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Phone: 403.965.3092
Fax: 403.965.2626
 
Power Outage Notification
24/7 Call Fortis Alberta
310.WIRE (310.9473)

REA Administration

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Deregulation

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A

Account Number

 A number created to be used for billing purposes for each site. Each number is unique and is associated with the bill payee.

Accounting Period

 The month that data is process through the company's accounting system.

Actual Usage Cost ($/MWh)

 Usage cost is calculated from Usage MWh divided by Usage Charge. This cost represents your average cost for energy consumed. This number is comparable to Pool Price, in that Pool Price represents a flat load profile cost.

Address

 The mailing address of the payee.

Administration Charge

 A monthly charge levied to recover a Wire Service Providers and/or retailers and/or billing agents costs for customer service, billing, communication and in some cases, other charges related to management of the energy supply portfolio such as risk, pool trading charges, etc.

ADOE

 Alberta Department of Energy.

AE

 ATCO Electric Limited.

AECL

 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.

AESO

 Alberta Electric System Operator - A statutory corporation governed by an independent Board of Directors appointed by the Alberta Minister of Energy, whose major functions are to:
  • Operate the power pool in a manner that promotes the fair, efficient and openly competitive exchange of electric energy in Alberta ;
  • Determine the order of dispatch of electric energy and ancillary services in Alberta;
  • Carry out financial settlement for all electric energy exchanged through the power pool at the pool price;
  • Provide system access to the transmission system and to prepare a tariff or transmission services;
Manage and recover the costs of transmission line losses and for the provision of ancillary services ;
  • Direct the safe, reliable and economic operation of the interconnected electric system;
  • Assess current and future needs of market participants and plan the capability of the transmission system;
  • Make arrangements for expansion and enhancement of the transmission system to meet those needs; and to
  • Regulate and administer load settlement.

AEUB

 Alberta Energy and Utilities Board - a regulatory body with the responsibility to oversee the economic, orderly and efficient development and operation, in the public interest, of hydro energy and the generation and transmission of electric energy in Alberta.

Affiliated Power Producer

 A company that generates power and is affiliated with a utility.

AFREA

 Alberta Federation of Rural Electrification Associations - Provides a voice for Rural Electrification Association (REA) members.

Aggregation

 A collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; total; combined.

AGS

 Alberta Government Services - responsible for the Fair Trading Act and the direct marketing of electricity and natural gas, administers a variety of consumer protections statutes and programs.

AIES

 Alberta Interconnected Electrical System.

Allocatd Losses

 Energy losses are usually allocated to customer groups based on allocations determined from distribution loss studies.

Alternating Current (AC)

 A current that flows alternately in one direction and then in the reverse direction. In North America, the standard for alternating current is 60 complete cycles each second. Such electricity is said to have a frequency of 60 hertz. Alternating current is used in power systems because it can be transmitted and distributed more economically than direct current.

Ampere

 Unit of electric current that is equivalent to the steady current produced by one volt applied across a resistance of one ohm.

Ancillary Services

 See Operating Reserves.

ARUA

 Alberta Rural Utility Association - The goal of the ARUA is to work together with combined efforts to ensure the government receives a clear message from rural Alberta regarding common issues that affect our utilities and other matters affecting rural utility systems and their consumers. ARUA is an alliance of the Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops Ltd., the Alberta Federation of Rural Electrification Associations, Alberta Federation of Rural Water Co-operatives Ltd., Gas Alberta Inc., Prairie Power Ltd., the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties. Collectively, these organizations represent approximately 500,000 rural Albertans.

Alberta Utilities Commission

AUC

 The AUC oversees the distribution and sale of electricity and retail natural gas to Alberta consumers. The AUC also makes decisions on new transmission facilities.

Average Load

 Average load is the average daily consumption rate.

Average Published Pool Price ($/MWh)

 Hourly energy prices posted by the AESO.

B

Balancing Pool

 The Balancing Pool plays a prominent role in managing the Power Purchase Arrangements of several major power plants. Primary roles:
  • To manage the financial accounts arising from the transition to a competitive generation market on behalf of electricity consumers, and
  • To meet any obligations and responsibilities associated with both sold and unsold Power Purchase Arrangements (PPAs).

Base Energy Charge Difference

 The difference between the total load from the Power Pool and the total load from the LSA.

Base Load

 The minimum continuous load over a given period of time. Base load generating stations operate essentially at full output whenever possible.

Base Price ($/MWh)

 The contracted price of the first hedge (7x24) used as a base when combined with another hedge to create minimum exposure to the market.

BCN

 Breaker Change Notification (exclusive to ATCO).

Bilateral Transactions

 An electric energy supply arrangement, the terms of which, including price, are negotiated between an energy retailer and a consumer.

Bill End Date

 Production period end date. The standard Date format has been defined as: YYYYMMDDHHMISS.

Bill Start Date

 Production period start date. The standard Date format has been defined as: YYYYMMDDHHMISS.

Billed Demand

 The greater of metered demand for current billing period, a peak demand set in a previous month or the contract minimum demand.

Binding Day-Ahead Market

 A market in which title to the electric energy transfers from the seller to the buyer one day prior to physical deliver and the transaction is binding on both parties.

Block Price ($/MWh)

 The contracted price of the second hedge (7x16) used additionally with a base hedge to create minimum exposure to the market.

British Thermal Unit (Btu)

 A unit of heat. The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

Budgeted usage (kwh)

 Site id specific consumption estimate, can be set by Retailer/Customer.

Bulk Electricity

 Large amounts of electric power at transmission voltages, generally to run industrial plants and operations.

Bundling Electricity

 Combining the costs of generation, transmission and distribution and other services into a single rate charged to the retail customer.

Business Day

 A business day is any day other than Saturday or a holiday as defined in the Interpretation Act.

Business Function ID

 DE - Default Retailer; LR - Supplier of Last Resort; RE - Competitive Retailer; RR - Regulated Rate Option Retailer;  SR - Self Retailer.

C

Capacity

 The maximum sustainable amount of electric energy that can be carried or delivered at any instant; measured in Watts. A term that can be applied to a transmission system or to a piece of equipment such as a generating unit, electric service or appliance.

Capacity Factor

 For any equipment, the ratio of the average load during a defined time period to the rated capacity.

CEA

 Canadian Electricity Association.

Code of Conduct Regulation

 The Regulation governing the relationship between a Wire Owner and its affiliated retailer and the release and exchange of customer information. The Code seeks to ensure that: retailers and consumers have equal access to regulated services; that the Wire Owner protects the confidentiality of consumers information; that Retailers have equal access to information disclosed by Wire Owners; and that consumers are dealt with fairly.

Cogeneration

 The simultaneous production of thermal (steam) and electric energy; the electric energy used for industrial plant use and/or sale and the heat for buildings and industrial processes.

Congestion

 Congestion occurs when the transmission system cannot accommodate all transactions that would normally occur among consumer based on merit order dispatch due to physical or engineering limitations. The physical limitations are determined by the physical capacities of the transmission components. The engineering limitations are expressed through the application of accepted reliability operating criteria.

Consumer Utilities Advocate

 Alberta's Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate established to help monitor and protect the interests of Alberta 's residential, farm and small business consumers of electricity and natural gas as we all adjust to the changes arising from Alberta 's restructured energy marketplace. The primary goals of the UCA are:
  • To help consumers help themselves;
  • To inform and empower them in Alberta 's restructured energy markets; and
  • To facilitate their representation at regulatory hearings and other proceedings.

Consumption

 The consumption has four components: 1. LSA  consumption (metered, profiled and estimated consumption) 2. Loss consumption 3. WSP consumption (adjustments to match WSI) 4. UFE consumption Charges are calculated for each component for a site using the hourly pool price. This process is repeated for each hour in the billing month for a site. The RISS charges are compared to the Pool statement. Any differences are allocated back to the sites based on consumption. Charges for GST, Spot Trading, Uplift and Rebate are allocated back to the sites based on consumption.

Consumption (kWh) Status

 Describes the type of Meter Reading.

Contact Name

 An individual’s name that may be contacted regarding the account.

Contract Adjustment

 A contract adjustment is the net amount of the Energy Contract and of the sale back of any unused energy from the Energy Contract at the hourly pool price.

Contract Unit of Measure (UOM)

 Contract unit of measure, could be: DOLR - Dollar, KW - Kilowatt, KWH - Kilowatt hour.

Conventional Generation

 Electricity that is produced at a generating station where the prime movers are driven by gases or steam produced by burning fossil fuels.

CSE

 Cumulative Switch Estimate.

Current

 The flow of electricity in a conductor. Current is measured in amperes.

Current Balance

 The cost for supplying the capacity (demand) and electrical energy(consumption) for the billing period.

Current Demand

 Metered demand for current billing period.

Current Meter Dial Reading

 The current dial reading taken from the meter.

Current Reading Datetime

 Date and time of the current reading. The standard Date format has been defined as: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.

Customer Choice

 The ability of a consumer to choose a retailer and switch from one retailer to another.

D

Daily Consumption Meter (DCM)

 Daily cumulative meter consumption to Retailers and Settlement.

Daily Interval Meter Readings (DIM)

 Daily Interval Meter Readings to Retailers and Settlement.

Daily Load Chart

 Load is a general term referring to size and represents average consumption rate (units are MW).  Daily average load is calculated by total daily consumption divided by 24 hour period.  The Daily Load chart shows what your consumption trend has been over the past couple of months. The peak/min trend lines mark out the band of variability of the load on a daily basis.

Daily Load Factor Chart

 Load factor is the ratio of average load divided by max load.  Load factor represents how consistently close to full load equipment is being operated at. A load factor that falls under 75% mean a large site has dropped in load that day.

Daylight Savings Time

 Times refer to times on the prevailing clock, standard or daylight time depending on the season. Clock adjustments for daylight savings follow the standard used by the Pool. Specifically, at the time of the springtime change, the hour ending 2AM does not exist. Hour ending 3AM follows hour ending 1AM. At the time of the fall time change, hour ending 2AM occurs twice, with the second denoted by an asterisk (*). For transactions using this convention, an "Hour Ending" field will exist that contains an asterisk following the hour 02 value (i.e. 02*).

DC

 Direct Connect.

DCM

 Daily Cumulative Meter (DCM) load represent smaller sites that have cumulative meters (less than 500 KW).  Cumulative meters do not have time of use measurement.  Hourly profile is calculated during the load settlement process. See Benchmark Report for profile classes.

DCM

 Daily Cumulative Meter read.

DEC

 De-Energize Completion.

De-energized Site

 A connected site that is not currently consuming power.

DEF

 De-Energize Failure.

Delta Usage (kwh)

 Budget usage - Actual usage ("0" if no budget value provided).

Demand

 The rate of consumption over time to reach maximum load.

Demand (kVA) Status

 Describes the type of Meter Reading.

Demand (kVAh) Status

 Describes the type of Meter Reading.

Demand (kVAR)Status

 Describes the type of Meter Reading.

Demand (kVARh) Status

 Describes the type of Meter Reading.

Demand (kW) Status

 Describes the type of Meter Reading.

Demand Charge

 The component of a two-part price for electricity that is based on a customer's highest power demand reached in a specified period, usually a month, regardless of the quantity of energy used e.g., $2.00 per kilowatt per month). The other component of the two-part price is the energy charge.

Demand Sales

 A producer agrees to make generating capacity available to a buyer when it is called upon or 'demanded'.

DER

 De-Energize Request.

DFO

 Distribution Facility Owner.

DG

 Distribution Connected Generator, means a generating unit that is interconnected with an electric distribution system.

Difference

 A differencing settlement system is one that calculates settlement only for those customers who choose a new supplier.

DIM

 Daily Interval Meter Readings sent every 15 minutes to Retailers and Settlement.

Direct Current

 (DC) Current that flows continuously in the same direction (as opposed to alternating current). The current supplied from a battery is direct current.

Distribution (Electric Distribution System)

 The plant, works equipment, systems and services necessary to distribute electric energy in a service area at a voltage of 25,000 volts or less.

Dispatch

 A direction from the AESO to a pool participant to cause, permit or alter the exchange of electric energy or ancillary services.

Distribution Access Service

 The service required to transport electric energy by means of an electric distribution system to customers or from distributed generation to the interconnected electric system.

Distributed Generation

 A generating unit that is interconnected with an electric energy distribution system.

DRA

 Deposit Reserve Account (also referred to as a Deposit Account or Deposit Reserve) Funds generally used for capital system upgrades and improvements.

DSN

 De-Select Notification.

DSO

 Distribution System Operator. A contractor authorized by the wire owner of an electric distribution system to perform certain operating and maintenance functions on behalf of the Wires Owner.

DSR

 De-Select Request. This is a transaction that is sent by the retailer to the LSA to notify of a site that is going to be de-enrolled.

DT

 Distribution Tariff. The rates and the terms and conditions that a distribution facility owner charges for providing service to its customers.