A measurement of a company's financial leverage, calculated as long-term debt divided by long-term capital. Total debt includes all short-term and long-term obligations. Total capital includes all common stock, preferred stock, and long-term debt. This capital structure ratio can provide a more accurate view of a company's long-term leverage and risk, since it considers long-term debt and capital only. By excluding short-term financing in its calculation, the ratio provides an investor with a more accurate look into the capital structure a company will have if they were to own the stock over a long period of time.

Decommissioning as a permitting regulation refers to the process for removing a wind energy conversion system once the project has reached its end. There are a variety of methods used to regulate this area of wind development, from requiring a bond or financial guarantee before a permit is issued to simply requiring a written plan for removing the turbine and associated components.

The process of managing the consumption of energy. DSM programs include, for instance, offering discounts on new, high efficiency appliances so that consumers get rid of their older, less efficient models.

As it pertains to the electricity industry, deregulation is the process of opening up electricity markets to competition between power producers with the notion that competition will help lower electricity rates for consumers.

A small-scale power generation technology that provides electric power at a site closer to customers than the central station generation. The term is commonly used to indicate non-utility sources of electricity, including facilities for self-generation.

The poles, wires, transformers, breakers, fuses, and other associated equipment, used to deliver electric energy from a bulk power supplier to the consumer. Typically, the distribution system is defined as power lines and associated equipment where the operating voltage is less than 69 kilovolts.