negawatt
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English
Etymology
Coined by Amory Lovins, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Institute as a contraction of negative watt on the model of similar compounds like megawatt, by surface analysis, nega- + watt. Lovins credited the term to a typo in a document by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in which the word "megawatt" was misspelled.
Pronunciation
Noun
negawatt (plural negawatts)
- A unit of saved energy.
- 2000 December 24, Barbara Whitaker, “A Lightning Rod in California”, in The New York Times:
- And he has suggested ways to help consumers buy the so-called time-of-use-meters […] so they can benefit from using energy at off-peak times and through "negawatts," or credits for not using power.
- 2008 July 7, Amory B. Lovins, “The Case For Efficiency”, in Forbes:
- Three-fourths of U.S. electricity--69% of which is used in buildings, nearly all the rest in industry--can be saved for less than the price of just running a coal or nuclear plant. This "negawatt" potential is not just in smarter motors, lights, appliances, etc., but even more in their larger systems.
Translations
"negative watt"
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