Which network operator covers your region

Which network operator you tell, region by region

The operator is not your electricity supplier. It is the company that owns the wires into your street, and it is fixed by where you live rather than by who you pay.

North East

Northern Powergrid (Northeast) plc. Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Northumberland and Teesside. A south facing roof pitch near Newcastle models at 734 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 558 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 727 kWh.

North West

Electricity North West Limited, and SP Manweb plc in Merseyside and Cheshire. Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire and Merseyside. A south facing roof pitch near Manchester models at 689 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 505 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 684 kWh.

Yorkshire

Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc. North, South, West and East Yorkshire, Leeds, Sheffield and Hull. A south facing roof pitch near Leeds models at 736 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 550 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 729 kWh.

East Midlands

National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) plc. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland. A south facing roof pitch near Nottingham models at 760 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 564 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 754 kWh.

West Midlands

National Grid Electricity Distribution (West Midlands) plc. Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire. A south facing roof pitch near Birmingham models at 752 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 555 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 746 kWh.

East of England

Eastern Power Networks plc, part of UK Power Networks. Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. A south facing roof pitch near Norwich models at 802 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 594 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 795 kWh.

London

London Power Networks plc, part of UK Power Networks. The 32 London boroughs. A south facing roof pitch near London models at 795 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 582 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 789 kWh.

South East

South Eastern Power Networks plc and Southern Electric Power Distribution plc. Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the Isle of Wight. A south facing roof pitch near Brighton models at 897 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 645 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 890 kWh.

South West

National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West) plc. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath. A south facing roof pitch near Exeter models at 822 kWh a year, a south facing wall at 594 kWh, and a frame on open ground at 816 kWh.

Two of these are worth reading twice. The North West is split, so a Liverpool reader and a Manchester reader tell different companies. The South East is divided between two operators as well, and there is nothing on the ground that tells you where the line runs.

The wires decide, not the street

Two houses on the same road can sit in different licence areas near a boundary, which is why we confirm the operator by postcode rather than by region.

Making sure it is the right one

Our map of licence areas is a working one and we have not checked it postcode by postcode, so treat it as a starting point. Confirm it on your operator’s own postcode checker.

There is also a route that needs no map at all. Call 105, free, from anywhere in England and you are put through to the network operator for your address.

Telling them it is installed

Registering the device with the network operator is a short online form. It asks for your name, your email address and the installation address, and it goes in within 28 days of the device being installed. Government guidance puts the job at five to ten minutes.

The same rules cap you at one device per household. That comes from the network connection requirements rather than from the product specification, which on its own would allow one per final ring circuit.

Questions people ask