Frequently asked questions

Applying for a new connection is simple. You can use our online application service to plan your work using our interactive map and get yourself an estimate easily. Click below to go to our application.

Your electricity supplier is the company you choose to buy your electricity from, and who you pay your bills to. If you’ve recently moved house or you’re about to move into a new property you may be wondering who supplies the electricity and who the electricity bills are paid too. Use our online tool to find your supplier.

Check who supplies electricity at your property by clicking below. 

The cost of a connection or meter move depends on the size, scale and location of the proposed works.

The size of the connection will dictate the level of work required on site and preparation ahead of the work starting (i.e. permits and consents that are chargeable).

Location also plays a significant role, particularly if you are planning to connect in an urban area or in a remote, rural area again where our network may be operating at a maximum capacity. In these areas your connection may be the trigger for network reinforcement, and a proportion of these costs will be attributed to your quotation.

One to four property connections prices

We’ll provide you with a detailed quote, along with a comprehensive construction and customer works plan. This will include all the necessary specification documents for your project.  Look at the tables below to see how much the average price is for single phase, multi-plot and three phase as guidance only.

The Common Connection Charging Methodology (CCCM) is a framework used in the energy industry, particularly in electricity distribution, to determine how connection charges are calculated for customers connecting to the distribution network.  Connection charges are fees paid by customers to cover the costs associated with connecting their premises to the electricity distribution network.  CCCM plays a crucial role in ensuring fairness, transparency, and efficiency in the process of connecting customers to electricity distribution networks.

CCCM and Connection Charging Statement approved by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority ("the Authority"), explains the options available and process to be followed for obtaining a connection.  For more information about CCCM visit Common Charging Methodology (enwl.co.uk)

Moving your electricity supply prices

The cost for each job can vary significantly and your quote will be tailored to your needs. We will always find the cheapest option for you and can visit site if necessary. Factors to consider when moving your meter:

• If you have chosen to do your own excavation work, you may need to hire a builder to dig out the trench.
• You will need an electrician to connect your internal electrics to the new meter position.
• Do you have a front garden or does your property lead directly onto the public highway? If public highway, then we will need permits to do this work and it will take a little longer to complete.

Look at the table below to see how much the average price is as guidance only.

Small scale quotations include:
• Excavation, replacement of ground materials and resurfacing
• Installation of cable and service termination
• Local authority permits for traffic management, road closures and land rights and consents

Business or commercial scale quotations also include:
• Design and assessment fees (our time spent to produce your quotation)
• Pass through statement of works costs
• Site survey costs
• Reinforcement costs
• Equipment costs.

You can pay via cheque made payable to Electricity North West Limited, or by BACS/CHAPS. For more information, please read our Payment Guidance

You can also pay online using a card if you use our new online application service

Once you have completed your application, please send to connectionapplications@enwl.co.uk unless you have completed a G98 Form B. Please forward these to G98Notifications@enwl.co.uk.

Upon receipt of the Post Installation commissioning documentation via your installer, we will provide you with an export MPAN / permission to generate in parallel with our network; DNO confirmation. It is important to note, these are dealt with on an individual basis and usually actioned by our admin support teams who are contactable on the below email addresses.

Businessdeliverysouth@enwl.co.uk - Anything South of Skelmersdale.
BusinessConnectionsPreston@enwl.co.uk - Everything North of Skelmersdale up to LA5.
ConDC-Carlisle@enwl.co.uk - Everything beyond LA5 and on the border to Scotland.

The time it takes to complete a connection depends on the size, scale and location of the connection you’re looking to do. We work to industry performance standards (Guaranteed Standards of Performance) that set the target timescales we work to for all new connections. 

There are a number of factors that can also impact on lead times for completing a connection after you’ve accepted and arranged payment. These could include:

• Land consents- landowners permission may be required to access third party land
• Traffic management
• Local council permits
• Impact on other customers- if your connection requires an outage or shutdown that will affect other customers
• Engineering complexities- if your connection is located in an area with engineering difficulties and complexities
• Other consents- some connections may require consents from other bodies such as the National Trust and Environment Agency

We want to make your new connection as easy as possible and on average a new connection will take six to eight weeks from when you are site ready but there are a few factors out of our hands that you might not be aware of

Depending on the work required you may need to hire and coordinate a few trades people yourself. For example, this could be a private electrician for your internal electrics or your supplier to fit your electricity meter.

If your new connection requires working in the highway, we’ll arrange the traffic management and the permit with the local council but it’s important to note that it can take a little longer than six weeks for the permit to be approved.

Land owner permissions may be required to enter third party land, other connections may require consents from National Trusts or Environment agencies etc. 

Large scale connections may require reinforcement works which may have limitations such as works being carried out in summer months which may impact your project.

Extra High Voltage (EHV) connections will take longer than Low Voltage and High Voltage projects due to complexity and additional load required. 

For customers requesting domestic connection services, we can arrange staged payments where the connection offer is greater than £20,000 (excluding VAT). Where the cost is lower than £20,000 we can consider staged payments but generally they would only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

Staged payments:

• Staggered in a way that ensures that we are able to cover the costs of design and connection work before it's completed
• Assessment and design charges are non-refundable costs to cover our checks on the network before your connection is complete. Wayleave and legal charges also cover checks and land owner negotiations, which are non-refundable should you cancel

Commercial connections:

• Charges for plan items are influenced by your build programme, which you will need to share with us when you apply alongside the manufacturer's payment schedule
• Staged payment milestones are negotiated when the quotation is accepted
• Acceptance costs are fixed
• All costs are subject to VAT

For domestic customers, there are no acceptance charges to pay. However, all other connection customers will need to pay an acceptance charge.

Acceptance charges cover the costs for our network design and assessment work, as well as the work we need to do immediately after you’ve accepted to plan in the connection.

Your acceptance cost could vary depending on how many applications we receive and how many customers accept our quotations. At times when we produce lots of quotations but only a small proportion accepts them, the costs may be high. However, when we produce fewer quotations and a greater proportion accepts them, the acceptance cost will be lower.

Our quotations are free to request; we don’t charge for the assessment and design studies needed to produce a quotation. Therefore, our costs for producing quotations are spread across all customers who accept a quotation.

For commercial projects, your initial acceptance charge will also include costs for us to undertake preparatory work (but not the physical works) such as cable route planning and marking, liaison with third parties to secure land consents (and other permissions if appropriate).

If you are planning any building work or developments, then you will need to know about the location of our cables, overhead lines or any other electrical equipment located near to where you will be working.

BeforeUDig allows you to request copies of our electricity network plans online and receive them by email from our geographic information system. This means you will have access to our information, 24 hours a day. 

For more information please visit our Line search before you dig page.

For a small scale connections (i.e. 1-4 properties or a single connection under 60kVA) we typically offer a site visit before we provide you with a quote, to make sure we understand your requirements. We offer additional site visits once the quote has been accepted. 

For business connections (five or more properties or a single connection over 60kVA) we usually only carry out site visits after you’ve accepted, to check the site is ready for our contractors to start on site.

For commercial connection schemes, we typically always carry out a site visit following acceptance. Our site visits for Extra High Voltage projects are also to check that the site, or sites are ready to begin work. We may carryout additional site visits during planned stages of the project. Our contractors woudn't usually begin work until the site has been checked first. 

The terms and conditions will vary depending on the scale of the connection you're requested.

Please visit the quotations team web page to find the right manager to contact to get in touch with your designer. 

Yes, you are very welcome to approach an ICP (Independent Connection Provider) to complete this work for you, if you would like to find accredited ICPs who work in our area please visit here

We ask that you allow 28 days for us to process your refund, we will review the progress against your project and deduct our administrative costs and any costs incurred for any work to date.  We will return the remaining balance via the method paid to the payee unless stated otherwise on the acceptance form.

Yes, we recommend when determining the location of your electrical equipment you consider the surface type which will require reinstating.  Extra costs for specialist surfaces such as granite, block paving will be included in your quote, so if this type of surface can be avoided this will help to minimise the cost of your connection.

Failed appointments can significantly impact the cost to deliver and you are likely to incur charges if our team arrive on site and are unable to complete the work as agree due to access issues.  We encourage early conversation with your designer to ensure that we have made good provision for access on the day of civils / jointing work.

We can often redirect our resource if you have your own delays onsite so early notification if you are not going to be ready on the date agreed will help to reduce the risk of failed appointment costs.

Here are our essential guidelines to getting your site ready

Work restriction dates from local authorities

Whilst we endeavour to have your connection in place and ready to use within six to eight weeks of the site being approved, over the festive period local authorities place restrictions on when we can carry out work, which can delay your completion date, more information on our Christmas embargo dates will be available by the end of October. 

Use the correct duct specification

Our specification duct is always red and embossed 'Danger Electricity Cables', with no exceptions and should follow what is in our pack. To view click here

Ensure your duct is laid at the correct depth & prepared properly

Duct should be laid in accordance to the specification provided; with a minimum of 450mm from the top of the duct to the top of the finished surface, with marker tape sitting on top of 100mm soil covering the duct, it also needs to be 300mm apart from other utilities. The full specifications come with our construction packs.

Make sure you source the correct meter box & hockey stick

We can supply your meter box and hockey stick at trade prices. We will even deliver free of charge, please let your planner know if you would like us to do this. If you would prefer to source this yourself our approved supplier is Jewsons. The meter box it should be between 500mm and 800mm from the bottom of the box to the finished ground level.

The section of ducting that connects the outside viewing cabinet to the ducting in the ground we call a ‘hockey stick’. The hockey stick must be white and installed on the left hand side, the red elbow of the hockey stick should not show above ground level. To view click here

Book your meter installation with your chosen supplier

Our job to get you connected safely and as quickly as possible. We don’t sell electricity or fit you with a meter, this will be your chosen electricity supplier. We will provide the Meter Number (MPAN) that you need to book your meter appointment to get it installed. A full guide to metering is included in our construction pack. We need the right information firstly to be able to create your Meter Point Administration Number, once we have that we send you the number separately and it will reach you within 5 working days.

Yes, you can add generation capacity to your existing supply. Please contact our Pre-Application Customer Engagement (PACE) Team for advice on costs and the best process for your requirements.  You can call the PACE team on 0800 988 1730 (8 am - 5 pm Monday to Friday) or email pace@enwl.co.uk

4-6 Weeks from payment

Once you have paid for your quotation, our construction co-ordinator will come to see you to plan the work. Following this visit we will plan to have everything in place to complete the work, on the date we agree. You and / or your electrician will need to be on site for the work to be completed. On average this takes around 4 weeks from payment to complete the work if your site is ready.

Moving your electricity supply prices

The cost for each job can vary significantly and your quote will be tailored to your needs. We will always find the cheapest option for you and can visit site if necessary. Factors to consider when moving your meter:

• If you have chosen to do your own excavation work, you may need to hire a builder to dig out the trench.
• You will need an electrician to connect your internal electrics to the new meter position.
• Do you have a front garden or does your property lead directly onto the public highway? If public highway, then we will need permits to do this work and it will take a little longer to complete.

Look at the table below to see how much the average price is as guidance only.

Here are our essential guidelines to getting your site ready

Firstly, if you are moving your  electrical meter less than 1m in distance then check that your supplier is able to do this for you, this can save you money or sometimes if it is very small distance the service can come at no cost. Click here to find out your supplier

Hire an electrician

As part of the work involved you will need to hire an electrician, he will be able to make any changes to the meter cables for you and connect the meter back to your internal electrics.

Hire a builder

You will only need to do this if you have chosen to do your own excavation work at your property. If you have paid for us to do the work for you then we will arrange that with you.

Visit our moving you meter web page to complete the application.

No, the quote charges don't apply to applications up to and including four domestic properties.

We understand that sometimes customers require an increased security of supply. Whilst we endeavour to keep supplies operating without interruption there are periods where it is sometimes necessary to curtail supplies or, where is cannot be avoided, supplies may be temperately disconnected. Customers can opt to request a greater security of supply as part of our connections processes.  For existing supplies with connection agreements the terms of your security of supply can be found within your connection agreement. In order to modify the terms of the agreement it is generally necessary to carry out a connections study to determine the impacts of the change to the network. These changes may require some additional works and so may incur costs, and there may be restrictions on when the changes can be made, depending upon the scale of any network constraints identified.

 If you would like to speak to us about modifying your existing connection please contact: connectionapplications@enwl.co.uk. 

Every connection has to have a unique meter point administration number (MPAN) to get a supply.  To request an MPAN click HERE