Energy Choice Glossary
Alternate Energy Supplier or Energy Service Company (ESCO)
Providing unregulated energy company that offers to supply the actual commodity of electricity or natural gas. This entity is sometimes referred to as a "retail supplier" or "marketer."
Bundled Service
Providing full-service electricity including the supply from the generator, delivery over wires (or in the case of gas, through pipelines), reading meters and providing customer service. This is the way utility service was typically provided for all customers, prior to deregulation in the late 1990s and early 21st Century.
Customer Energy Choice
The ability of individual customers to select an alternate supplier to provide their electricity and gas; sometimes called "retail access."
Delivery Service Customer
A customer who elects to participate in Central Hudson's Customer Choice Plan and receives his or her supply of electricity from an alternate supplier. Central Hudson will continue to deliver the electricity, making that customer a “delivery service customer” of Central Hudson, while being another company’s “energy supply customer.”
Distribution
The delivery of electricity through wires, and natural gas through pipelines, along local thoroughfares to the homes and businesses of end-user customers.
Full-Service Customer
A customer who does not participate in Customer Choice and continues to receive both the supply and delivery of electricity from Central Hudson.
Generation
The process of producing electric energy or the amount of electric energy produced transforming other forms of energy into electrical energy; commonly expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh) or megawatt-hours (MWh).
Kilowatt (Kw)
A measure of power equaling 1,000 watts, describing the rate of energy use. For example, ten 100-watt light bulbs use one kilowatt of electricity.
Kilowatt-Hour (kWh)
The kilowatt-hour is the quantity of electricity used. For example, ten 100-watt light bulbs used for ten hours would equal 1,000 watt hours, or ten kilowatt-hours of use.
Transmission
The delivery of large amounts of electricity (often over very long distances) from power plants to substations over
high-voltage wires.
Unbundled Service
Separates the generating or commodity of electricity, and the actual units of natural gas, from all the other services required to provide delivery to a home or business. The supply of electricity represents approximately 60%-70% of the average Central Hudson customer's total electric bill.