off-ramp
n.— «Authors of the initiative recognized the flaw and, during the campaign to pass the measure, agreed to make improvements if it passed. After it passed, Xcel Energy and the initiative backers worked with state legislators to cap financial impacts from the standard to no more than 1 percent above what customers would pay if conventional resources were added to the system instead of renewables—an “off-ramp” as it is called.… Similarly, Minnesota’s renewable energy standard contains “off ramps” in the event that costs for renewable energy become too high, but we believe we can meet the aggressive, 30-percent standard in a financially prudent manner.» —“Wind energy quote out of context” by Steve Roalstad Park Rapids Enterprise (Minnesota) Feb. 6, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...