National Grid 2016 Annual Report Download - page 205

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.
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 47 and 48).
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.
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.
Connect21
The Company’s US strategy to build and operate a better energy
distribution network for the 21st century digital economy, helping
to move to a decarbonised future.
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.
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.
demand side response (DSR)
Arrangements between the Company and certain customers,
through which those customers agree to increase or reduce demand
in response to a signal where the Company requires it.
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 pages 47 and 48
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.
Additional Information
203National Grid Annual Report and Accounts 2015/16
Definitions and glossary of terms
Definitions and glossary of terms