC - Standard Industrial Classification
• SMPs - Special Marketing Programs
• SNG - Synthetic Natural Gas or Substitute Natural Gas
• SOL - System Operating Limit
• SPCC - Spill Prevention, Containment and Countermeasure Plan
• SPP - Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
• SPS - Special Protection System
• SVC - Static VAR Compensator
• SYD - Sum of Years’ Digits

T

• TBS - Town border station
• TC - Total Cost
• TCF - Trillion cubic feet
• TCR - Transition Cost Recovery (Mechanism)
• TDU - Transmission Dependent Utility
• TEFRA - Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1985
• TLR - Procedures Transmission Line Loading Relief Procedures
• TOP - Transmission Operator
• TOU - Time-of-Use
• Transco - Transmission Company
• TRM - Transmission Reliability Margin
• TTC - Total Transfer Capability
• TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority

U

• U.S.C. - United States Code
• UFLS - Under Frequency Load Shedding
• USDA - U.S. Department of Agriculture
• USGS - U.S. Geological Survey
• UVLS - Under Voltage Load Shedding

V

• v - Volt
• VA - Volt-Ampere
• VAR - Volt-Ampere-Reactive Unit

W

• WACOG - weighted average cost of gas
• WECC - Western Electricity Coordinating Council
• WIRAB - Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body
• WMA - Wildlife management area
• WPA - Waterfowl production area
• WPI - Wholesale Price Index
• WQC - Water Quality Certificate
• WSCC - Western Systems Coordinating Council
• WSPP - Western Systems Power Pool
• WTP - Willingness to Pay
• WY - Water Year