Business and Regulation

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Renewable energy credit (REC)

A renewable energy credit, commonly called a REC, is a tradeable financial instrument that allows the owner of a renewable facility to sell the …

Renewable portfolio standard (RPS)

A renewable portfolio standard, often called an RPS, is a regulatory requirement obligating utilities, generation authorities, or load-serving e …

Retail marketer

A retail marketer is a non-utility entity that sells electric supply, natural gas supply, and other energy services directly to end-use customer …

Revenue allocation

Revenue allocation, also called cost allocation, is a step in the utility ratemaking process whereby it is determined how much of the utility’ …

Revenue requirement

A revenue requirement is the total amount of money a utility must collect from customers to pay all its costs, including its return on investmen …

RIIO performance-based ratemaking

RIIO (the name is from the equation Revenues

Risk management

Risk management refers to techniques used to control and limit an organization’s exposure to financial risks. Risk management is often used to …

Service territory

A service territory defines the geographic area where a utility is allowed and required to provide services.

Service voltage

The voltage configuration that is provided by the utility at the customer meter is called the service voltage. In many cases, two voltages are p …

Setting the return on equity (ROE)

Return on equity, also known as ROE or the cost of equity capital, describes the return on the equity portion of the rate base that regulated ut …

Settlement (billing)

Settlement refers to the calculation, billing, and invoicing of charges and payments for market services in electric or natural gas wholesale ma …

Settlement (regulatory)

An alternative to a full-blown regulatory proceeding is a settlement. A settlement is a negotiated solution presented to the regulatory commissi …

Single buyer with competitive generation electric market model

Under the single-buyer electric market model, the utility company creates a supply purchasing group whose job is to competitively procure supply …

Stranded costs

A stranded cost refers to the amount invested in an asset that exceeds the market value of that asset.

Supply-side competition

Supply-side competition refers to competition between providers of a commodity. In natural gas markets it refers to competition between gas prod …

Tariff

Tariffs are public documents, written by regulated entities and approved by the regulatory commission, that detail a utility’s rates, rules, s …

Test year

A test year is the 12-month period used in a rate case to determine a utility’s cost of service to be included in future rates.

Therm

A therm is a natural gas unit equal to 100,000 Btu.

Time-of-use rate

Time-of-use rates change the price of electricity according to the time of day in which it is consumed.