Electricity connections for new developments explained

Every new home or business unit needs a cable to it, a meter and enough capacity on the local network to supply it. Getting that in place involves at least three different organisations, and you have more choice about who does the work than most developers realise.

This guide covers Great Britain, for housing, commercial and mixed-use sites. Northern Ireland has its own network and rules.

The short version

• The network operator owns the electricity network in your area. It decides where you can connect and adopts the new network once it’s built.
• Your partner can design and build the new network on your site instead of the network operator, and you can get competing quotes for that work.
• An energy supplier fits each meter, once the home has its own supply number.
• Since April 2023, you normally pay for the new network on your site, but not for upgrading the existing network to make room for it.

Who’s who

The network operator. Great Britain is split into 14 areas, each run by a distribution network operator (DNO). Your site’s location decides which one you deal with; you can’t choose. There are also independent network operators (IDNOs), which can own and run the network on your site instead. More on those below.

Your partner. In electricity the industry calls this an independent connection provider (ICP). A partner is accredited under NERS, the national scheme run by LRQA, for the types of work it can do: design, cable laying, building substations and, for some, connecting to the live network.

The supplier. The company that sells electricity to the occupier is not the network operator. When the network is ready, the network operator gives each property a meter point number (an MPAN), and the occupier’s supplier arranges the meter against it.

How a connection works

1. Work out how much power you need. For homes, this depends on how many there are and how they’re heated. For commercial units, it depends on what they’ll be used for. Your partner or the network operator can help with the estimate.
2. Ask the network operator for a point of connection. This is where your new network will join the existing one. You can ask for a price for the whole job, or for the non-contestable part only (the work only the network operator can do), so you can get quotes from partners for the rest.
3. Choose who builds it. Compare the network operator’s price with partners’ quotes on the same basis.
4. Get the design approved. If a partner designs the network, the network operator checks it meets its standards before work starts.
5. Sort out the land. Larger sites usually need a new substation. You provide the plot for it, and the network operator will want legal rights for the substation and for cables that cross private land. This is a property transaction completed by solicitors, so leave time for it.
6. Build, connect and adopt. Your partner lays the cables and builds any substation. The live connection is made, the network is checked, and the network operator adopts it and looks after it from then on.
7. Get meters fitted. Each property has its meter point number, and a supplier arranges each meter so it can be occupied.

You’ll usually need power on site before the permanent network is ready. A temporary builder’s supply is a separate, smaller connection from the network operator for your site compound. Ask for it early. When you no longer need it, you apply to have it disconnected.

How much power new homes need

New homes need more electricity than they used to. A gas boiler puts little load on the electricity network. Switching to electric heating increases what each home needs from it, and adding electric vehicle chargers can have as much effect again. In England, building regulations already require a charge point for new homes with parking, and the Future Homes Standard will make low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps, the norm for new homes from March 2027, with transitional arrangements for projects already under way.

This matters early. The amount of power your site needs decides whether the local network can take it, whether you need a substation, and how big it must be. Get the heating strategy settled before you apply, because changing it later can mean a new application.

What you pay for

The new network on your site. The cables, substation and connections to each property. You still pay for these under the 2023 rules. This is the contestable part, so you can choose who builds it and compare prices.

The network operator’s own work. Assessing your application, checking the design, the final connection where it does that itself, and inspecting the network before adopting it.

Upgrading the existing network. Until April 2023, developers often paid towards upgrades that their site made necessary. Ofgem changed the rules, and for a site that takes power from the network, such as homes, shops or offices, the network operator now normally covers those costs through everyone’s bills. There’s an exception for unusually expensive upgrades, where you may still be asked to contribute.

Quotes from network operators have an expiry date, and the price can change once the detailed design is done. Check both before you rely on a figure for your budget.

An independent network operator

An IDNO can own and run the network on your site instead of the local DNO. Its network connects to the DNO’s at a single point, and the homes on your site become its customers.

Two things make this worth a look:

• Some IDNOs offer to pay you for the network they adopt, which can offset some of the build cost.
• Homeowners aren’t worse off. Ofgem caps what an IDNO can charge domestic customers for using its network at the level the local DNO would charge.

Some IDNOs build the network themselves; others adopt what your partner builds. The point of connection and the non-contestable work still go through the local DNO.

What to check first

• Which network operator covers your site.
• How the homes will be heated, and whether there’ll be EV charging, before you apply.
• Whether you’ll need a substation, and where it can go.
• The non-contestable cost on its own, so you know what isn’t open to competition.
• That each partner is NERS-accredited for the work you need.
• Whether an independent network operator could adopt the network, and what it would pay.
• When each quote expires.