| One thing | Also called |
|---|
| Utility | distribution company, delivery company, the wires company, the pipes company |
| Supplier | ESCO, REP, CRES, third-party supplier, marketer, the energy company |
| Default service | standard offer, basic service, price to compare, provider of last resort, utility supply |
| Tariff | rate book, rate filing, schedule of rates, the filed tariff |
| Rate | rate schedule, rate class, service class, rate code, price plan |
| Rider | adjustment clause, surcharge, tracker, mechanism, factor |
| Demand | kW, peak demand, billing demand, maximum demand |
| Energy | kWh, consumption, usage |
| EDU | ERU, SFE, sewer unit, equivalent dwelling unit |
| Regulator | PUC, PSC, the Commission, the state commission |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Utility | Owns the wires or pipes and the meter. Delivers to the building. One per address, no choice. |
| Supplier | Sells the commodity itself. Only exists in deregulated states, and only if the customer chose one. |
| Default service | The utility buying energy on behalf of a customer who never chose a supplier. |
| Regulator | The state body that approves what a utility may charge. Why the tariff is public. |
| Municipal utility, co-op | City-owned or member-owned. Often outside the state commission, with a much thinner rate document. |
| Deregulated state | Delivery and supply are separate businesses. Two companies, sometimes two bills. |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Tariff | The utility’s public, approved price book. If a charge is not in it, it cannot be billed. |
| Rate schedule | One price plan inside the tariff. Has availability, prices, a minimum bill, and terms. |
| Availability | The section saying who may take a rate. Read it before the prices. |
| Rider | An add-on charge, credit or programme attached to a rate. Some automatic, some by application. |
| Sheet | One page of the tariff. Revised individually, which is why versions overlap. |
| Effective date | When a sheet’s prices start applying. What you match to the bill’s service period. |
| Supersedes | A note saying which earlier sheet this one replaces. Follow it backwards to find old versions. |
| Minimum bill | The floor. Savings below it are not real. |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| kWh | Kilowatt-hour. Energy used over the month. The odometer. |
| kW — demand | The highest rate of draw in the month, usually the biggest 15-minute average. The speedometer. |
| Load factor | How flat the usage is. Flat suits demand rates; spiky does not. |
| Secondary, primary, transmission | The voltage at which the customer connects. Decides which rates are available. |
| Ratchet | A rule making an earlier peak keep setting billed demand for months afterwards. |
| Time-of-use (TOU) | A rate whose price changes by hour of day. |
| kVA, power factor | Measures of how efficiently the customer draws power. Some rates charge for poor power factor. |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
| Customer charge | Flat monthly fee, charged regardless of usage. |
| Distribution charge | Per-unit charge for delivery. The utility’s side. |
| Block, tier | A price that changes above a usage threshold. One tariff component, several bill lines. |
| Pro-rating | Billing a monthly charge by day count. The usual cause of small unexplained gaps. |
| Estimated read (EST) | A guessed meter reading. Corrected later, which distorts the months around it. |
| Multiplier | A factor applied to the raw meter reading to get billed units. Miss it and everything is wrong. |
| Service period | The from and to dates the bill covers. What you match to a tariff version. |
| Summary bill | Many accounts in one envelope. Audit each account separately. |
| Current charges | This period’s charges only. The only figure an audit uses. Not the total due. |
That is the course
You now have enough to open a bill you have never seen, find the tariff behind it, describe the customer, and say what to test. Go and do that on a real one. It will not feel finished until you have.