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Glossary of Terms |
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Base load
The minimum amount of electric power delivered or required over a given period of time at a steady rate.
Coal
A readily combustible black or brownish-black rock whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time.
Combustion
Chemical oxidation accompanied by the generation of light and heat.
Electric power grid
A system of synchronized power providers and consumers connected by transmission and distribution lines and operated by one or more control centers. In the continental United States, the electric power grid consists of three systems: the Eastern Interconnect, the Western Interconnect, and the Texas Interconnect. In Alaska and Hawaii, several systems encompass areas smaller than the State (e.g., the interconnect serving Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Kenai Peninsula; individual islands).
Electric power plant
A station containing prime movers, electric generators, and auxiliary equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, and/or fission energy into electric energy.
Electric rate
The price set for a specified amount and type of electricity by class of service in an electric rate schedule or sales contract.
Electricity
A form of energy characterized by the presence and motion of elementary charged particles generated by friction, induction, or chemical change.
Electricity generation
The process of producing electric energy or the amount of electric energy produced by transforming other forms of energy, commonly expressed in kilowatthours (kWh) or megawatthours (MWh).
Kilowatt (kW)
One thousand watts.
Kilowatthour (kWh)
A measure of electricity defined as a unit of work or energy, measured as 1 kilowatt (1,000 watts) of power expended for 1 hour. One kWh is equivalent to 3,412 Btu.
Megawatt (MW)
One million watts of electricity.
Megawatthour (MWh)
One thousand kilowatt-hours or 1 million watt-hours.
Turbine
A machine for generating rotary mechanical power from the energy of a stream of fluid (such as water, steam, or hot gas). Turbines convert the kinetic energy of fluids to mechanical energy through the principles of impulse and reaction, or a mixture of the two.
For a more comprehensive Energy Glossary, visit the Energy Information Administration.
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