Any party that purchases energy. A customer in the energy industry usually refers to an actual consumer of energy, but the term is often used to refer to a broker, co-op, utility or other purchaser who purchases energy for resale or on behalf of other customers. In cases where the context may be confusing, end-use customer or consumer can be used to refer to the party that actually uses the energy.

A third less common meaning, no longer in common use, applies the term to any individual, site or entity with a meter. In other words, one meter equals one customer. For example, an industrial site with multiple meters would be considered several customers, not just one. Today it is more common to equate one bill with one customer, regardless of the number of meters used to calculate the bill.

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