November 2012 ® National Grid provides metering services to gas suppliers including the provision and maintenance of domestic and nondomestic gas meters through its subsidiary, National Grid Metering ® We own approximately 15 million gas meters throughout Great Britain ® The prices National Grid can charge for certain metering services are capped by Ofgem, with price caps adjusted each year with inflation ® Regulated meter asset population gradually declining due to competition Metering Investor Relations | National Grid Metering National Grid is the largest owner of domestic gas meters in the UK optimising our portfolio and operations to maximise the cash generation potential of our asset base. Our metering asset base includes: ® Over 13m domestic credit meters ® 1.4m domestic prepayment meters ® 0.4m non domestic meters Our activities Our activities broadly cover the following areas: ® Asset procurement and logistics management ® Meter installation and maintenance Regulated metering charges ® Exchange and removal ® Customer service provision We provide metering services to all GB gas suppliers. These include meter provision and maintenance, and ad hoc services including engineer hire and meter removals. Under our licence, we have an obligation to offer certain metering services to all gas suppliers. The prices for some of these services are capped by Ofgem. Charges for other services are uncapped, but regulated through a nondiscrimination clause in our licence. Maximum prices for certain National Grid Metering services were set in March 2002 and increased each year with RPI inflation. Prices are set at 1 April each year based on the previous year’s prices and average year on year inflation from the previous June to November: £ per annum or per job Provide, install and maintain domestic credit meter Provide, install and maintain prepayment meter Domestic credit to prepayment meter exchange Daily meter (DM) reading 2012/13 16.07p.a. 37.49p.a. £65.73 £485.77 Metering Contracts We currently offer two types of domestic metering contracts: New and replacement metering service agreement (N&R MSA) contracts Covering meters that have been installed since 2004 in properties supplied by a supplier who is party to a New & Replacement metering contracts. Regulated contracts Covering 12 million meters installed before 2004 plus any installed since 2004 which are not governed by N&R MSA Number of domestic meters Rental charged at tariff cap rates Early termination charges on removal National Grid Metering conducted a price consultation in Autum 2012 and will make proposals to Ofgem in December 2012 for revised tariff caps. More information on our metering charges can be found at: http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Metering/Publications/Metering+Charges/ N&R MSA contract Regulated contract 3 million Lower rates apply Yes 12 million Yes No Throughout 2012 National Grid has continued to engage gas suppliers in commercial discussions on a new alternative Legacy MSA contract offering a discounted rental. Ofgem confirmed that this revised form of contract with early termination charges complies with competition law. Metering Performance in 2011/12 Key financials £m 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Total revenues 328 310 320 Operating profit (excluding exceptional items) 148 136 162 Depreciation 102 105 94 Capital expenditure 65 54 48 Closing number of domestic meters (millions) 16 15 15 Metering operating profit in 2011/12 benefited from the switch to higher priced regulatory contracts for the majority of our meters. The rate of decline of the meter population decreased, supporting increased cash flow generation. Capital investment principally related to customer requested exchanges, and the replacement of faulty or inaccurate meters. Smart metering The Department for Energy and Climate Change has mandated that suppliers should provide smart meters to all domestic gas and electricity customers by end 2019 ® National Grid’s domestic gas meters are not suitable for conversion to DECC’s proposed smart functionality ® We have no smart meter offering for domestic customers at the current time ® We have no licence obligation to provide smart meters As a result our domestic meter population would be expected to reduce as these traditional meters are replaced with smart meters New & Replacement MSA meters replaced early as part of smart roll out would be subject to an early termination charge to suppliers. The price control review takes into account the anticipated early replacement of domestic meters and recognises the accelerated depreciation. National Grid owned a separate, competitive gas and electricity metering business, Onstream. This business included a smart meter solution. Onstream was sold in 2011. Our aim is to deliver a high quality, value for money service to our customers Further information John Dawson Director of Investor Relations T +44 (0)20 7004 3170 M +44 (0)7810 831944 [email protected] Andy Mead Senior Investor Relations Officer T +44 (0)20 7004 3166 M +44 (0)7752 890787 [email protected] Iwan Hughes Investor Relations Officer, UK T +44 (0)20 7004 3169 M +44 (0)7900 405898 [email protected] George Laskaris US Investor Relations Director T +1 718 403 2526 M +1 917 375 0989 [email protected] Victoria Davies Investor Relations Officer, UK T +44 (0)20 7004 3171 M +44 (0)7771 973447 [email protected] Tom Hull Investor Relations Analyst T +44 (0)20 7004 3172 M +44 (0)7890 534833 [email protected] National Grid plc 1 –3 Strand London WC2N 5EH United Kingdom www.nationalgrid.com