National Grid 2014 Annual Report Download - page 190

Definitions and
glossary of terms
D
Dth
Decatherm, being an amount of energy equal to 1 million British
thermal units (BTUs), equivalent to approximately 293 kWh.
DB
Defined benefit, relating to our UK or US (as the context requires)
final salary pension schemes.
DC
Defined contribution, relating to our UK or US (as the context
requires) pension schemes to which National Grid, as an employer,
pays contributions based on a percentage of employees’ salaries.
DECC
The Department of Energy & Climate Change, the UK Government
ministry responsible for energy and climate change.
decoupling
See revenue decoupling.
deferred tax
For most assets and liabilities, deferred tax is the amount of tax
that will be payable or receivable in respect of that asset or liability
in future tax returns as a result of a difference between the
carrying value for accounting purposes in the statement of
financial position or balance sheet and the value for tax purposes
of the same asset or liability.
delivery body
Under the Energy Act 2013, and subject to secondary legislation
due to be in force in summer 2014 (which will set out detailed roles
and responsibilities for all market participants), National Grid’s
electricity system operator function will provide independent
evidence and analysis to the UK Government to inform its decisions
on the key rules and parameters to achieve the Government’s
policy objectives under EMR. As proposed, National Grid will
administer the capacity mechanism, including running the annual
capacity auctions, manage the allocation of contracts for
difference to low carbon generators and report to the Government
annually on performance against the Government’s delivery plan.
derivative
A financial instrument or other contract where the value is linked
toan underlying index, such as exchange rates, interest rates
orcommodity prices. In most cases, contracts for the sale or
purchase of commodities that are used to supply customers
orforour own needs are excluded from this definition.
Directors/Executive Directors/Non-executive Directors
The Directors/Executive Directors and Non-executive Directors
ofthe Company whose names are set out on page 43 of
thisdocument.
dollars or $
Except as otherwise noted all references to dollars or $ in this
Annual Report and Accounts relate to the US currency.
Our aim is to use plain English in this Annual Report and Accounts. However, where
necessary, we do use a number of technical terms and/or abbreviations and we
summarise the principal ones below, together with an explanation of their meanings.
The descriptions below are not formal legal denitions.
A
American Depositary Shares (ADSs)
Securities of National Grid listed on the New York Stock Exchange,
each of which represents five ordinary shares. They are evidenced
by American Depositary Receipts or ADRs.
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Meeting of shareholders of the Company held each year to
consider ordinary and special business as provided in the Notice
of AGM.
B
Board
The Board of Directors of the Company (for more information
seepages 43 and 171 to 173).
bps
Basis point (bps) is a unit that is equal to 1/100th of 1% and is
typically used to denote the movement in a percentage based
metric such as interest rates or RoE. A 0.1% change in a
percentage represents 10 basis points.
BritNed
BritNed Development Limited.
C
called up share capital
Shares (common stock) that have been issued and have been fully
paid for.
carrying value
The amount at which an asset or a liability is recorded in the
Group’s statement of financial position and the Company’s
balance sheet.
circuit
See route length.
the Company, the Group, National Grid, we, our or us
We use the terms ‘the Company’, ‘the Group’, ‘National Grid’,
‘we’,‘our’ or ‘us’ to refer to either National Grid plc itself or to
National Grid plc and/or all or certain of its subsidiaries,
dependingon context.
consolidated nancial statements
Financial statements that include the results and financial position
of the Company and its subsidiaries together as if they were a
single entity.
contingent liabilities
Possible obligations or potential liabilities arising from past events
for which no provision has been recorded, but for which disclosure
in the financial statements is made.
188 National Grid Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14