National Grid 2015 Annual Report Download - page 194

Additional Information
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 definitions.
Definitions and glossary of terms
DECC
The Department of Energy & Climate Change, the UK Government
ministry responsible for energy and climate change.
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 secondary legislation which
cameinto force in August 2014, National Grid’s electricity system
operator function became the EMR Delivery Body. In this role
National Grid provides 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. National Grid also administers the capacity mechanism,
including running the annual capacity auctions, manages the
allocation of contracts for difference to low carbon generators
andreports 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.
Deposit Agreement
Deposit Agreement means the agreement entered into between
National Grid Transco plc (now National Grid plc), the Depositary
and the registered holders of ADRs, pursuant to which ADSs
havebeen issued, dated as of 21 November 1995 and amended
and restated as of 1 August 2005, and any related agreement.
Depositary
Depositary means the Bank of New York Mellon acting as
depositary.
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.
E
earnings per share (EPS)
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders of the parent
allocated to each ordinary share.
Electricity Market Reform (EMR)
An energy policy initiative, introduced by the Energy Act 2013,
designed to provide greater financial certainty to investors in
bothlow carbon and conventional generation in order to meet
environmental targets and maintain security of supply, and to
dosoat the lowest cost to consumers.
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 178 and 179).
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 financial 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.
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.
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