Terminology — Pathways to Sustainable Living

As each of us tries to move along our own personal pathway to sustainable living, it is sometimes inevitable that we will get bogged down in the jargon surrounding the various aspects of the four pathways. The following page can, hopefully, act as a helpful primer on some of the terminologies we may come across.

+ Shelter And Energy Terminology

Fixed rate plan

  • The customer will be charged the same amount per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the length of the plan, even if market prices fluctuate. This is a good option if the user can get a competitive rate during a season when prices are traditionally low.

Early cancellation fees

  • Fixed rate plans may charge customers wanting to end their service before the end of their term.

Variable rate plan

  • The prices associated with this plan will fluctuate with market prices. This type of rate has the ability to save the customer money if the market prices go down, but they may also pay more if market prices increase.

Automatic Renewal

  • Many providers will automatically renew the customer's service plan at the end of the plan period on a variable rate plan.

Electricity Producer

  • Companies that generate the power the customer consumes.

Electricity Utilities

  • Responsible for transporting the power generated by producers over the grid and to the end user. Customers will typically have a variable rate plan when buying from a utility.

Electricity Suppliers

  • Companies that buy and sell power. Suppliers offer fixed rate plans.

Supply vs Distribution costs

  • Supply costs cover the cost to power a customer's home. Distribution costs cover the cost to get power from the generation source to a customer's home and will vary based on how much electricity the customer uses.

“Price to Compare”

  • A local utility uses this ‘price to compare’ as a benchmark for shopping retail suppliers. Checking this number makes sure a customer is getting a good deal.

RECs

  • Renewable Energy Certificates. They represent the property rights of renewable energy generation. A REC is issued when 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity is generated and delivered to the grid from a renewable energy resource. RECs help in accounting, tracking, and assigning ownership to renewable electricity generation and use. When a customer switches to a renewable energy provider, that electricity provider will purchase enough RECs to match a user's consumption.

For more energy definitions, visit https://www.papowerswitch.com/glossary