Yes, you're absolutely right. How does "potential energy" work for everyone? Couldn't stored, unspent energy be considered raw energy?
I'm not convinced about this. I can imagine looking at a still of a tsunami and thinking 'Wow, look at the sheer raw energy imagine the force of all the potential energy stored in that towering wall of water unleashed', but I can't really imagine feeling the same way looking at a room full of batteries no matter how much chemical potential energy they represented.
I think one big problem is that 'raw energy' is not really a technical term but a colloquial one used to describe particularly dramatic or vigorous displays of energy. people talk about raw energy in sports or in musical performances, it isn't really a scientific term.
I would think that scientifically the closest one would get to 'raw energy' would be the energy held by nuclear binding forces, which directly ties into PY's suggestion of matter as 'raw energy'.
TTFN,
WK