New arrangements (NETA) for the buying and selling of electricity were introduced in England and Wales in March 2001 and extended to Scotland in April 2005 (BETTA).
NETA was established to ensure that supply and demand for electricity is balanced and that subsequent payments are reconciled.
These arrangements consist of three main components:
- Forwards and futures markets (98% of trades)
- A balancing mechanism (2% of trades) and
- An imbalance settlement process
The arrangements enable electricity to be traded bilaterally between willing buyers and sellers in an open and competitive market. Trades are carried out primarily using forwards and futures markets. The rules and governance arrangements for the balancing mechanism and imbalance settlement processes are contained in the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) and it is these two areas that ELEXON manages in conjunction with the BSC Panel.
The British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA) were proposed by Ofgem and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to create a competitive Great Britain (GB) wide electricity market through the creation of GB trading and transmission arrangements. The new arrangements were implemented on 1 April 2005.
