| Term | Description |
|---|
| Watt (W) | The unit of electrical power equal to one ampere under a pressure of one volt. A Watt is equal to 1/746 horsepower. |
| Watt hour (Wh) | The electrical energy unit of measure equal to one watt of power supplied to, or taken from, an electric circuit steadily for one hour. |
| Watt meter | A device for measuring power consumption. |
| WCI | Wholesale Class Information (hourly for zone for profile and loss group). |
| Weighed Pool Price | An adjusted monthly average pool price based on the site's profile. It is calculated by the Total Gross Energy divided by the Total Energy (MWh). |
| Wheeling | The transmission of electric energy generated by one party to another using the transmission system of a third party. The wheeler does not own, generate or purchase the electricity being transported. |
| Wholesale Competition | A system whereby a distributor of power would have the option to buy its power from a variety of power producers, and the power producers would be able to compete to sell their power to a variety of distribution companies. |
| Wholesale Electric Power Market | The purchase and sale of electricity from generators to resellers (retailers), along with the ancillary services needed to maintain reliability and power quality at the transmission level. |
| Wholesale Settlement Details (WSD) | This transaction provides daily site-specific initial daily, initial monthly, interim and final settlement results to Retailers for energized sites enrolled to them. The site characteristics in this transaction are those characteristics in effect at the end of the settlement day. |
| Wholesale Settlement Information (WSI) | The wholesale settlement process flow is responsible for providing the settled load to the retailers, the Pool and the TA. The settled load is provided to retailers on a daily basis to let retailers know the usage of their customers. This will allow retailers to understand their current financial obligations and plan power purchases. The settled load is provided to the Pool daily (aggregated by the retailer) to inform the Pool of retailer commitments. The Pool uses this information to prepare an invoice for each retailer (i.e. consumption (in hourly intervals) multiplied by the hourly Pool price). The timing of such invoices is negotiated between the Pool and the retailer. To apply the distribution tariff for each site, the WSP requires the settled load, other load data and site information. The results are aggregated for each retailer operating within the settlement zone. The WSP uses this information to prepare an invoice for each retailer. The TA receives validated POD (point of delivery) data from the WSP (MDM) on a daily basis. Each day must be provided to the TA by noon of the following day. Changes can be provided to the TA for any day within one month up to the 9th business day of the following month. At that time, the previous month is considered closed. The reconciliation and final settlement processes will incorporate these changes. In some cases, the retailer is directly connected to the POD and must follow the same rules as the WSP (i.e. send POD data and receive invoice for payment). The TA performs a validation of the POD data prior to sending it to Settlement and the Pool (it is expected that the TA will provide POD data on the settled day +2). In addition to POD data, the TA sends POS (Point of supply), and POI (point of interconnection) data to the Pool. The Pool uses this data to calculate losses. Losses are calculated and an invoice is prepared and sent to the TA for payment. |
| Wind Energy | Kinetic energy present in wind motion that can be converted to mechanical energy for driving pumps, mills, and electric power generators. |
| Wind Farms | A group of wind turbines interconnected to a common utility system through a system of transformers, distribution lines, and (usually) one substation. Operation, control, and maintenance functions are often centralized through a network of computerized monitoring systems, supplemented by visual inspection. |
| Wind Turbine | Wind energy conversion device that produces electricity; typically three blades rotating about a horizontal axis and positioned up-wind of the supporting tower. |
| Wires Charge | A broad term referring to fees levied on power suppliers or their customers for the use of the transmission or distribution wires. |
| Wires Service Provider ID | A 4-digit number that uniquely represents each Wires Service Provider operating within Alberta. WSP IDs are prefixed with a "0". |
| WO | Wires Owner. The owner of an electric distribution system. |
| WSD | Wholesale Settlement Details. |
| WSP | Wires Service Provider. An entity that operates an electric distribution system. In most cases the Wires Owner and the Wires Service Provider are the same entity. However, some Wires Owners, particularly some REAs, have contracted with another Wires Owner to serve as Wires Service Provider for their Customers. |
| WSP Consumption | During a settlement run reconciliation process, unaccounted for consumption can occur. In order to allocate this unaccounted for consumption fairly, we compare what is calculated for a site for a date, versus what the LSA has calculated for that site for that day. |
| WSS | Wholesale Settlement Summary |
Glossary