BEECHER - NAWC

-~------Water ComparedGlossaryGlossary on RestructuringABMs. Aggregators, brokers, andmarketers.Access. Ability of user to enter a givennetwork.Access charge. Charge levied oninterexchange carriers and localsubscribers to compensate local exchangecarriers for use of local exchange facilities.Funds collected from access charges areused to offset fixed (non-traffic-sensitive)costs incurred by local telephonecompanies. There are three majorcategories of access charges: specialaccess, subscriber line charges, andswitched access.Acquisition adjustment. The differencebetween the price paid to acquire anoperating unit or system of a utility and therate base of the acquired property.Aggregation. Consolidation of thedemand needs of a group of customers inorder to exercise purchasing power onutility markets.Aggregators. For electricity, brokers forsales of bulk power from generators to agroup of electricity customers.A voided cost. The cost an electric utilitywould otherwise incur to generate power ifit did not purchase electricity from anothersource. Also the basis of the rate that mustbe paid to qualifying facilities (QFs) forpurchased power under PURP A.Bilateral contract. A contract between aproducer and a consumer.Bundled rate. Several services combined· into one tariff offering for single charge.Buyback rates. Rates paid to electricutility customers who produce their ownelectricity in excess of their needs.Bypass. Self-supply or supply througharrangements from suppliers other than thelocal utility provider, the latter of whichmight require use of the utility'stransmission and/or distribution facilities.City-gate. The point at which natural gasis transferred from a long-distance pipelineto a local gas distribution company (LDC).Cogeneration. Production of electricityfrom steam, heat, or other forms of energyproduced as a byproduct of anotherprocess.Combination utility. A utility providingmore than one product, such as electricityand natural gas.Comparably efficient connection.Requirement that allows non-telephonecompanies to have ari equal opportunity toutilize the network for a specific service.Comparably effiCient interconnection.Requirement that allows companies notaffiliated with a local exchange carriertelephone company to have an equalopportunity to utilize the network for aspecific service.Competition transition charge. Amechanism used to collect uneconomicutility costs. It is a "non-bypassable"NAWC 155September 1998