Electric bill glossary

266 terms from electricity bills and tariffs, in plain words. Open a letter, or find a term. When a term is on a tariff on this site, its entry links to the calculators of those utilities.

Find a term

Terms by topic

Units and basics: Ampere (amp), Average price per kWh, British thermal unit (BTU), Cents per kWh (¢/kWh), Kilovolt-ampere (kVA), Kilowatt (kW), Kilowatt-hour (kWh), Load, Load factor, Load profile, Marginal price, Megawatt-hour (MWh), Mill, Power factor, Standby power, Therm, Voltage, Watt (W)
Your bill and account: Account number, Actual reading, Amount due, Bill calculator, Bill credit, Billing cycle, Billing month, Billing period, Budget billing, Connection charge, Convenience fee, Disconnection, Due date, Electric bill, Estimated bill, Late payment charge, Medical certificate, Meter read date, Paperless billing, Past-due balance, Payment plan, Prorated charge, Reconnection charge, Returned payment charge, Security deposit, Service address, True-up, Typical bill
Rate structures: Base rate, Baseline allowance, Baseline credit, Baseline territory, Bills rendered, Cost of service, Customer class, Declining block rate, Default rate, Effective date, Electric heat rate, Electric vehicle rate, Flat rate, Inclining block rate, Interim rate, Multi-unit (master-metered) service, Multi-year rate plan, Optional rate, Rate base, Rate case, Rate design, Rate freeze, Rate increase, Rate plan, Rate schedule, Residential rate, Return on equity (ROE), Revenue requirement, Season, Service rendered, Summer rate, Tariff, Test year, Tiered rate, Water heating rate, Winter rate
Time of use: Air conditioner cycling, Critical peak pricing (CPP), Daylight saving time, Demand charge, Demand response, Mid-peak, Off-peak, On-peak, Peak demand, Peak time rebate, Real-time pricing, Super off-peak, Time-of-use rate (TOU), Weekday holiday
Charges on the bill: Base services charge, Basic service charge, Capacity charge, Customer charge, Delivery charge, Distribution charge, Energy charge, Facilities charge, Fixed charge, Generation charge, Line extension charge, Meter charge, Minimum bill, Non-capacity energy charge, Service charge, Smart meter charge, Smart meter opt-out fee, Supply charge, System access charge, Transmission charge
Riders and adjustments: Adjustment clause, Arrears management program, Carbon-free resource adjustment, Clean energy charge, Coal plant retirement charge, COVID-19 cost recovery charge, Default service support charge, Deferral, Demand side management (DSM), Distribution cost recovery factor (DCRF), Distribution system improvement charge (DSIC), Earnings sharing mechanism, Economic development rider, Electric vehicle program charge, Energy efficiency charge, Energy storage charge, Environmental cost recovery, Fuel adjustment clause, Fuel charge, Generation supply adjustment (GSA), Grid modernization charge, Infrastructure charge, Interim surcharge, Lost revenue adjustment, Low-income program charge, Mobile generation rider, Monthly adjustment clause (MAC), Non-utility generation charge, Nuclear decommissioning charge, Over-collection, Performance incentive mechanism, Power cost adjustment, Power supply cost recovery (PSCR), Purchased power adjustment, Rate case expense surcharge, Reconciliation, Renewable energy charge, Revenue decoupling, Rider, Securitization charge, Societal benefits charge, State tax adjustment surcharge, Storm recovery charge, System benefits charge, Tax adjustment credit, Transition charge, Transmission cost recovery factor (TCRF), Under-collection, Vegetation management, Wildfire fund charge, Wildfire mitigation charge, Zero emission certificate (ZEC)
Taxes and fees: Excise tax, Franchise fee, Gross receipts tax, Payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), Regulatory assessment, Sales tax on electricity, Utility users tax
Programs and discounts: CARE, Energy assistance program, Energy audit, FERA, Green power program, Income qualified discount, LIHEAP, Medical baseline, Percentage of income payment plan (PIPP), Rebate, Senior citizen credit, Smart thermostat program, Weatherization, Winter protection plan
Solar and net metering: Avoided cost, Battery storage, Community solar, Distributed generation, Export credit, Federal solar tax credit, Feed-in tariff, Interconnection, NEM 3.0, Net billing, Net metering, Renewable energy certificate (REC), Renewable portfolio standard (RPS), SREC
Suppliers and the electricity market: Ancillary services, Basic generation service (BGS), CAISO, Capacity market, Community choice aggregation (CCA), Consolidated billing, Default service, Deregulated electricity, Early termination fee, Electricity facts label (EFL), Energy broker, ERCOT, Fixed-rate plan, Hedging, ISO New England, Locational marginal price (LMP), Merchant function charge, MISO, NYISO, PJM, Power charge indifference adjustment (PCIA), Price to compare (PTC), Price volatility, Purchase of receivables (POR), Regional transmission organization (RTO), Retail choice, Retail electric provider (REP), Supplier, TDU (delivery company), Variable-rate plan, Wholesale electricity price
Regulators and the industry: Advice letter, Commission order, Consumer advocate, Docket, EIA, Electric cooperative, FERC, Fuel mix, Investor-owned utility (IOU), Power outage, Public power, Public utility commission (PUC), Ratepayer, Reliability (SAIDI and SAIFI)
Meters and usage: Analog meter, Average daily usage, Bidirectional meter, Duty cycle, Electric meter, EnergyGuide label, Green Button, Heat pump, Interval data, Kilowatt-hours per year, Level 2 charger, Line loss, Meter multiplier, Meter number, Smart meter, Space heater, Submetering, Usage history

These definitions are general. The tariff of your utility gives the exact rule and the amount. Each calculator page on this site links to the tariff sheets. If a term is missing, send it to contactus@utilityratecalc.com.