Glossary of Terms - N

• Nacelle - The cover for the gear box, drive train, generator, and other components of a wind turbine.
• Naked - A long or short market position taken without having an offsetting short or long position. A trader who executes one side of a spread is said to be naked until he executes the other side.
• Name Plate - A metal tag attached to a machine or appliance that contains information such as brand name, serial number, voltage, power ratings under specified conditions, and other manufacturer supplied data.
• Naphtha - A volatile, colorless product of petroleum distillation. Used primarily as a paint solvent, cleaning fluid, and blendstock in gasoline production.
• Naphthenes - One of the three basic hydrocarbon classifications found naturally in crude oil. Naphthenes are widely used as petrochemical feedstocks.
• National Futures Association - Futures industry trade association which promulgates rules of conduct and mediates disputes between customers and brokers.
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) - This is a national organization dedicated to representing the interests of cooperative electric utilities and the consumers they serve. Members come from the 46 states that have an electric distribution cooperative.
• Native Load Customers - The wholesale and retail customers on whose behalf the Transmission Provider, by statute, franchise, regulatory requirements, or contract, has undertaken an obligation to construct and operate the Transmission ProviderÌs system to meet the reliable electric needs of such customers.
• Natural Cooling - Space cooling achieved by shading, natural (unassisted, as opposed to forced) ventilation, conduction control, radiation, and evaporation; also called passive cooling.
• Natural Gas - A hydrocarbon gas obtained from underground sources, often in association with petroleum and coal deposits. It generally contains a high percentage of methane, varying amounts of ethane, and inert gases; used as a heating fuel.
• Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) - A general term for all liquid products separated from natural gas in a gas processing plant. NGLs include propane, butane, ethane, and natural gasoline.
• Natural Gas Steam Reforming Production - A two step process where in the first step natural gas is exposed to a high-temperature steam to produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. The second step is to convert the carbon monoxide with steam to produce additional hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
• Natural Ventilation - Ventilation that is created by the differences in the distribution of air pressures around a building. Air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure with gravity and wind pressure affecting the airflow. The placement and control of doors and windows alters natural ventilation patterns.
• Net (Lower) Heating Value (NHV) - The potential energy available in a fuel as received, taking into account the energy loss in evaporating and superheating the water in the fuel. Equal to the higher heating value minus 1050W where W is the weight of the water formed from the hydrogen in the fuel, and 1050 is the latent heat of vaporization of water, in Btu, at 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Net Capability - The maximum load carrying ability of the equipment, exclusive of station use, under specified conditions for a given time interval, independent of the characteristics of the load. (Capability is determined by design characteristics, physical conditions, adequacy of prime mover, energy supply, and operating limitations as cooling and circulating water supply and temperature, headwater and tailwater elevations, and electrical use.)
• Net Energy Production (or Balance) - The amount of useful energy produced by a system less the amount of energy required to produce the fuel.
• Net Generation - Equal to gross generation less electricity consumption of a power plant.Gross generation minus the energy consumed at the generating station for its use. The energy required for pumping at a pumped storage plant is regarded as plant use and must be deducted from the gross generation.
• Net Metering - The practice of using a single meter to measure consumption and generation of electricity by a small generation facility (such as a house with a wind or solar photovoltaic system). The net energy produced or consumed is purchased from or sold to the generator, respectively, at the same price.
• Net Position - The difference between an individual or firm's open long contracts and open short contracts in any one commodity.
• Net Present Value - The value of a personal portfolio, product, or investment after depreciation and interest on debt capital are subtracted from operating income. It can also be thought of as the equivalent worth of all cash flows relative to a base point called the present.
• Net Summer Capability - The steady hourly output, which generating equipment is expected to supply to system load exclusive of auxiliary power, as demonstrated by tests at the time of summer peak load.
• Net Winter Capability - The steady hourly output which generating equipment is expected to supply to system load exclusive of auxiliary power, as demonstrated by tests at the time of winter peak load.
• Netback - Industry term referring to the net free on board cost of product offered on a delivered or cost, insurance, and freight basis. It is derived by subtracting all costs of shipment from the landed price.
• Network - A system of transmission and distribution lines cross-connected and operated to permit multiple power supply to any principal point on it. A network is usually installed in urban areas. It makes it possible to restore power quickly to customers by switching them to another circuit.
• Network Customers - Customers receiving service under the terms of the Transmission Provider's Network Integration Tariff.
• Network Integration Transmission Service - Network Integration Transmission Service allows a Transmission Customer to integrate, plan, economically dispatch, and regulate its Network Resources to serve its Network Load in a manner comparable to that in which the Transmission Provider utilizes its Transmission System to serve its Native Load customers. Network Integration Transmission Service also may be used by the Transmission Customer to deliver non-firm energy purchases to its Network Load without additional charge.
• Network Load - The designated load of a Transmission Customer, including the entire load of all Member Systems designated pursuant to Section 6.0. A Transmission CustomerÌs Network Load shall not be reduced to reflect any portion of such load served by the output of any generating facilities owned, or generation purchased, by the Transmission Customer or its Member Systems.
• Neutral Spread - Another name for a delta neutral spread. Spreads may also be lot neutral, where the total number of long contracts and the total number of short contracts of the same type are approximately equal.
• New Construction - Energy efficiency program promotion to encourage the building of new homes, buildings, and plants to exceed standard government-mandated energy efficiency codes; it may include major renovations of existing facilities.
• New England Power Exchange (NEPEX) - This is the operating arm of the New England Power Pool.
• New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) - A regional consortium of 98 utilities who coordinate, monitor and direct the operations of major generation and transmission facilities in New England.
• Nitrogen Dioxide - This compound of nitrogen and oxygen is formed by the oxidation of nitric oxide (NO) which is produced by the combustion of solid fuels.
• Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) - The products of all combustion processes formed by the combination of nitrogen and oxygen.
• Nominal Capacity - The approximate energy producing capacity of a power plant, under specified conditions, usually during periods of highest load.
• Nominal Price - The declared price for a futures month sometimes used in place of a closing price when no recent trading has taken place in that particular delivery month; usually an average of the bid and asked prices.
• Nominal Price - The price paid for goods or services at the time of a transaction; a price that has not been adjusted to account for inflation.
• Non-associated Gas - Natural gas in a reservoir which contains no crude oil.
• Non-basic Service - Any category of service not related to basic services (generation, transmission, distribution and transition charges).
• Non-bypassable Wires Charge - A charge generally placed on distribution services to recover utility costs incurred as a result of restructuring (stranded costs - usually associated with generation facilities and services) and not recoverable in other ways.
• Noncoincidental Peak Load - The sum of two or more peak loads on individual systems that do not occur in the same time interval. Meaningful only when considering loads within a limited period of time, such as a day, week, month, a heating or cooling season, and usually for not more than one year.
• Non-Firm Energy - The quality sale of transmission service offered to customers that anticipates possible interruption of deliveries.
• Non-Firm Power - Power or power producing capacity supplied or available under a commitment having limited or no assured availability.
• Non-Firm Transmission Service - Point-to-point transmission service that is reserved and/or scheduled on an as-available basis and is subject to interruption. Non-firm Transmission Service is available on a stand-alone basis as either Hourly Non-firm Transmission Service or Short-Term Non-firm Transmission Service.
• Non-jurisdictional - utilities, ratepayers and regulators (and impacts on those parties) other than state-regulated utilities, regulators and ratepayers in a jurisdiction considering restructuring. Examples include utilities in adjacent state and non-state regulated, publicly owned utilities within restructuring states.
• Nonrenewable Fuels - Fuels that cannot be easily made or "renewed," such as oil, natural gas, and coal.
• Non-Utility Generator/Power Producer - A class of power generator that is not a regulated utility and that has generating plants for the purpose of supplying electric power required in the conduct of their industrial and commercial operations.Independent power producers, exempt wholesale generators and other companies in the power generation business that have been exempted from traditional utility regulation.
• Nonutility Power Producer - A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality that owns electric generating capacity and is not an electric utility. Nonutility power producers include qualifying cogenerators, qualifying small power producers, and other nonutility generators (including independent power producers) without a designated franchised service area, and which do not file forms listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 141.
• North America Electric Reliability Council (NERC) - A group formed in 1968 by the electric utility industry to promote the reliability and adequacy of bulk power supply in the electric utility systems of North America. NERC consists of 10 regional reliability councils and encompasses essentially all the power regions of the contiguous United States, Canada, and Mexico. The NERC regions are: Alaskan System Coordination Council, ASCC; East Central Reliability Coordination Agreement, ECAR; Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCO; Mid-America Interpool Network, MAIN; Mid-Atlantic Area Council, MAAC; Mid-Continent Area Power Pool, MAPP; Northeast Power Coordinating Council, NPCC; Southeastern Electric Reliability Council, SERC; Southwest Power Pool, SPP; Western System Coordinating Council, WSCC.
• North/South - Technology factors are provided for North and South because some equipment and technologies are temperature sensitive. A North designation generally represents a utility that experiences cold winters and has average annual heating degree days of at least 5,000 (based on a 65 degree base). A South designation has relatively mild winters but a significant saturation of air conditioning. This geographical designation is very general, but it is intended to separate out areas that are warmer than others.
• Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) - One of the ten regional reliability councils that make up the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC).
• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - A designation used by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for some of its dockets.
• Notional Settlement - A reference price based on trading activity during a certain range close to the end of the day that is used to calculate the maximum daily price fluctuation for trading on the NYMEX ACCESSÐ after-hours electronic trading system when the regular settlement price has not been established in time for the start of the NYMEX ACCESSÐ session. The system is then updated with final settlement prices later in the session.
• N-Type Semiconductor - A semiconductor produced by doping an intrinsic semiconductor with an electron-donor impurity (e.g., phosphorous in silicon).
• Nuclear Energy - Energy that comes from splitting atoms of radioactive materials, such as uranium, and which produces radioactive wastes.
• Nuclear Fuel - Fissionable materials that have been enriched to such a composition that, when placed in a nuclear reactor, will support a self-sustaining fission chain reaction, producing heat in a controlled manner for process use.
• Nuclear Power Plant - A facility in which heat produced in a reactor by the fissioning of nuclear fuel is used to drive a steam turbine.
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission - This is the federal agency responsible for the licensing of nuclear facilities. They oversee these facilities and make sure regulations and standards are followed.