Glossary

  • Valley-Filling

    Demand-side management programs that seek to increase off-peak electricity consumption without necessarily reducing on-peak demands.

  • Vapor

    The gaseous state of a substance.

  • VAR

    Voltage-Ampere-Reactive. A measure of reactive power.

  • Variable Cost

    The total costs incurred to produce energy, exc1uding fixed costs which are incurred regardless of whether the resource is operating. Variable costs usually include fuel, increased maintenance and additional labor.

  • Venture Capital

    Funds available to invest in new or unproven business enterprises.

  • Vertical Integration

    An arrangement whereby the same company owns all the different aspects of making, selling, and delivering a product or service. In the electric industry, it refers to the historically common arrangement whereby a utility would own its own generating plants, transmission system, and distribution lines to provide all aspects of electric service.

  • Vertical Spread

    A spread that involves options with different strike prices, but identical expiration dates.

  • Virtual Direct Access

    A form of partial deregulation of the electric industry whereby the utility remains the sole retail supplier to customers on a pool basis but the Customers have the right to enter into bilateral contracts for differences from the pool prices.

  • Volatility

    A measurement of the price fluctuation of an underlying instrument that takes place over a certain period of time.

  • Volt

    The unit of measurement of electromotive force. It is equivalent to the force required to produce a current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm. The unit of measure for electrical potential. Generally measured in kilovolts or kV. Typical transmission level voltages are 115 kV, 230 kV and 500 kV. (See Voltage Chart.)

  • Voltage Control

    The control of transmission voltage adjustments in generator reactive output and transformer taps, and by switching capacitors and inductors on the transmission and distribution systems.

  • Voltage Reduction

    Any intentional reduction of system voltage by 3 percent or greater for reasons of maintaining the continuity of service of the bulk electric power supply system.

  • Voltage Support

    A small remote generator located on a transmission system to provide voltage within tolerance limits to the 'Customer. If the voltage delivered is outside of the tolerance levels, appliances will not run efficiently. (See Voltage Chart.)

  • Volumetric Rate

    See RATE, VOLUMETRIC.