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Business electricity by UK region
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Ask most people what drives a business electricity price and they’ll say the supplier. It’s a reasonable answer and it’s only half right. A good chunk of what you pay never reaches your supplier at all. It covers the cables, substations and pylons between the power station and your meter, and that cost changes depending on where in Britain you happen to trade.
Quick answer
Great Britain has 14 electricity distribution regions, each run by a different network operator that recovers its costs through charges built into your unit rate. Two businesses with identical consumption can pay different prices purely because of region. The first two digits of your MPAN identify which region prices your site.
Scotland
Two distribution regions, the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme, and support that exists nowhere else in Britain.
Guide available
Manchester
Electricity North West, MPAN 16, the only operator running a single region.
Guide available
Birmingham
National Grid Electricity Distribution, MPAN 14, and an industrial demand profile.
Guide available
Why does region change what a business pays for electricity?
Great Britain is divided into 14 electricity distribution regions, each run by a distribution network operator. That operator maintains the cables, substations and poles between the transmission network and your meter, and recovers the cost through distribution charges built into your unit rate.
Those charges aren’t the same everywhere. A dense urban region spreads its network costs across a lot of customers. A sparse rural one doesn’t. Add zonal transmission charges on top, which reflect how far you sit from where the power is generated, and two businesses with identical consumption can land on genuinely different prices.
How do I find my distribution region?
Look at the supply number block on your electricity bill. The first two digits of your MPAN are the distributor ID, and they map straight to a region. No phone call needed.
| MPAN starts | Region | Distribution operator |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Eastern England | UK Power Networks |
| 11 | East Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 12 | London | UK Power Networks |
| 13 | Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales | SP Energy Networks (SP Manweb) |
| 14 | West Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 15 | North East England | Northern Powergrid |
| 16 | North West England | Electricity North West |
| 17 | North Scotland | SSEN (Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution) |
| 18 | Central and Southern Scotland | SP Energy Networks (SP Distribution) |
| 19 | South East England | UK Power Networks |
| 20 | Southern England | SSEN (Southern Electric Power Distribution) |
| 21 | South Wales | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 22 | South West England | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 23 | Yorkshire | Northern Powergrid |
Operator names reflect the current market. Western Power Distribution was rebranded National Grid Electricity Distribution after its acquisition, so older bills may still carry the former name.
Does my region limit which suppliers I can use?
No. Every licensed supplier in Great Britain can supply any GB meter, so your region doesn’t restrict your choice. What it changes is the network element of the price each supplier quotes, which is why the same supplier can return two different numbers for two of your sites on the same morning.