Baseload Power
Generation sources designed to operate more or less continuously through the day and night and across the seasons of the year. Nuclear and generally large hydro generating stations are examples of generators that operate as baseload generation.
Biomass
Energy resources derived from organic matter, including wood, agricultural waste and other living cell material that can be burned to produce heat energy or electricity.
Demand Response (DR)
Programs designed to reduce the amount of electricity drawn by customers from the grid, in response to changes in the price of electricity during the day, incentive payments and/or other mechanisms. In Ontario, both the OPA and the IESO run demand response programs.
Dispatchable Generation
Sources of electricity such as natural gas that can be dispatched at the request of power grid operators; that is, output can be increased or decreased as demand or availability of other supply sources changes.
Distribution
A distribution system carries electricity from the transmission system and delivers it to consumers. Typically, the network would include medium-voltage power lines, substations and pole-mounted transformers, low-voltage distribution wiring and electricity meters.
Feed-in Tariff (FIT)
A guaranteed rate program that provides stable prices through long-term contracts for energy generated using renewable resources.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Gases that contribute to the capture of heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the most prominent GHG, in addition to natural sources it is released into the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil or natural gas. Widely acknowledged as contributing to climate change.
Intermittent Power Generation
Sources of electricity that produce poweronly during certain times such as wind and solar generators whose output depends on wind speed and solar intensity.
Kilowatt (kW)
A standard quantity of power in a residential-size electricity system, equal to 1,000 watts (W). Ten 100-watt light bulbs operated together consume one kW of power.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
A standard unit of electrical energy in a residential-size system. One kWh (1,000 watt-hours) is the amount of electrical energy produced or consumed by a one-kilowatt unit during one hour. Ten 100-watt light bulbs, operated together for one hour, consume one kWh of energy.
Load or Demand Management
Measures undertaken to control the level of energy usage at a given time, by increasing or decreasing consumption or shifting consumption to some other time period.
Local Distribution Company (LDC)
An entity that owns a distribution system for the local delivery of energy (gas or electricity) to consumers.
Megawatt (MW)
A unit of power equal to 1,000 kilowatts (kW) or one million watts (W).
Megawatt-hour (MWh)
A measure of the energy produced by a generating station over time: a one MW generator, operating for 24 hours, generates 24 MWh of energy (as does a 24 MW generator, operating for one hour).
Microfit
Ontario residents are able to develop a very small or “micro” renewable electricity generation project (10 kilowatts or less in size) on their properties. Under the microfit Program, they are paid a guaranteed price for all the electricity they produce for at least 20 years.
Peaking Capacity
Generating capacity typically used only to meet the peak demand (highest demand) for electricity during the day; typically provided by hydro, coal or natural gas generators.
Peak Demand
Peak demand, peak load or on-peak are terms describing a period in which electricity is expected to be provided for a sustained period at a significantly higher than average supply level.
Photovoltaic
A technology for converting solar energy into electrical energy (typically by way of photovoltaic cells or panels comprising a number of cells).
Regulated Price Plan (RPP)
Rates (adjusted every six months) to ensure electricity pricing reflect the true cost of generating electricity. They provide stable and predictable electricity prices for consumers.
Smart Grid
A Smart Grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology with two-way communications to control appliances at consumers’ homes to save energy, reduce costs and increase reliability and transparency.
Supply Mix
The different types of fuel that are used to produce electricity in a particular jurisdiction. Normally the mix is expressed in terms of the proportion of each type within the overall amount of energy produced.
Terawatt-hour (TWh)
A unit of power equal to a billion kilowatt-hours. Ontario’s annual electricity consumption is around 140 TWh.
Transmission
The movement or transfer of electricity over an interconnected group of lines and associated equipment between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery to consumers, or is delivered to other, separate electric transmission systems. Transmission of electricity is done at high voltages (50kV or higher in Ontario); the energy is transformed to lower voltages for distribution over local distribution systems.