Two organisations are involved in your electricity, and people routinely confuse them.
Your supplier sells you units and sends the bill. You can switch supplier this afternoon.
Your distribution network operator owns the cables in the street. You cannot switch it, it does not sell you anything, and when you install solar it is the organisation that must be told — and, above 3.68 kW on a single-phase supply, the one that must agree first.
The licence areas
| ID | Licence area | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Eastern England | UK Power Networks |
| 11 | East Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 12 | London | UK Power Networks |
| 13 | Merseyside and Northern Wales | SP Energy Networks |
| 14 | West Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 15 | North Eastern England | Northern Powergrid |
| 16 | North Western England | Electricity North West |
| 17 | Northern Scotland | Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks |
| 18 | Southern Scotland | SP Energy Networks |
| 19 | South Eastern England | UK Power Networks |
| 20 | Southern England | Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks |
| 21 | Southern Wales | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 22 | South Western England | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 23 | Yorkshire | Northern Powergrid |
| NI | Northern Ireland | NIE Networks |
The ID column is the Distributor ID: the first two digits of the MPAN on your electricity bill, and the quickest way to confirm your own operator. Northern Ireland sits outside the GB numbering and has a single operator.
Every description on these pages is orientation rather than a boundary. Licence areas follow the network — where the cables actually run and which substation feeds which street — and they cut across county and council lines.
So if you are near an edge, do not trust a map, ours included. Check the MPAN on your bill, use the postcode lookup, or call 105 free from anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales.
Why this matters for solar
- G98 or G99 — which process applies, and therefore whether you install then notify, or apply and wait
- Export limiting — the operator can cap what you export where the local network is constrained
- Refusals and conditions — what to do when the answer is not a simple yes
- Your paperwork — the notification is one of the documents a buyer will ask for
Most people start here
Licence areas
Sources
- Find my network operator Energy Networks Association · Accessed 20 August 2026
- Which DNO does my Distributor ID correspond to? Energy Networks Association · Accessed 20 August 2026 Dated 2021. We take the Distributor IDs from it and the operator names from the current page, because Western Power Distribution has since become National Grid Electricity Distribution.
Sorry to hear that. What was the problem?