National Grid is an international electricity and gas company primarily based in the UK and northeastern US. We play a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to millions of people in a safe, efficient and reliable manner.
Transmission
is the bulk movement of energy from its source to areas of demand
In the UK, we take electricity from generation plants, which
tend to be in remote or industrialised areas, and transport
it through our transmission networks, all over the country to
areas of demand, where we hand responsibility over to the
distributors. In Scotland, we operate but do not own the
networks. We are responsible for ensuring that generation
input always exactly matches demand output at the correct
voltage and frequency. We are required to be able to meet
the highest predicted demand in the coldest winter in a
20 year cycle.
Transmission
is the bulk movement of energy from its source to areas of demand
Distribution
is the delivery of energy to end consumers within a geographic area
We take gas from the terminals and transport it nationwide, through our transmission system, to areas of demand, where we hand over responsibility to distributors. We are also the largest distributor in the UK, and we take gas, which is at high pressure for efficiency, and deliver it on behalf of suppliers to consumers, dropping the pressure on the way to make it safe for use. We are responsible for ensuring we are able to meet the varying demand each day, using storage mechanisms to compensate for a flat rate of input and constantly changing output. We run the UK national emergency call centre and respond to all reported gas escapes within our service area.
Generation
is the production of electricity
Distribution
is the delivery of energy to end consumers within a geographic area
Transmission
is the bulk movement of energy from its source to areas of demand
In the US, our electricity transmission systems also transport
electricity from generators to areas of demand. We own
distribution networks which take electricity from the transmission
systems, and deliver it to consumers. The electricity from the
transmission systems is at high voltage and this needs to be
reduced, through a series of substations, to make it safe for
use. We not only deliver on behalf of suppliers, but also supply
to our own customers. On Long Island we operate and
maintain the electricity networks on behalf of the Long Island
Power Authority. We also own generation plants capable of
generating 4.1 GW on Long Island.
Distribution
is the delivery of energy to end consumers within a geographic area
Our gas distribution systems take gas from the inter-state gas transmission systems and import terminals and deliver it to consumers. To move it efficiently, the gas from the transmission systems is at high pressure, and this needs to be reduced, through a series of pressure reduction stations and governors, to make it safe to use. We deliver the gas on behalf of suppliers, and also supply to our own customers. We run the emergency call centres and respond to all reported gas escapes within our service areas.
The majority of our businesses operate in areas where we are the sole provider and hence are subject to regulatory requirements. Our other UK businesses, with the exception of National Grid Metering, operate in a non-regulated market place, and are therefore only indirectly affected by regulatory regimes. They operate in markets related to, or supporting, our principal businesses, such as metering services, LNG importation, and property management.
In the US our non-regulated activities include LNG storage, LNG road transport, unregulated transmission pipelines, West Virginia gas fields and home energy services.