Anthracite. A hard, black lustrous coal containing a high percentage of fixed carbon and a low percentage of volatile matter. It is often referred to as hard coal.
Aviation Gasoline, Finished. All special grades of gasoline for use in aviation reciprocating engines.
Barrel. A volumetric unit of measure for crude oil and petroleum products equivalent to 42 U.S. gallons.
Bituminous Coal. A coal that is high in carbonaceous matter having a volatility greater than anthracite and a caloric value greater than lignite. In the United States, it is often referred to as soft coal.
Black Liquor. A source of energy in the paper industry consisting of spent cooking liquors from the kraft or sulfate pulping process, along with the lignin dissolved and removed from the wood.
British Thermal Unit (Btu). The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water 1F. An average Btu content of fuel is a heat value per unit quantity of fuel, as determined from tests of fuel samples.
Coal. All ranks of coal: anthracite, bituminous coal, and lignite.
Commercial Sector. Non-manufacturing business establishments, including hotels, motels, restaurants, wholesale businesses, retail stores, and other service enterprises; heath, social, and educational institutions; and federal, state, and local governments.
Crude Oil (including lease condensate). A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating (refining) facilities. Included are lease condensate and liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, gilsonite, and oil shale.
Diesel Fuel. See Distillate fuel oil.
Direct Service Industries (DSI). Industries that receive power directly from Bonneville Power Administration, primarily aluminum companies in the Northwest.
Distillate Fuel Oil. Light fuel oils distilled during the refining process and used primarily for space heating, on-and-off highway diesel engine fuel (including railroad engine fuel and fuel for agricultural machinery), and electric power generation. Included are products known as No.1, No.2, and No.4 fuel oils, and No.1, No.2, and No.4 diesel fuels. No.2 fuel oil is used in atomizing-type burners for domestic heating or for moderate commercial-industrial burner units. Diesel fuels are used in compression-ignition engines.
Dry Ton (wood). 2,000 pounds of material dried to a constant weight.
Electrical System Energy Losses. The amount of energy lost during generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, including plant use and unaccounted for electrical energy.
Electricity Sales. The gross electricity output measured at the generator terminals, minus power plant use and transmission and distribution losses. Sectors generally covered are residential, commercial, industrial, and "other" sales.
Electric Utility. A corporation, agency, person, authority, or other entity that owns , or operates facilities for the generation, transmission, distribution, or sale of electricity.
Electric Utility Sector. Privately and publicly owned establishments that generate electricity primarily for use by the public.
End-Use Energy. Energy consumed by end-users in the end-use sectors.
End-Use Sector. The residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors of the economy.
Fossil Fuels. Sources of energy from the earth, primarily crude oil, natural gas, and coal.
Fossil Fuel Steam Electric Plant. An electricity generation plant in which the prime mover is a turbine rotated by high pressure steam produced in a boiler by heat from burning fossil fuels.
Geothermal Energy. Hot water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs in the earth's crust that can be supplied to steam turbines at electric utilities to produce electricity, or used directly for localized space heating.
Gigawatt. One billion watts.
Gigawatt-Hour (Gwh). One billion watts for one hour.
Heating Oil. A distillate fuel oil for use in atomizing-type burners for domestic heating or for moderate-capacity commercial and industrial burner units. (See also Distillate fuel oil.)
Heavy Oil. No.4, No.5, and No. 6 fuel oils, crude oil, and topped crude oil used as fuel at electric utility generation plants. The term heavy oil is applied only to fuel consumed by the electric utility sector.
Hydroelectric Power. Electricity generated by an electric power plant whose turbines are driven by falling water.
Implicit Price Deflator. A measure over time of price changes of goods and services. Unlike the consumer price index, it is not based on a theoretical "market basket" of items, but rather consumption data in the National Income Accounts. For this reason, it reflects changes in the actual consumption pattern of the American consumer.
Industrial Sector. Manufacturing industries, which make up the largest part of the sector, along with mining, construction, agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. Establishments in the sector range from steel mills, to small farms, to companies assembling electronic components.
IOU. Investor-owned utility.
Jet Fuel. Includes both naptha-type and kerosene-type jet fuel. Although most jet fuel is used in aircraft, some is used for other purposes, such as fuel for turbines to produce electricity.
Kerosene. A petroleum middle distillate, with burning properties suitable for use as an illuminant when burned in wick lamps. Kerosene is used primarily in space heaters, cooking stoves, and water heaters.
Kilowatt. One thousands watts.
Kilowatt-Hour (kWh). One thousand watts for one hour.
Lease Condensate. A natural gas liquid recovered from gas-well gas in lease separators or natural gas field facilities. Lease condensate consists primarily of pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons. Generally, it is blended with crude oil for refining.
Light Oil. No. 1 and No. 2 fuel oils, kerosene, and jet fuel used by the electric utility sector. The term light oil is applied only to fuel used in the electric utility sector.
Lignite. A brownish-black coal of low rank with high inherent moisture content. It is also referred to as a brown coal.
Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG). Ethane, propane, normal butane, ethane-propane mixtures, propane-butane mixtures, and isobutane produced at natural gas processing plants. LPG also includes liquefied refinery gases (ethylene, propylene, butylene, and isobutylene) produced from crude oil at refineries.
Lubricants. Substances used to reduce friction between bearing surfaces. Petroleum lubricants may be produced from either distillates or residuals. Other substances may be added to impart or improve certain required properties.
Megawatt. One million watts.
MegaWatt-Hour (Mwh). One million watts for one hour.
Miscellaneous Petroleum Products. Includes all finished petroleum products not classified elsewhere, e.g., petrolatum, absorption oils, ram-jet fuel, rocket fuels, specialty oils, and medicinal oils.
Motor Gasoline, Finished. A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons, with or without small quantities of additives, that have been blended to form a suitable fuel for spark-ignition engines. Included are gasohol and finished leaded and unleaded gasoline.
Natural Gas. A mixture of hydrocarbons and small quantities of various non-hydrocarbons existing in the gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in underground reservoirs. The designation dry represents the marketable portion of natural gas production that is obtained by subtracting extraction losses, including natural gas liquids removed at processing plants, from total production.
Net Generation. Gross generation, less plant use, measured at the terminals of the station's step-up transformer. The energy required for pumping at pumped storage plants is regarded as plant use and must be deducted from gross generation.
Net Interstate Sales of Electricity. The difference between the sum of electricity sales and losses within a state and the total amount of electricity generated within the state.
Nominal Dollars. Dollars that have not been adjusted for the effects of inflation, or the price paid for a product or service at the time of the transaction.
Nuclear Energy. Electricity generated by an electric power plant whose turbines are driven by steam generated in a reactor by heat from the fissioning of nuclear fuel.
NWPPC. Northwest Power Planning Council.
Other Generation. Electricity originating from biomass, fuel cells, geothermal heat, solar power, waste, wind, or wood.
Personal Income. The sum of proprietor's income, wage and salary payments, other labor income, interest, dividends, rent, and transfer payments.
Petroleum. A generic term applied to oil and oil products in all forms, such as crude oil, lease condensate, unfinished oils, motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil (diesel), heavy oil, aviation gasoline, kerosene, and LPG.
Petroleum Products. Products obtained from the processing of crude oil, natural gas, and other hydrocarbon compounds.
Pipeline Fuel. Gas consumed in the operation of pipelines, primarily in compressors.
Primary Energy. All energy consumed by end users, excluding electricity but including the energy consumed at electric utilities to generate electricity. (In estimating energy expenditures, there are no fuel-associated expenditures for hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, solar energy, or wind energy, and the quantifiable expenditures for process fuel and intermediate products are excluded.)
Propane. A normally gaseous hydrocarbon extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams. It is primarily used for residential and commercial heating and cooling, and also as a fuel for transportation. Industrial uses of propane include use as a petrochemical feedstock.
Real Dollars. Dollars that have been adjusted for the effects of inflation, using an index such as the implicit price deflator. (See Implicit price deflator.)
Renewable Resource. A resource that uses solar, wind, water (hydro), geothermal, biomass, or similar sources of energy, and that is used for electric power generation or for reducing the electric power requirement of a customer.
Residential Sector. All private residences, whether occupied or vacant, owned or rented, including single-family homes, multifamily housing units, and mobile homes. Secondary homes, such as summer homes, are also included. Institutional housing, such as school dormitories, hospitals, and military barracks, are included in the commercial sector.
Residual Fuel Oil. The heavier oils that remain after the distillate fuel oils and lighter hydrocarbons are distilled away in refinery operations.
Short Ton (coal). A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds.
Therm. 100,000 Btus. (See British thermal unit.)
Vehicle Miles Traveled: The miles of travel by vehicles on roads and highways.
Watt. The electrical unit used to measure the rate of doing work (power). Watts are used in the electrical field much as horsepower is used to measure power in the mechanical field.
Wood Energy. Wood and wood products used as fuel. Included are round wood (cord wood), limb wood, wood chips, bark, sawdust, forest residues, charcoal, pulp waste, and spent pulping liquor.
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