Glossary of electric industry, energy & cooperative terms

F

Facia or Fascia
A flat board, band or face, used sometimes by itself but usually in combination with moldings, often located at the outer face of the cornice.

Facility
An existing or planned location or site at which prime movers, electric generators, and/or equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, and/or nuclear energy into electric energy are situated, or will be situated. A facility may contain more than one generator of either the same or different prime mover type. For a co-generator, the facility includes the industrial or commercial process.

Facilities Charge
The part of a customer’s electricity bill paid as reimbursement for facilities used to generate, transmit and distribute electricity.

Federal Energy Administration (FEA)
Established by Congress in 1974 to ensure a sufficient energy supply for the United States and that priority needs are met during energy shortages.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
The independent federal agency vested with broad authority to regulate key activities of the nation's natural gas utilities, interstate natural gas pipeline companies, electric utilities and hydroelectric power producers. Basically, FERC regulates the production, transmission and wholesale sales of electric power as well as transmission and wholesale sales of electric power and natural gas in interstate commerce. FERC is comprised of five presidential appointees, no more than three of whom may be from the same political party. FERC is the federal counterpart of the PUCO. It was formed in 1977 to set and enforce the wholesale electric rates that investor-owned utilities charge rural electric cooperatives and other wholesale customers; also licenses hydroelectric projects. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, but functions independently.

Federal Power Act
Enacted in 1920, and amended in 1935, the Act consists of three parts. The first part incorporated the Federal Water Power Act administered by the former Federal Power Commission, whose activities were confined almost entirely to licensing non-Federal hydroelectric projects. Parts II and III were added with the passage of the Public Utility Act. These parts extended the Act's jurisdiction to include regulating the interstate transmission of electrical energy and rates for its sale as wholesale in interstate commerce. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is now charged with the administration of this law.

Federal Power Commission
The predecessor agency of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was created by an Act of Congress under the Federal Water Power Act on June 10, 1920. It was charged originally with regulating the electric power and natural gas industries. The FPC was abolished on September 20, 1977, when the Department of Energy was created. The functions of the FPC were divided between the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Feeder
A distribution feeder is the main trunk line from which taps carry electricity to residential and commercial customers

Feeder Breaker
An overcurrent protective device which interrupts power to a distribution feeder when a line fault occurs.

Firm Energy
Electricity guaranteed to be available at all times from a power supplier.

Firm Power
Power or power-producing capacity intended to be available at all times during the period covered by a guaranteed commitment to deliver, even under adverse conditions.

Flashing
Sheet metal or other material used in roof and wall construction to protect a building from water seepage.

Flashover
An abnormal electrical discharge, as from a high-voltage power line to a ground.

Florida Electric Power Coordinating Group, Inc. (FCG)
An association of 38 electric utilities which have voluntarily joined to ensure reliable low cost supplies of power for the state of Florida.

Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA)
A statewide joint action agency comprising 28 member municipal electric utilities joined for the purpose of developing power supply opportunities for the membership. Formed in 1978, the Agency is authorized by Florida Statutes and can undertake supply projects, including generation and transmission, and issue bonds or bond anticipation notes to finance or refinance the cost of a project. Members have the option to participate, or not, in any or all projects.

Florida Public Service Commission (PSC)
The Florida Public Service Commission is a five-member body or regulators, appointed by the Governor with consent of the Legislature. Members are assisted by a large professional staff. Its duties are to regulate telephone company rates and services, rates of privately-owned water and sewer companies. The PSC also has rate structure jurisdiction over municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives and was mandated by the Florida Legislature to establish and monitor energy conservation goals and programs for all electric and gas utilities in Florida.

It has the powers to summon and mandate the attendance of witnesses, require the production of books and records, and can levy fines. In fixing rates of the various utilities, it acts as an agent of the Legislature. Members serve a four-year term, earning approximately $82,000 a year, and may not hold any utility stocks or bonds. The commission is financed entirely by licenses, fees and assessments from the utilities regulated by the Commission and placed in a Regulatory Trust Fund.

The regulatory agency was reestablished in its present form by the Florida Legislature in 1887. For the first 60 years of its existence this agency was known as the Florida Railroad Commission; however, in 1947 its name was changed by the Legislature to The Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission; in 1963 to Florida Public Utilities Commission; and in 1965 to Florida Public Service Commission. This new nave more accurately reflects its purpose and jurisdiction. Originally it had supervision over railroads only, but successive Legislatures have added to its powers and duties. Until 1978 the Commission had only three members, and they were elected on the statewide ballot. The 1978 Legislature expanded the commission to five members and changed the basis for selection; selection is now done by the nine-member Public Service Commission Nominating Council.

Florida Electric Cooperative Association (FECA)
The Tallahassee-based statewide service organization for Florida’s electric cooperatives.

Fluorescent Lamp
A tubular electric discharge lamp in which light is produced by the fluorescence of phosphors coating the inside of the tube. An economical source of electric light.

Flue
The space or passage in a chimney through which smoke, gas or fumes ascend.

Flue Gas Desulfurization Unit (Scrubber)
Equipment used to remove sulfur oxides from the combustion gases of a boiler plant before discharge to the atmosphere. Chemicals, such as lime, are used as the scrubbing media.

Fly Ash
Fine solid particles of inorganic byproduct, created by burning pulverized coal, which can be recovered within the gas stream by electrostatic precipitators. The collected ash has value for use in concrete paving, roofing and oil-well casings.

Forced Outage
The period of time during which a power plant is scheduled to operate but is unable to do so because of breakdowns or other unforeseen circumstances.

Footing
A masonry section, usually concrete, in a rectangular form wider than the bottom of the foundation wall or pier it supports.

Fossil Fuel
Any naturally occurring organic fuel, such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas.

Fossil Fuel Plant
A plant using coal, petroleum, or gas as its source of energy.

Frame Wall
A wall constructed with a skeleton of timber. A potential site for insulation.

Franchise Fee
A payment to a city or county government for the non-exclusive right to install and maintain equipment on the government’s highway and street property (i.e., public rights-of-way).

FTP
File Transfer Protocol. It is a standard method of sending files from one computer to another over the Internet.

Fuel
Anything consumed to produce energy.

Fuel Adjustment
A clause in a rate schedule that provides for an adjustment of the amount of members’ bills as the cost of fuel varies up or down.

Fuel Adjustment Charge
A means for adjusting utility bills to reflect changing fuel prices so that neither the utility nor its customers are penalized.

Fuel costs are an electric utility’s largest single expense, amounting to about half of customers’ bills. Fuel prices can fluctuate greatly on the basis of supply and demand and spot market conditions. Recognizing this, regulators, including the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), have allowed fuel adjustment charges since the oil embargo in 1973.

Currently, the PSC adjusts the fuel charges applicable to the investor-owned utilities every six months under a complex system. Initially utilities forecast their fuel needs for the coming six months. They base this on the load they anticipate serving and the generating units that will be available (i.e., not out of service for scheduled maintenance). The purchase or sale of interchange power is also factored in. This becomes a basis for an estimate of the fuel costs. The estimate is compared to current fuel costs to see if the estimate is higher or lower. Finally, the extent to which the previous six months’ estimate deviated from actual costs is factored in.

From this, the PSC determines whether the fuel cost adjustment will increase or decrease on customer bills for the coming six months. Electric cooperatives and municipal utilities use a similar time frame and methodology for assessing the fuel adjustment with governance by a board of directors (cooperatives) or local government authority (municipals).

Fuel Cells
Devices that convert the chemical energy of fuels directly into electricity. Fuel cells offer the potential for being very efficient. The targeted efficiency for fuel cell plants is between 50 and 60 percent. The primary byproduct of a fuel cell generator is water. A fuel cell works in the following way: hydrogen or hydrogen-rich gas is passed along the surface of the anode, and oxygen or air is passed across the cathode. The hydrogen atoms release their electrons and become positively charged hydrogen ions. The negatively charged free electrons migrated toward the positive cathode through a connection circuit. The electron flow in the external circuit constitutes electricity.

Several prototype fuel cell demonstration plants are in operation today, but the cost of electric production is very high – about $3,000 per kilowatt (kw). For fuel cells to be commercially feasible, costs of production must drop to approximately $770 per kw. It is predicted that this cost reduction may be achieved as early as 1990. Fuel cell generation plants are still under development, but the existing demonstration plants are expected to provide valuable research regarding the fuel cell’s performance in siting, operations, emissions, transmission savings and reliability.

Fuel Expenses
These costs include the fuel used in the production of steam or driving another prime mover for the generation of electricity. Other associated expenses include unloading the shipped fuel and all handling of the fuel up to the point where it enters the first bunker, hopper, bucket, tank, or holder in the boiler-house structure.

Full-Forced Outage
The net capability of main generating units that is unavailable for load for emergency reasons.

Furring
Strips of wood or metal applied to a wall or other surface to even it and normally to serve as a fastening base for finish material.

Fuse
A protective device for electric circuits containing a wire designed to melt and open the circuit under abnormally high electric loads.

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Page last updated: Monday, January 23, 2012