BEECHER - NAWC

Water ComparedGlossaryobligation placed on ratepayers throughlegislation. (Kenneth Rose, NRRI)Competitive access provider (CAP).Teleconuuunications companies thatprovide access to interexchange carriersfrom large end-users, bypassing the localexchange carriers.Competitive local exchange carrier(CLEC). One of the new breed oftelecommunications companies who arebeginning to be authorized by stateregulatory agencies to offer switched localexchange service in competition with theincumbent local exchange carrier (LEC).Contestable market. Markets that havecharacteristics of monopoly or oligopolybut relative freedom of exit or entry(especially in terms oflegal and regulatoryinstitutions) so that potential competitionprovides a reasonably effective check oneconomic behavior.Contract carriage. Transportation ofnatural gas by a pipeline that does not ownthe gas. Gas pipelines traditionally haveacted as wholesalers, buying gas fromproducers and reselling it to local utilitiesor industrial users. Under contractcarriage, a gas user can buy gas directlyfrom a producer and contract with apipeline to ship it.Contract carrier. A transport companythat offers services to other parties undercontract.Core customers. Customers that arecaptive to a single utility supplier becausethey have no competitive options.Cramming. Services or enhancementsprovided without the recipient'spermiSSIOn.Cross-subsidization. Practice of usingrevenues generated from one (oftenregulated) product or service to supportanother (often unregulated) one.Disaggregation. Separation of verticallyintegrated utility functions (that is,generation, transmission, and distribution)or separation of formerly bundled utilityserv1ces.Direct access. Ability of consumers todirectly arrange service from producers.Distributed resources. Small incrementsof energy or other resources (includingconservation), that are not centrallyproduced and considered attractive forcost, ancillary services, and loadmanagement purposes.Divestiture. U.S. District Judge HaroldGreene's order that divided the assets ofAT&T into the seven regional holdingcompanies and twenty-two local telephoneoperating companies, with AT&T retainingcontrol over long-distance, manufacturing,and research capabilities. The modifiedfinal judgment governs activities of theoperating companies and one of itsprimacy directives is nondiscrimination.Elasticity. The percentage change in onevariable relative to the percentage changein another variable.End use. Use of a utility product for aparticular purpose by its ultimate customer.Energy services provider. A companythat provides energy and related services,NAWC 156September 1998