These definitions are for the purposes of this document only and do not apply to tariff and other documents which may contain different definitions.
A 1929 Michigan law requiring any electricity or gas provider, intending to serve Customers within a municipality where another utility already is providing service, to obtain a "Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity" from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).
Entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the referenced entity. Control means the ownership, authority, or power to vote 10% or more of the voting securities. The particular use referenced in this document refers to affiliates of the regulated utilities serving customers in the utility's service area.
Pooling together Customers' electric loads to create a larger buying group for purchasing power
Entity that pools Customers into a buying group for the purpose of purchasing a large block of power. Alternative Electric Suppliers (AES), Customers, and Brokers may also act as Aggregators.
Entity authorized to make retail sales of electricity according to requirements defined by the Michigan Public Service Commission. Alternative electric suppliers purchase the power they market and take title to any power they represent.
Services necessary to maintain reliable operation of the Transmission System during the delivery of power from the Marketer to the utility's distribution system. Ancillary services must be offered by the Transmission Provider to buyers or sellers of retail electricity. Some services may be offered by third parties. Six key ancillary services are identified in the Detroit Edison Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT):
-Scheduling, system control and dispatch
-Reactive supply and voltage control from generation sources
-Regulation and frequency response
-Energy imbalance
-Operating reserve - spinning reserve
-Operating reserve - supplemental reserve
These Ancillary Services are described in detail in Schedule 1 through Schedule 6 of Detroit Edison’s OATT.
Available Transfer Capability (ATC)
Amount of transmission capacity available from the point of receipt to the point of delivery.
B
Service that can be provided by Detroit Edison to an alternative electric supplier (AES) or marketer that would replace scheduled power at the point of receipt if the marketer fails to deliver power or power cannot be delivered because there is a transmission system constraint.
Customer groupings based on historic levels of electric consumption used to allocate capacity through the bidding process to separate bidding classifications and ensure that all classes of customers can participate. The three bid classes are:
-Residential only
-Residential/small secondary
-Primary/large secondary
Entity who bids for available capacity during the phase-in period. Any entity capable of legally engaging in a contract in the State of Michigan is eligible to bid.
Measured or calculated values used to determine a bill. These include applicable usage values, fixed charges, and any minimums.
Entity that arranges the sale and purchase of energy, transmission, and other services between buyers and sellers but does not take title to any of the power in the transaction.
Provision of electric generation, transmission, distribution, and related support functions as a combined service. This represents the normal offering from today’s vertically integrated electric utilities.
Setting aside blocks of electric capacity for specific bid classes (see bid classes definition) to provide an opportunity for all customers to choose an alternate electricity provider during the phase-in period of the Electric Choice Program.
Winning bidder’s capacity that is being made available for sale in a secondary market.
Sale of capacity rights held by a capacity owner (or subsequent buyer) to another party.
Customer who is generally referred to as the “business” customer. Commercial customers can fit into one of several categories; i.e., large or small, manufacturing and non-manufacturing. Generally Detroit Edison would own the high-voltage transformation equipment used to serve this customer.
All electric generation, transmission, and distribution facilities owned by Detroit Edison.
Billing option under which Detroit Edison will supply the customer with a single bill that includes distribution charges and the AES’s charges.
Electric power system, or combination of systems with common, automatic generation control. Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy operate a combined control area under an electric coordination agreement, commonly known as the Michigan Electric Coordinated System (MECS). The control area is responsible for:
-Matching the control area’s internal generation and external purchases to the load at all times
-Maintaining scheduled interchange with other control areas
-Maintaining the frequency of the electric power system(s)
-Providing sufficient generation capacity to maintain operating reserves
Utility, pool, or other entity that operates a control area. For the Detroit Edison service territory, this function is performed by the Michigan Electric Power Coordinating Center (MEPCC) on behalf of Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy.
Ability of an entity to meet specific financial obligations necessary to receive credit from and transact business with Detroit Edison.
End-user of electricity at one or more locations in the State of Michigan, who has facilities connected to the Detroit Edison distribution system.
Traditional utility customer groupings, generally industrial, commercial, and residential customers. See also Bid Classes.
See retail access. The Detroit Edison preferred term is retail access.
Regulated electric utility that constructs, maintains, and operates the distribution system that connects the transmission grid to end-use customers. Detroit Edison serves in this capacity in southeastern Michigan.
Low voltage electrical system used to deliver electricity from the wholesale transmission system to the end-use customer.
Regulated electric utility that constructs, maintains, and operates the distribution system that connects the transmission grid to end-use customers. In most cases this entity offers “customer service” functions (such as metering and billing) that extend beyond the “wires” function to distribute tariffed bundled service. Detroit Edison serves as the distribution utility for much of southeastern Michigan. Also known as Local Distribution Company (LDC) or Utility Distribution Company (UDC).
E
East Central Area Reliability Council (ECAR)
Coordination group of electric utilities in eight east-central states working together to achieve the highest possible degree of reliability in their bulk power supply and prevent energy and/or system emergencies.
Name for the Detroit Edison retail access program.
Private entity or state agency (including any municipality) with a monopoly franchise, which sells electric energy to end-users. This term usually refers to a vertically integrated utility that provides generation, transmission, and distribution services.
Regulated or unregulated entity that operates and maintains power plants or other generation sources with the capability of producing electricity for sale to customers.
Electronic Business Transactions (EBT)
Generic term for business transactions that are conducted computer-to-computer in standardized communication formats.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Generic term for electronically transferring money between financial institutions’ accounts.Difference between the scheduled delivery and the actual usage of energy to a specific point on a utility’s distribution system over a time period, usually tracked hourly and measured in kilowatts. When imbalances exist, the control area operator either makes up the shortfall or absorbs the excess generation and either charges or pays the marketer for the under/oversupply.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Federal counterpart to state utility regulatory commissions. FERC regulates the prices, terms, and conditions of power sold in interstate commerce. FERC also regulates the prices, terms, and conditions of all transmission services.
Franchise
Agreement granted by a municipality giving an entity the legal right to conduct business within a township, village, city or other local government unit.
G
Generation Dispatch and Control
Aggregating and dispatching generation from various facilities providing backup and reliability services. Used to provide ancillary services including the provision of reactive power, frequency control, and load following.
See Electricity Generator.
H
Method for calculating the hourly usage for a specific customer based on the total kWh consumed and a representative hourly profile for the customer class.
I
Independent System Operator (ISO)
Independent third party with no financial interest in generation facilities that administers the operation and use of transmission systems owned by utilities. ISOs exercise final authority over the dispatch of generation to preserve reliability and facilitate efficiency, ensure non-discriminatory transmission access, administer transmission tariffs, ensure the availability of ancillary services, and provide information about the status of the transmission system and available transmission capacity. An ISO is regulated by FERC.
Customer who is generally a major user of electricity and owns its high-voltage transformation equipment. This type of customer is assigned to an account executive who is responsible for handling all account matters, including service quality.
Meter that measures and accumulates how much energy a customer uses during specific time intervals, usually an hour or half-hour.
Joint Open Access Transmission Tariff (JOATT)
Rate schedules and terms and conditions for open access transmission service filed by Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as amended from time to time. The tariff applies to transactions where energy flows through both the Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy transmission systems.
K
One thousand watts of power. A light bulb is often 100 watts.
A measure of electricity consumption equivalent to the use of 1000 watts of power for a one-hour period.
L
Customer with ownership and control over a load that is greater than one (1) megawatt. The one (1) megawatt minimum may be a single location or the sum of non-coincident loads at multiple locations.
Non-residential customer served at 480 volts or less that is larger than customers meeting the small secondary criteria and, therefore, requires interval metering for retail access service. Under the Detroit Edison Electric Choice Program, all three-phase secondary non-residential customers are classified as large secondary.
Energy consumed in moving power through a utility’s system between the point of receipt and the point of delivery.
Amount of electricity required at a given time by energy customers measured in kilowatts.
Graph of a customer’s metered interval kilowatt demands achieved over a given time period ranked from high to low.
Practice of matching the generation destined to serve a load, to that load, on a real-time basis.
Method of using established load profiles and measured kWh usage to calculate hourly energy use over a given period for purposes of reconciliation calculations. The imbalance risk remains with the marketer. Detroit Edison is using this method.
Method for forecasting load profile demand data for the purpose of scheduling generation. In some cases profiling may also be used for reconciliation thereby shifting imbalance risk to the host utility.
Local Distribution Company (LDC)
(See Distribution Utility definition)
Entity that takes title to and sells power and has FERC approval to market energy services. The marketer role may also be assumed by utilities that sell power outside their own service areas. Within the Detroit Edison Electric Choice Program, the term marketer takes on a more specific meaning. It refers to the entity that lines up sources of generation and arranges to move the power through one or more transmission systems to deliver it to the Detroit Edison distribution system. A marketer can also be an alternative electric supplier (AES).
The highest demand of the load that has occurred within a specified period of time.
One million watts of power. In the Detroit Edison Electric Choice Program, bidding for capacity is for a minimum of 1 MW, as is transmission capacity reservation.
Michigan Electric Coordinated System (MECS)
A joint electric coordination agreement with Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison to provide coordinated planning, coordinated operation, and mutual assistance to effect savings and improve the reliability and quality of service of either or both systems.
Michigan Electric Power Coordination Center (MEPCC)
A power pool arrangement jointly operated by Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy to coordinate the operation of their generating and transmission facilities for the benefit of Michigan customers.
Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC)
Entity created by Michigan law to regulate investor-owned electric and rural electric cooperatives within the state.
Multi-Vendor Translation System (MV-90)
System used to translate/collect time-of-use information from electric meters via telephone lines or portable computer devices.
N
Sum of the individual maximum customer loads (or demands) measured at different locations at whatever time each location reaches the maximum. This is in contrast to a coincident demand determination in which the hourly demands for the relevant locations are summed and then the peak hour for that sum becomes the relevant measure.
Requires utilities to charge the same fees to all users for like transactions and services.
North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC)
Entity formed in 1968 to promote reliability of the electricity supply for North America. The Council consists of ten (10) regional councils, one of which is ECAR.
O
Obligation of a utility to provide electrical service to any customer who seeks that service and is willing to pay the regulated rates set for that service. In the future, the obligations to provide a connection to the electrical system and the obligation to supply energy may be separated. The utility’s future obligation to serve a retail access customer may be limited to providing transmission and/or distribution services.
See retail access. Detroit Edison prefers to use the term retail access.
Open Access Same Time Information System (OASIS)
An electronic posting system for transmission access data that allows all transmission customers to view the data simultaneously.
Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT)
Utility rates schedules and terms and conditions for open access transmission services on file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Optional services used during the delivery of power that a marketer, alternative electric supplier (AES) or customer may purchase from a utility or other vendor. (See also Ancillary Services).
P
Generic term used to describe entities involved in the Electric Choice Program. Examples include customers, bidders, aggregators, alternative electric suppliers (AES), and marketers.
Electric load (in kilowatts) that corresponds to the maximum level of electric demand in a specified period of time.
Point of Delivery (Distribution)
Point where a utility transfers power from its transmission system to the customer’s service location or to another utility’s transmission system, usually at the electric meter.
Point of Receipt (Distribution)
Point where a utility receives power from a marketer/AES for delivery through its transmission system to a customer or to another utility’s transmission system, usually at the transmission/distribution system interface.
Combination of the electric demand and energy requirements of a customer. Also relates to the generation or transfer of electric power. Usually expressed in kilowatts.
Entity established to coordinate short term operations to maintain system stability and achieve least-cost dispatch. The power pool provides services such as: backup service, short-term excess power sales, reactive power support, and spinning reserve. Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy presently operate the Michigan Electric Power Coordinating Center (MEPCC) under an electric coordination agreement providing pool and control area services.
Table of billing determinants and associated prices used by the AES for billing their customers. When the complete billing option is used, the AES provides Detroit Edison this information to calculate the AES portion of the customer’s electric bill.
Non-residential customer, served at 4,800 volts or higher.
Q
Document describing the services provided and related terms, conditions, and prices for products and services received from the local distribution company or other regulated provider.
Basic rate information provided to Detroit Edison by the alternative electric supplier when the alternative electric supplier selects the complete billing option. The schedule identifies specific product offerings the alternative electric supplier is providing to the customer.
Reactive Supply and Voltage Control
Maintenance of voltages within acceptable limits by operating generation and transmission facilities within a control area. This is a mandatory ancillary service.
See Line Losses.
Requirement for in state or out of state utilities and their affiliates selling electricity in another utility’s service territory to offer a proportionate amount of load on their system to competitive supply.
Hourly comparison of a marketer’s schedule (power provided) to its customer’s collective loads (including losses) to determine if the marketer met its load, or oversupplied or undersupplied power within the hour. This becomes the determinant for energy imbalance charges or payments.
Regulation and Frequency Response
Provision of continuous balancing of generation and interchange power with load and maintaining scheduled interconnection frequency at 60 cycles per second. This is a mandatory ancillary service.
Residential dwelling (house, condominium, apartment) that is individually metered.
Process of separating utilities into their separate functions; transmission, distribution, generation, and services, while retaining continued regulation of distribution and transmission services which results in a competitive market for electricity supply.
Ability of a retail customer to purchase electricity from a AES other than the local utility and have it delivered over the local utility’s transmission and distribution system (Also known as direct access and open access). The Detroit Edison retail access program is known as Electric Choice.
Retail Access Service Tariff (RAST)
Michigan Public Service Commission approved tariff which sets forth the Detroit Edison rates, charges, terms and conditions of service for the delivery of energy purchased by the customer from a AES and supplied by a marketer at a designated point of receipt and ultimate delivery to an end-use customer.
Contract between one or more generators, marketers, or alternative electric suppliers (AES) of electric power and one or more alternative electric suppliers (AES) or customers providing for the purchase and sale of energy. Contract between a AES or marketer and the local distribution company for the delivery of energy and/or any ancillary services.
See Alternative Electric Supplier
Act of transmitting power from a third party generator to a retail customer to complete a retail access transaction.
Scheduling the movement of power through, into, within or out of a control area.
Market that allows successful bidders to sell or assign awarded retail access capacity to another entity.
Charge on the customer's bill that represents the payment of principal and interest associated with issuance of securitization bonds to recover the cost of past utility investments.
Securitization Bond Tax Charge
Charge on the customer's bill that represents the recovery of an income tax liability incurred by Detroit Edison arising from the collection of securitization bond principal payments.
Billing option under which the customer will receive separate bills from Detroit Edison for distribution services and from their AES for energy and other, related AES charges.
Electrical load which is served through a single meter or group of meters so that the usage is uniquely identified.
Capacity made available exclusively to small customers within a bid period to encourage their participation. The two set asides are:
- Residential only, awarded prior to other classes
- Residential/small secondary, awarded with the second highest priority
Unique four-character node identifer used in transmission path naming terminology to represent the location or aggregate location where energy is consumed.
Functional process which establishes the relationship between a customer and its marketer. The customer, identified by the meter number, is connected or linked to a particular load group which belongs exclusively to a unique marketer.
Non residential customer, served at 480 volts or less, that has single-phase service, 240 volts or below. A small secondary customer will initially qualify for a meter waiver and will be load profiled, pending the outcome of an analysis of future metering capabilities and cost.
Contract that provides for utility service under terms and conditions other than those listed in the utility’s tariff. The ability of a customer to participate in Retail Access is limited by the terms of any special contracts under which they may be presently operating.
Reserve generating capacity that is immediately available to meet unexpected power needs. Referred to as “spinning” because the generating units are on-line and available to serve additional load immediately.
Service that can be provided by Detroit Edison to a customer that would replace scheduled power at the point of receipt if the marketer fails to deliver power or power cannot be delivered because there is a transmission system constraint. Standby service will be provided on a contractual basis.
MPSC-approved costs such as generation, power contract, and regulatory assets currently paid by customers, but which may not be recoverable by the utility if customers switch to another supplier.
Generating capacity used to respond to contingency situations. This reserve power is available within a short time period (usually 10 minutes). Sources include generating units that are on-line but unloaded, quick-start generation, and interruptible customer loads (to reduce system demand).
Entity that owns or has title to electric generation. Detroit Edison sometimes uses the terms AES and/or marketers when referring to suppliers.
T
Meter that measures and accumulates customer energy usage during specific time-of-day intervals, usually an hour or half-hour and in total.
Rates charged to customers based on when they use energy as well as how much energy they use. These are usually fixed rates specified for different blocks of time and are based on forecast costs.
Utility’s highest hourly incremental cost for power.
Total Transfer Capability (TTC)
Maximum load that a transmission system can carry for all users under specified conditions for a given period without exceeding approved limits of temperature and stress.
Mechanism by which stranded costs continue to be paid by customers who switch to another supplier. These costs include implementation costs required to facilitate retail access.
Physical limitation of the transmission system components to carry a load under specified conditions for a given period. These constraints determine a load-carrying limit, which is used to determine available transfer capability (ATC).
Transmission Loading Relief (TLR)
A North American Electric Reliability Council-approved procedure used for interconnected electric systems in the eastern portion of the United States to maintain transmission service reservation priorities provided by open access transmission tariffs and to avoid or eliminate operating limit violations which jeopardize the safety and reliability of lines and equipment.
Entity that provides transmission service, including ancillary services in a given geographic area. Generally, this is a function of an integrated electric utility.
Transmission ServiceHigh-voltage, bulk transport of power from generators to a specified distribution system. The transmission provider maintains and operates the transmission system in a given geographical area to ensure overall reliability of the electric system.
High-voltage wires that connect generation facilities with distribution facilities.
Regulated electric utility that constructs, maintains, owns, and operates the transmission system.
U
Billing that separates and itemizes utility services that were traditionally combined. For example, delivery and energy supply charges appearing as separate items on the bill.
Disaggregating electric utility service into its basic components and selling each component separately at individual rates. For example, generation, transmission, and distribution could be unbundled and offered as discrete, individually priced services.
Regulated entity that exhibits the characteristics of a natural monopoly. For the purposes of electric industry restructuring, “utility” refers to the regulated, vertically integrated electric company. “Transmission utility” refers to the regulated owner/operator of the transmission system only. “Distribution utility” refers to the regulated owner/operator of the distribution system that serves retail customers.
Utility Distribution Company (UDC)
See Distribution Utility. Also known as Local Distribution Company.
V
W
X
Y
Z