New 3-Phase Supply Live in 9 Days: CT Meter Installation Case Study

The Yard is a new commercial building on Westfield Lane in Swanland, near Hull, for Westerdale Partnership. It had no electricity supply, and the project manager, Andrew Foster of Rio Consulting, needed a 3-phase supply with a CT meter in place quickly to keep the build on programme.

We were first in touch on Thursday 17 September 2026. The supply contract was signed and locked in the next day, the CT meter was fitted on Saturday 26 September in about two hours, and the supply was energised the same day. That is nine days from first contact to a live supply.

We also flagged that the connection had been designed at 250 kVA, the top capacity band, and asked the network operator to review it before the supply was even live. That review is now open. The contract passes network charges through at cost, so any reduction comes straight off the site's bills.

The development had no electricity supply. It needed a new 3-phase connection with a CT meter, and the contractor was working to a very tight programme, so there was no room for the usual back and forth.

Three things stood between the site and a working supply.

• No contract, no meter. The meter operator will not fit a meter until a supplier has taken on the site, and the supplier will not do that without a signed contract. Every day spent on paperwork pushed the meter date back.
• The paperwork had to be right first time. Before fitting a CT meter, the meter operator needs a photo of the meter position, the connection design and the test certificates from the contractor. Anything missing can mean a wasted visit and a new date.
• The connection was designed at 250 kVA. That is band 4, the top capacity band. On a new connection the agreed capacity sets a daily capacity charge, and it is hard to change once the supply is live.

A new connection like this depends on four parties acting in the right order: the supplier, the meter operator, the network operator and the customer's own contractor. A delay at any one of them holds up the rest.

We fixed the contract first. On Thursday 17 September, the day of the first call, we asked the supplier for terms on a pass-through contract and told them the meter was needed the following week. On Friday 18 September the letter of authority and the supply contract were signed, and the supplier countersigned and locked the contract in the same day. The metering agreement with the meter operator was signed that day too.

A pass-through contract bills network charges, including the capacity charge, at cost rather than building them into a fixed unit rate. So if the capacity comes down, the saving goes straight to the customer.

Then we lined up the installation. Along the way we:

• sent the meter operator the new connection request for a 3-phase CT meter on Monday 21 September;
• raised the 250 kVA capacity with the network operator on 22 and 23 September, before the supply was live;
• made sure the contractor's meter position photo, connection design and test certificates reached the meter operator on Friday 25 September, the day it booked the job;
• took the earliest slot the meter operator offered, 9am on Saturday 26 September.

The CT meter was fitted on Saturday 26 September 2026 and the supply was energised the same day, nine days after first contact. The installation took about two hours, and the supply was in place when the project needed it.

The export side is under way too. The network operator issued an export MPAN for the site's solar on 2 October, and a one-year export agreement for that solar was signed on 12 October.

Can you reduce the kVA capacity on a new connection?

Yes, but it is not quick. Here the network operator asked for about six months of usage data after the supply was energised, and the property owner has to approve any reduction. We asked on 22 and 23 September, before the supply was live, and the network operator replied on 28 September. That puts the review around March 2027, with a target of 80 kVA, band 1, the lowest band.

Because the contract is pass-through, network charges are billed at cost, so a lower capacity band comes straight off the site's bills. That is why it pays to ask early: once a supply is live, the site is held to its connected capacity until the review, which here means about six months.

How long does a new 3-phase connection take?

This one took nine days from first contact to a live supply. Once the network operator's connection is built, getting a supplier and a meter in place usually takes around two weeks in our experience, so this was quicker than usual. The installation itself took about two hours. The rest of the time went on the contract, the metering agreement and the contractor's certificates, which is why getting everything signed the day after the first call mattered.

If you have a new supply coming up, send us the network operator's connection design before you sign it and we will tell you which capacity band it puts you in and whether it is bigger than the site needs. There is no cost and you do not need to switch supplier. Start with our guide to a new electricity connection, what new connection costs look like and whether a kVA review could help your business, or send us the details through the electricity connection application.