Business and Regulation

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Capital structure

Capital structure, also referred to as a company’s debt/equity ratio, describes the amount of debt compared to the amount of equity a company …

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from industrial facilities or power plants, transporting it to …

Carbon negative

Carbon negative refers to an entity or a process that has a net effect of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Carbon offset

A carbon offset is a tradeable instrument that represents a specific amount of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon st …

Certificate case

A certificate case is a regulatory proceeding to evaluate a utility’s application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) …

Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

A Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity is a permit granted to a utility that authorizes it to a) provide service to a new area, b) en …

Clean air vehicle (CAV)

A CAV is a vehicle that emits significantly fewer pollutants than traditional gasoline- or diesel- powered vehicles.

Clean energy standard (CES)

A clean energy standard, or CES, is a regulatory requirement obligating utilities, generation authorities, or load-serving entities to acquire a …

Climate change

Climate change is defined as a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns.

CME Group

CME Group is an American global markets company. It is important because it operates many key energy futures markets in the U.S.

Commodity

A commodity is a product that is mass produced and unspecialized, and as such it is easily interchangeable with a similar product from another s …

Complaint case

Consumers or other affected parties can file a complaint with the relevant regulatory authority if they believe that a utility or other regulate …

Complete retail competition electric market model

Under complete retail competition the utility has been completely removed from the supply function and is simply a transporter of electricity th …

Compressed natural gas (CNG)

CNG is natural gas that has been compressed to a pressure of 3,000 to 3,600 pounds per square inch (psi) so that the gas takes up less than 1% o …

Construction work in progress (CWIP)

Construction work in progress, commonly called CWIP, is a balance sheet account in which all costs associated with the construction of new utili …

Core customers

Customers considered to be core customers are those who lack alternatives to utility gas supply or choose to not participate in competitive supp …

Cost of capital proceeding

The first step in the utility ratemaking process is to determine the utility’s authorized rate of return or its cost of capital. This is set b …

Cost-of-service ratemaking

Cost-of-service ratemaking sets rates based on forecasted costs of providing service plus a “reasonable” rate of return on the equity invest …

Curtailment

A curtailment is an event where energy services are temporarily unavailable.

Customer charge

A customer charge (also called a service charge or facility charge) is a fixed monthly charge that is applied to each utility account.