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Glossary of Electric Utility Industry Terms
A
AAC – All aluminum conductor. It is used for overhead transmission and distribution lines. (EUSO)
AAC/TW – All aluminum conductor/trapezoid wire. Rather than the cable being made of several round wires, each wire has a trapezoid shape. (A trapezoid shape is a pyramid that is flat on top rather than having a pointed top.) It is used for primarily for overhead transmission lines. (EUSO)
AC – See Alternating Current
ACCC – Aluminum Conductor Composite Core – An all aluminum conductor with a composite core made of fiber glass and carbon fiber. It allows for re-conductoring transmission lines to carry more power with minimum tower-upgrade costs.
ACCC/TW – Aluminum Conductor Composite Core/Trapezoid Wire – An all aluminum conductor with a composite core made of fiber glass and carbon fiber. Rather than the cable being made of several round wires, each wire has a trapezoid shape. (A trapezoid shape is a pyramid that is flat on top rather than having a pointed top.) It allows for re-conductoring transmission lines to carry more power with minimum tower-upgrade costs.
ACE – See Area Control Error. (EUSO, System operator classes)
ACSR – Aluminum conductor steel reinforced. One or more strands of steel are in the center for mechanical strength. (EUSO)
Adaptive VAR Compensator – A silicon switched system that can adjust for varying inductive loads by adding capacitance within a half a cycle. (EUSO)
AGC – See Automatic Generation Control (EUSO, System operator classes)
Air Break – An abbreviated term for air-break switch. It is an open-air switch that, when open, provides a visible separation in a conductor. (EUSO-photo, IESO-photo)
Alternating Current – Electrons that flow one direction in a conductor, then reverse direction, and then reverse again to flow in the initial direction. This reversing pattern is ongoing as long as the circuit is energized. Virtually all of an electric utility’s operations, worldwide, are done as AC. Its advantage over DC is that the voltages can be easily changed. (EUSO, IESO, System Operator classes)
American Public Power Association – A service organization serving 2,000-plus nonprofit electric utilities in North America. www.appanet.org
Ampere – The unit of measure of current flow. One Ampere (usually referred to as one Amp) is 6.28 x 10 18 electrons flowing past a point in one second. This is also one coulomb per second. It is named after Andre Ampere (1736 – 1819). (EUSO, IESO)
AMR – An acronym for automated meter reading. A method of reading meters without human interaction. The information can be sent using the power lines themselves (See power line carrier), using telephone lines, cell phones, microwave or fiber optic cable. (CAEDS, EDS)
Anode - One of the two terminals in a battery or fuel cell. Also, one end of a diode. The other is the cathode. (CAEDS, EDS)
APPA – See American Public Power Association
Arc – Visible current flow. The largest arc people see is lightning which is visible current flowing between the earth and clouds. (EUSO, CAEDS, EDS)
Arc Fault Interrupter – A specialized electrical outlet now required in bedrooms in new houses, and in bedrooms being remodeled. It senses lose connections and broken conductors in which current is flowing through the lose connection or jumping the gap in the broken conductor. (CAEDS, EDS)
Arcing – Flowing current that is visible. Lightning is current flowing (or arcing) between the earth and clouds. (EUSO, IESO, CAEDS, EDS)
Armature – The rotating component in a DC motor or DC generator. The term armature does not apply to AC motors and generators. (CAEDS-photo, IESO-photo)
Area Control Error - Operating procedures that minimize inadvertent power flow among neighboring control areas. (EUSO, System operator classes)
Automatic Generation Control – A computerized control system located in a system control center that remotely adjusts a generator’s output. The generator is adjusted so that its output is increased when customers turn equipment on, and its output is decreased when customers turn equipment off. (EUSO, System operator classes)
AVC – See Adaptive VAR Compensator.
AWG – A measurement of conductor size that is an acronym for American wire gauge. It is a measure of the copper or aluminum and does not include the insulation. With AWG, as the number gets larger, the conductor gets smaller. Number 2 AWG is the size of a standard wooden pencil, 14 AWG is the size of the lead inside a standard pencil. AWG sizes go to 0 (zero), and then go to 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 and 4/0. 4/0 is the size of the spindle hole in a CD or DVD. (EUSO-size chart, CAEDS, EDS, IESO-size chart)
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