Elexon, founded in 2000 with the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) introduced in England and Wales in March 2001 and in Scotland in 2005, administers the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) in Great Britain (GB). The requirement to have the BSC in force is placed on the GB TSO, National Grid Electricity System Operator Limited, through its Transmission Licence. Elexon administers the BSC, and provides and procures the services needed to implement it. Elexon’s expertise and impartiality give the customers the confidence that the BSC operates efficiently and accurately.

What Elexon does

Elexon is vital to the operation of the wholesale electricity market as the company compares how much electricity generators and suppliers said they would produce or consume with actual volumes. Elexon works out a price for the difference and transfers funds accordingly. This involves handling £1.5 billion of Elexon’s customers’ funds each year.

EMR Settlement Ltd (EMRS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elexon Ltd. It was set up in March 2014 after the UK Government recognised that Elexon had the experience and capability to provide settlement services to deliver the Government’s new policies to support low carbon generators (Contracts for Difference (CfD)) and to introduce a Capacity Market (CM). It recognised the similarities between the data, systems and processes that successfully operate under the BSC and those that would be required for CfD and CM.

Elexon’s governance structure

Four key groups of people work together to make sure governance, strategy and operational delivery combine to deliver an outstanding service for Elexon’s customers.

These are the Elexon Board, the BSC Panel, the Elexon Executive and the Elexon staff.

Elexon Board

The Elexon Board is responsible for:

• Providing leadership to the company;
• Setting the company’s strategic aims, including the approval of its annual business strategy;
• Ensuring that the necessary financial and human resources are in place for the company to meet its objectives, including approving the company’s budget;
• Reviewing the performance of the company’s management;
• The governance of the company;
• Ensuring that Elexon’s obligations to its stakeholders, including BSC Parties, are understood and met.

The BSC Panel

The Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) Panel oversees the management, implementation and development of the BSC. It brings together stakeholders from across the electricity industry, including the regulator Ofgem, the TSO, National Grid Electricity System Operator, generators, suppliers and other BSC Parties. The Panel oversees changes to the BSC.

Elexon Executive Team

The Executive Team is responsible for the company’s day-to-day management. The team works with the Board, BSC Panel and staff to ensure the successful delivery and evolution of the BSC.

Staff

Elexon has over 150 staff based at the company’s offices in central London. All experts in their field, some have worked in the energy sector for many years, while others bring fresh skills and perspective from other sectors. Together they ensure that Elexon delivers a great service to the customers every day and maintain seamless delivery of the BSC.