T

TA'96 – Telecommunications Act of 1996: This act gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to set ground rules and policies for local competition. It gives states the responsibility for implementing many of the statutory and federal regulatory requirements stipulated in the Act, either jointly with the FCC or on their own.

Tariff: A document filed by a utility with the PUC that specifies lawful rates, charges, rules, and conditions under which it will provide services to the public.

TCF: Trillion Cubic Feet.

TD – Telecommunications Division: A division at the PUC that assists the PUC in developing and implementing policies and procedures to facilitate competition in all telecommunications markets, and to address regulatory changes required by state and federal legislation.

Telecommunications: Transmitting or receiving information by way of electron-magnetic signals (e.g., telephone, telegraph).

Telephone: A device that converts acoustical (sound) energy into electrical energy for transmission to a distant point.

Teletext: Textual and graphic information broadcast in the vertical blanking interval between conventional video frames in television signals. It requires a special adapter.

Telco: A telephone company.

Terminal: A point at which information can enter or leave a communications network.

Testimony: A declaration, oral or written, given under oath at a public hearing and subject to cross-examination.

Therm: A unit of heat equal to 100,000 British thermal units (Btu). The heat content of natural gas is usually measured in therms rather than cubic feet because gas from different sources may have different heating values.

THM – Trihalomethanes: Any of various derivatives CHX3 of methane that have three halogen atoms per molecule and are formed during the chlorination of drinking water.

3G - Third Generation: Intended to be the next great wireless technology, wideband mobile services and applications offering users faster access to the Web.

Time-sharing: Simultaneous use of a computer by two or more users.

TMIS – Transportation Management Information System: A database application for the Transportation Division that runs on the UNISYS computer. TMIS tracks fees paid, operating authorities, license, and other information about vehicles regulated by the Commission.

TNs: Telephone numbers.

Toll Call: Any call to a point outside the local service area.

TOU – Time of Use: A rate for electrical energy that varies with time, generally tracking the cost of generation at the time.

Transformer: An electrical device for changing the voltage of alternating current.

Transmission: The movement or transfer of electric energy over an interconnected group of lines and associated equipment between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery to consumers, or is delivered to other electric systems. Transmission is considered to end when the energy is transformed for distribution to the consumer.

Transmission System (Electric): An interconnected group of electric transmission lines and associated equipment for moving or transferring electric energy in bulk between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery over the distribution system lines to consumers, or is delivered to other electric systems.

Transportation: In the natural gas industry, the movement of natural gas via pipelines, including transmission from the wellhead to the customer.

TRS - Telecommunications Relay Service: A national and international program that provides functional equivalency of access to public switched telecommunications network services by persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech disabled. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sets minimum required standards for TRS operations, and requires and certifies that each state meet these legal standards. The FCC mandated rules for TRS in response to Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( ADA ) and its impact on Title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 64. Each state is independently responsible for acquiring and administering its own TRS.

TT – Text Telephone: A machine that uses graphic communication in the transmission of coded signals through a wire or radio communication system. TT supersedes the term "TDD" or "telecommunications device for the deaf."

TTA – Trust Transfer Amount: A portion of a customer's electric bill that is used to pay off the investor-owned utilities' rate reduction bonds' principal and interest. The Trust Transfer Amount decreases over time as the bonds are gradually paid off, and will end within 10 years (around 2008).

TTYs – TeleTypewriters: Machines used to transmit and/or receive communications on printed page and/or tape.

Turbidity: Relative opaqueness or cloudiness of water due to suspended or dissolved particles that block light penetration.

Turbine: A machine for generating rotary mechanical power from the energy of a stream of fluid (such as water, steam, or hot gas). Turbines convert the kinetic energy of fluids to mechanical energy through the principles of impulse and reaction, or a mixture of the two.

TURN – The Utility Reform Network: A nonprofit, consumer advocacy organization based in San Francisco that deals with electricity, natural gas and telecommunications issues.

Turnaround Time: The time it takes from beginning to end of a project.

TVRO – Television Receive-Only: Earth station equipment that receives video signals from satellite. No Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license required.

TWX – Teletypewriter Exchange Service: A dial-up worldwide telegraph service used in the US and Canada allowing subscribers to send printed messages to one another.

TY: Test Year.