BEECHER - NAWC

Water ComparedGlossaryReseller. In general, any entity thatpurchases goods or services to in turn sellthe same goods or services to a third party.Restructuring. Fundamental changes inthe way utility services are provided interms of the number of providers, marketconditions, and regulatory frameworks.Retail wheeling. Transmission ofelectricity to a customer who haspurchased the electricity from anotherutility outside the transmitting utility'sterritory.Retention rates. Rates used to inducecustomers to stay on the utility system.Securitization. Creation of a financialinstrument that is backed by a revenuestream pledged to pay the principal andinterest of that security. For electricutilities, the main purpose for this deviceby is to reduce uneconomical costs with anup-front, lump-sum payment from the saleof a security or bond. Securitizationrequires legislation to create a transferableproperty right to collect the utility'suneconomical cost from ratepayers througha competition transition charge. (NRRI)Separation. Process by which a utility'sexpenses and investment in plant aredivided between interstate operations andintrastate operations.Slamming. Changing a service from oneprovider to another without the recipient'spermission.Small power producer. One that hasproduction capacity of no more than 80megawatts and uses biomass, waste, orrenewable resources (such as wind, water,or solar energy) to produce electric power.Standby service. A class of servicewherein the utility does not serve thecustomer on a regular basis, but only whencalled upon to do so by the customer.Stranded investment (or costs).Investments or expenditures made byutilities that become unrecoverable duringthe shift from regulated to based-services.Also called stranded assets or sunk costs.Switching. The process by which entitiesconnect with and disconnect from eachother. Specific definitions vary byindustry.Take-and-pay contract. Energy salescontract that requires payment only forenergy actually delivered.Take-or-pay contract. Energy salescontract that requires payment for a givenamount of energy whether the customertakes it or not.Transmission. The movement or transferof electric energy in bulk. Ordinarily,transmission ends when the energy istransformed for distribution to the ultimatecustomer.Ultimate customer. The end user of theutility product.Unbundling. Separation of individualutility services (including generation,transmission, distribution, and meteringand billing) and corresponding prices.Universal service fund. Fund designed tooffset high operating costs of smallertelephone companies servicing customersin low traffic, low density areas. Generallyfunded by a small surcharge.NAWC 161September 1998