National Grid is an international electricity and gas company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. We play a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to many millions of people across Great Britain and northeastern US in an safe, reliable and efficient manner.
Transmission
We own the electricity transmission system in England and Wales. We are the national electricity transmission system operator, responsible for managing the operation of both the England and Wales transmission system, which we own, and the two high voltage transmission networks in Scotland, which we do not own. Day-to-day operation of the system involves the continuous real-time matching of demand and generation output, ensuring the stability and security of the power system and the maintenance of satisfactory voltage and frequency. We are also designated as system operator for the new offshore electricity transmission regime. Gas transmission owner
We own the gas national transmission system (NTS) in Great Britain, connecting to eight distribution networks and to third party independent systems for onward transportation of gas to end consumers.
In the US, We own and operate an electricity transmission network spanning upstate New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont. Our US electricity transmission facilities operate at voltages ranging from 69 kV to 345 kV. We are the largest electricity transmission service provider in New England and New York by reference to the length of these high voltage transmission lines.
Gas Distribution
We own and operate four of the eight regional gas distribution networks in Great Britain. Our networks comprise approximately 132,000 km (82,000 miles) of gas distribution pipeline and we transport gas from the gas NTS to around 10.8 million consumers on behalf of 26 active gas shippers. Gas consumption in our UK networks was 304 TWh in 2010/11 compared with 299 TWh in 2009/10.
We manage the national gas emergency number (0800 111 999) for all the gas distribution networks and for other gas transporters in Great Britain. This service, along with the enquiries line, appliance repair helpline and meter number enquiry service, handled 2,816,403 calls during 2010/11.
Our US gas distribution networks provide services to around 3.5 million consumers across the northeastern US, located in service territories in upstate New York, New York City,
Long Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Our network of approximately 58,000 km (36,000 miles) of gas pipeline serves an area of approximately 26,400 square km (10,200 square miles). We are actively seeking to increase our customer base in these areas and in 2010/11 added more than 42,000 new gas heating customers.
Electricity Distribution and Generation
We own and operate electricity distribution networks in upstate New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Through our electricity distribution networks, we serve approximately 3.4 million electricity consumers in New England and upstate New York.
We also maintain and operate the electricity transmission and distribution system on Long Island owned by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), providing energy to homes, small businesses, and large commercial and industrial enterprises. The LIPA service territory covers approximately 3,185 square km (1,230 square miles), encompassing nearly 90% of Long Island’s total land area and its transmission and distribution facilities distribute electricity to 1.1 million consumers.
We own 57 electricity generation units on Long Island that together provide 4.1 GW of power under contract to LIPA. Our plants consist of oil and gas fired steam turbine, gas turbine and diesel driven generating units ranging from 2 MW to 385 MW.
Non-regulated businesses
We own National Grid Metering, OnStream, National Grid Grain LNG and National Grid Property in the UK and several non-regulated businesses in the US including LNG storage and West Virginia gas fields.
BritNed is a joint venture between National Grid and TenneT, the Dutch transmission system operator, to build and operate a 1,000 MW, 260 km (162 mile) subsea electricity link between the UK and the Netherlands. BritNed was fully commissioned and went live on 1 April 2011.
* Facts and statistics correct at 31 March 2011