Glossary

Allowance for Funds Used During Construction (AFUDC)

A noncash item representing the estimated composite interest costs of debt and return on equity funds used to finance construction. The allowance is capitalized in the property accounts and included in income.

Assets

Items of value owned by or owed to a business.

Automated Meter Reading (AMR)

An electronic system that uses computers and small radio transmitters to collect energy use data from natural gas and electric meters.

American Transmission Company LLC (ATC)

An energy-access company that owns, maintains, monitors and operates the electric transmission system in portions of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. See www.atcllc.com.

Earnings per share

Net income divided by the average number of shares of common stock outstanding.

EEI Index

This index measures the stock performance of MGE Energy and 68 other U.S. investor-owned electric utilities. See www.eei.org.

Generating capacity

The amount of energy that can be produced using all of MGE Energy’s power plants.

ISO 14001

International standards on good environmental practice adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a worldwide federation of national standards bodies. See www.iso.ch.

Payout ratio

The percentage of earnings paid to shareholders in the form of dividends.

Russell 2000

This index measures the stock performance of 2,000 small companies. As of January 2003, the index’s average market capitalization was approximately $490 million. See www.russell.com.

Total shareholder return

Return on investment combining stock price appreciation and dividends.

Wisconsin Peer Group

This index measures the stock performance of Alliant Energy, Wisconsin Energy Corp. and WPS Resources. MGE Energy and these companies are the major investor-owned utilities headquartered in Wisconsin.