Energy Acronyms

The place to go when you encounter an abbreviation you can’t decode.

2LoT: 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
AB32: Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
ACEEE: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
AFUE: Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency
AGW: Anthropogenic Global Warming
AC: Alternating Current
ALJ: Administrative Law Judge
ANSI: American National Standards Institute
ARRA: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
ASES: American Solar Energy Society
ASHRAE: American Society of Heating Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineeers
BOC: Building Operator Certification
BPI: Building Performance Institute
C&I: Commercial & Industrial
CAFE: Corporate Average Fuel Economy
CA ISO: California Independent System Operator
CALMAC: California Measurement Advisory Committee
CALSEIA: California Solar Energy Industry Association
CCAR: California Climate Action Registry
CARB: California Air Resources Board
CBPCA: California Building Performance Contractors Association
CCA: Community Choice Aggregation
CDD: Cooling Degree Days
CDF: Coincident Diversity Factor
CEC: California Energy Commission
CEESP: California Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan
CFL: Compact Fluorescent Lamp
CFM: Cubic feet per minute
CH4: Methane
CHEERS: California Home Energy Efficiency Rating Service
CHP: Combined heat & power
CO2: Carbon dioxide
CO2e: Carbon dioxide equivalent
CPP: Critical Peak Pricing
CPUC: California Public Utility Commission
CRI: Color Rendering Index
CSI: California Solar Initiative
DEER: Database of Energy Efficiency Resources
DC: Direct Current
DG: Distributed Generation
DIE: Demand Interactive Effect
DOE: US Department of Energy
DR: Demand Response
DRA: Division of Ratepayer Advocates
DSM: Demand Side Management
ECM: Electronically Commutated Motor
EE: Energy Efficiency
EECBG: Energy Efficiency Block Grant
EIE: Energy Interactive Effect
EEM: Energy Efficient Mortgage
EIA: Energy Information Administration
EMF: Electric and magnetic fields
EM&V: Evaluation, Monitoring & Verification
EPACT: Energy Policy Act of 1992
ESCO: Energy Service Company
EUL: Expected Useful Life
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
GBP: Green Building Program
GHG: Green House Gas
GPU: General Plan Update
GW: Gigawatt
GWh: Gigawatt-hour
HDD: Heating Degree Days
HERS: Home Energy Rating System
HEVA: Humboldt Electric Vehicle Association
HP: Horsepower
HVAC: heating, ventilating & air conditioning
IAQ: Indoor Air Quality
ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability (formerly International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives)
IMC: Incremental Measure Cost
IOU: Investor Owned Utility
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ISO: Independent System Operator; see also CA ISO
ITC: Investment Tax Credit
JPA: Joint Powers Authority
kV: Kilovolt
kW: Kilowatt
kWh: Kilowatt-Hour
LCC: Life Cycle Cost
LC: Levelized Cost
LEED: Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
LGSEC: Local Government Sustainable Energy Coalition
LIHEAP: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
LGP: Local Government Partner
LNG: Liquified Natural Gas
LPW: Lumens Per Watt
LSE: Load Serving Entity:
MCF: Thousand Cubic Feet
MOL: Maximum Overall Length
MMBTU: One Million British Thermal Units
MMS: Minerals Management Service
MPR: Market Price Referent
MW: Megawatt
MWh: Megawatt-hour
NABCEP: North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners
NCPA: Northern California Power Agency
NEM: Net energy metering:
NG: Natural gas
NCEIP: North Coast Energy Independence Project
NOx: Nitrogen oxides
NPV: Net Present Value
NREL: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
NRR-DR: NonResidential Retrofit-Demand Response
NTG: Net-to-Gross Ratio
PAC: Program Administrator Cost Test
PACE: Property Assessed Clean Energy
PGC: Public Goods Charge
PG&E: Pacific Gas &Electric Company
PIER Program: Public Interest Energy Research Program
PPA: Power Purchase Agreement
PTC: Production Tax Credit
PURPA: Federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978
PV: Photovoltaic
QF: Qualifying Facility
Quad: One quadrillion (10 to the 15th) BTUs
RCAA: Redwood Community Action Agency
RCEA: Redwood Coast Energy Authority
RCERC: Redwood Coast Energy Resource Center
RCEW: Redwood Coast Energy Watch
REC: Renewable Energy Certificate
RESCO: Renewable Energy Secure Community
ResDI: Residential Direct Install
RESNET: Residential Energy Services Network
ROI: Return on Investment
RPS: Renewable Portfolio Standard
RTP: Real Time Pricing
Rx: Retrocommissioning
SBDI: Small Business Direct Install
SEER: Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio
SEP: State Energy Program
SERC: Shatz Energy Research Center
SGIP: Self-Generation Incentive Program
SIC: Standard Industrial Classification
SO2: Sulphur Dioxide
SRCC: solar Rating & Certification Corporation
T&D: Transmission & Distribution
TPP: Third-Party Provider
TOU: Time of Use
TRC: Total Resource Cost
UBC: Uniform Building Code
VMT: Vehicle Miles Traveled
WAP: US DOE Weatherization Assistance Program
WAPA: Western Area Power Administration
WEC: Wave Energy Conversion
Wx: Weatherization
ZNE: Zero Net energy
ZEV: Zero-emission vehicle