- Which form do I use for an electricity connection application?
- It depends on three things: the distribution network operator that owns the cables at your postcode, the job (a new connection, more or less capacity, a move, a disconnection or a temporary builder's supply) and, for most operators, the size of the supply in kVA. Each of the six distribution network operators publishes its own forms and portals and splits small and large jobs at its own threshold. The tool above works out the operator from your postcode or MPAN and names the route for your job; the routing table beneath it lists every operator's published routes with the date they were verified.
- Do I apply to the distribution network operator or to my supplier?
- The distribution network operator owns the cables and handles new connections, capacity changes, moving the supply position, diversions, temporary builder's supplies and permanent disconnections. Your supplier owns the meter, so meter removal, moving the meter without changing the incoming cable, de-energising for works and re-energising a dormant supply go to the supplier. The tool checks the supplier registered at the site so those requests go to the right party first time.
- How do I find my distribution network operator from a postcode or MPAN?
- Enter the site postcode in the tool. If the site already has a meter, pick the address and the operator is read from the MPAN's distributor id (the first two digits of the 13-digit core, 10 to 23 for the fourteen licence areas), which is exact. On a bare site the operator comes from the postcode alone and is labelled likely, because a postcode cannot tell whether a development is served by an independent network operator instead of the regional one.
- How long does the operator have to send a connection quotation?
- The Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2015 set the quotation periods in working days from a complete application: 5 for a single low-voltage single-phase connection or a service alteration, 15 for a small low-voltage project, 25 for any other low-voltage connection (the usual class for a small commercial new connection or load increase), 35 for high voltage and 65 for extra-high voltage. Which period applies is the operator's determination; the result card shows all five rows and highlights the one its reading of your kVA points to.
- What does an electricity connection application need?
- A site location plan showing the boundary and the proposed supply position, a load schedule listing each item of plant with its kW or kVA and the total maximum demand, the MPAN and a recent bill where a supply already exists, proof of title or landowner consent on a bare site or a diversion, a letter of authority where someone applies on the business's behalf, and the programme dates. The result card in the tool lists exactly which of these your job needs.
- What is the difference between a service alteration and a diversion?
- A service alteration moves your own supply position: the incoming cable, pipe or cut-out goes to a new place on the premises. A diversion moves the network's own assets, such as a cable or main crossing the land, so that you can build. They are different teams and different forms at every operator, and moving only the meter with no cable or pipe change is a third case that belongs to your supplier. The tool separates the three so the application lands with the right team.
- Can I reduce my agreed capacity to cut the standing charges?
- Yes. The agreed capacity (maximum import capacity) drives the capacity element of your distribution charges every month, so reducing it where the site no longer needs it cuts the bill from the next billing period. Not every operator publishes a dedicated form: some reuse the capacity-change form, one has a specific form, and where no route was found the tool says so rather than showing a form that does not exist. Reduce only to what the site will actually draw: going back up is a new capacity application with a new quotation.
- Is a temporary builder's supply an application to the network operator?
- Yes. A temporary builder's supply is an electricity product and every distribution network operator publishes a route for it, some on a dedicated temporary connection form and others on the same form as a small new connection. It runs on its own meter and its own supply contract for the life of the works, and it does not become the permanent supply: the permanent connection is a separate application, sized on the finished building's load, which can be made at the same time.
- What if the site is on an independent distribution network operator?
- Apply to that operator, not to the regional distribution network operator. An independent distribution network operator owns the site network on many new developments and is identified by an MPAN distributor id of 24 or above. A postcode lookup returns the regional operator and is silently wrong on such a site, so where a meter exists the tool reads the id from the MPAN, and on a bare site it asks whether the development has its own network. The independent operators with published routes are listed in the routing table beneath the tool.
- Is the application service free?
- Yes. We complete the operator's application on the operator's own form and submit it with your authority at no fee. We are paid on the supply contract too, disclosed. On the ongoing gas and electricity contract we earn a commission built into the unit rate (stated in pence per kWh) or an agreed fee, your choice. Every margin is separated so you can see exactly what the service costs.
