Electric Power Key Terms

Familiarize yourself with electric power terminology and definitions

Electric power key terms are critical to know for people of all walks of life. From high powered politicians to blue collared workers, electric power is a means to a job for some, while it is meaning of balance of infrastructure for others. Electric power generates the electronics in your home and/or your business. It provides you light. It helps cook your food. Without it, you would be hard pressed to handle even the barest of necessities of survival.

Electric power key terms include scientific terminology that covers the basics of the physics behind the concept. They also include terms on how power is measured for distribution and sales. For whatever reason you need to become familiar with electric power terms, having a general understanding of electric power will help you speak with customers, with sales people or with others in the industry.

 

Power

Power is your rate that your electricity is generated and/or used. You measure this in watts, kilowatts (1000 watts) or megawatts (a million watts).
Try: Learn more about electrical power at the Tribal Energy Program.

Capacity

Capacity is the maximum amount of power that a power plant can generate.
Try: Find out information on existing capacity by energy source from the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy.

Energy

Energy is how much electricity is used over a period of time. This is measured in watt-hours (Wh), kilowatt-hours (kWh), and megawatt-hours (MWh).
Try: Find out more about energy from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Net metering

Net metering allows the flow of electricity in both directions, not only from the power grid to the customer, but from the customer's generator back to the power-grid. The customer is then charged (or credited) depending on the net usage and the time of day of the usage based on peak values on energy during certain times of the day.
Try: Learn more about net metering from the State Environmental Resource Center.

Demand

Demand, measured in kilowatts, are costs of the generation and transmitting of peak power consumption of a facility.
Try: Find out more about Georgia's power demand from Oglethorpe Power.

Capacity factor

Capacity factor is the ratio of energy that plants generates over a certain time period to the amount they could have generated if they were running at full capacity over that same time period.
Try: Discover more about capacity factors from UtiliPoint's IssueAlerts.

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