PUBLIC POWER COUNCIL (PPC) -- Formed in 1966, PPC represents and advocates the common legal and technical interests of the Northwest's consumer-owned utilities. PPC interacts with BPA, the Northwest Power Planning Council and other regional and national groups on subjects including BPA rate proceedings and power marketing policies, public preference issues, power supply planning, conservation, legislative concerns, and related issues. Offices are located in Portland.

PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT OF 1978 (PURPA) -- Federal law that requires utilities to purchase electricity from qualified independent power producers at a price that reflects what the utilities would have to pay for the construction of new generating resources (see avoided cost). Portions of the act were designed to encourage the development of small-scale cogeneration and renewable resources.

PUMPED STORAGE PLANT -- A hydroelectric power plant which generates electric energy to meet peak load by using water pumped into a storage reservoir during off-peak periods.

PREFERENCE -- Priority granted by the Federal Power Act that grants public bodies and cooperatives priority access to federal power.

PUBLICLY OWNED UTILITY -- A utility that is owned by the public, rather than by stockholders. Snohomish County PUD, Seattle City Light and Tacoma City Light are all publicly owned utilities.

REDDS -- Spawning nests made in the gravel beds of rivers by salmon and steelhead.

REFILL -- The annual process of filling a reservoir; also refers to the point at which the hydro system is considered full from the seasonal snowmelt runoff.

RELIABILITY -- For a power system, a measure of the degree of certainty that the system will continue to meet load for a specified period of time.

RENEWABLE RESOURCE -- A power source that is continuously or cyclically renewed by nature. In the Northwest Power Act, a resource that uses solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass or similar sources of energy.

RESERVE CAPACITY -- Generating capacity used to meet unanticipated demands for power or to generate power in the event normal generating resources are not available.

RESERVOIR ELEVATIONS -- The levels of the water stored behind dams.

RESERVOIR STORAGE -- The volume of water in a reservoir at a given time.

RESIDENT FISH -- Fish species that reside in freshwater throughout their lives.

RIVER MILES -- Miles from the mouth of a river; for upstream tributaries, from the confluence with the main river.

RULE CURVES -- Water levels, represented graphically as curves, that guide reservoir operations.

RUN -- A general term referring to upriver migration of anadromous fish over a particular time and area - often composed of multiple individual breeding stocks.

RUN-OF-THE-RIVER DAMS -- Hydroelectric generating plants that operate based only on available streamflow and short-term storage (hourly, daily, or weekly).

SHAPING -- The scheduling and operation of generating resources to meet changing load levels. Load shaping on a hydro system usually involves the adjustment of reservoir releases so that generation and load are continuously in balance.

(A-B)  (B-C)  (C-E)  (E-G)  (G-M)  (M-O)  (O-P)   (P-S)  (S-W)