39 Miss. Code. R. 1-29- 101
Load management programs and/or practices that have the intended goal of reducing or shifting load from hours with high energy costs and/or reliability problems. Demand Response programs may include but are not limited to direct load control (such as air conditioners and water heaters), or incentive rates designed to induce lower energy use at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized.
A DER is a resource sited close to customers that can provide all or some of their immediate electric power needs and can also be used by the system to either reduce demand (such as energy efficiency) or provide supply to satisfy energy, capacity, or ancillary service needs of the distribution grid. The resources, if providing electricity or thermal energy, are small in scale, connected to the distribution system, and close to load. Examples of different types of DER include solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, combined heat and power (CHP), energy storage, demand response (DR), electric vehicles, microgrids, and energy efficiency (EE). For purposes of this Rule, DER also includes utility-owned or controlled equipment (i.e. physical assets) used to generate, adjust, store, or sometimes deliver energy performed by a variety of devices at the distribution system-level.
Reducing the rate at which energy is used by equipment and/or processes while maintaining or improving the customer's existing level of comfort and end-use functionality. Such reductions may be achieved by substituting more advanced technology or by reorganizing the process to reduce waste, reduce waste cooling, or improve the thermal properties of a building. Energy efficiency also includes the reduction of energy through behavior-based programs that may reduce peak load but have little to no associated energy savings, typically known as demand response.
A type of utility planning process that develops long-range resource plans by seeking to identify an optimal combination of resources (including traditional supply sources, emerging supply sources such as distributed energy resources, demand-side resources, energy efficiency, conservation, and possibly other options) to meet forecasted load requirements at the lowest reasonable total cost, subject to various objectives and constraints, including but not limited to reliability, planning, regulatory, environmental and operational requirements. The resource planning process should also define and assess various costs, benefits, and potential risks as they appear and are known in the market.
The period for which resources must be planned to meet customer electric load requirements. The default planning period/horizon for the Integrated Resource Plan, described infra, is twenty (20) years.
A transaction to purchase capacity and/or energy from another electric power supplier.
Any interested party eligible to appear and/or intervene in Commission proceedings pursuant to Rule 6-121 of the Commission's Public Utility Rules of Practice and Procedure.
An electric generating unit, either owned or operated by the utility, or a capacity purchase. Capacity upgrades and retirements of existing supply-side resources are issues typically considered in a utility's IRP.
Any investor-owned utility furnishing electricity service within the State of Mississippi and subject to rate regulation by the Commission.
Any investor-owned utility furnishing natural gas service to at least ten thousand (10,000) customers within the State of Mississippi and subject to rate regulation by the Commission.
39 Miss. Code. R. 1-29- 101