About us

Electricity North West owns, operates and maintains the North West’s electricity distribution network, connecting 2.4 million properties, and more than 5 million people in the region to the National Grid.

We own one of the original 14 regulated electricity distribution networks in England, Wales and Scotland and are regulated by Ofgem - the Office of the gas and electricity markets.

Our network covers a diverse range of terrain, from isolated farms in rural areas such as Cumbria,  to areas of heavy industry and urban populations including Manchester.

Electricity distribution network

We deliver more than 25 terawatt hours of electricity each year to our customers in the North West. That's the equivalent of 25 thousand million electric heaters being switched on for one hour. We deliver this power through our network of:

• around 13,000 km of overhead lines
• almost 44,000 km of underground cables
• almost 84,000 items of switchgear
• more than 34,000 transformers.

National Grid

The bulk of electricity enters our network from the National Grid at Grid Supply Points, travelling through our 132kV network to a substation where the voltage is transformed to enter our 33kV network.

Similar transformations take place from 33kV to HV (high voltage) and from HV to LV (low voltage) to ensure that you get your electricity safely.

Some of our business customers need higher voltages for heavy industry, whereas domestic customers take a much lower voltage.

The future electricity network

Part of our role as network operator is to plan for the future. We're already planning up to 2050 to make sure that as the use of electricity changes, our network also adapts to keep providing the service that customers need. Click here to read our Strategic Direction Statement.