Unmetered connections

An unmetered connection includes electrical equipment such as street lights, traffic lights, telecommunications cabinets, advertising units, CCTV, feeding pillars etc. They require an electricity supply that doesn't include a meter recording their energy consumption. Find out more and the process to apply on this page.

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What is an unmetered connection?

An unmetered connection is a supply of electricity to electrical equipment without a meter such as street lights, traffic lights, road signs, telecommunications cabinets, advertising units, CCTV, feeding pillar etc. This is because a metered supply is unsuitable either because a metered connection is impractical, or the load is predictable and significantly lower than normal usage.

What is meant by a metered connection being impractical?

The type of electrical equipment being fed might be technically, financially or for legal reasons impractical to be fed by a meter such as a Health and Safety law. A metered supply can only be installed into suitable housing which keeps the supply safe and secure. The housing must comply with our policies to provide adequate size, height, location and protection against the weather. If it’s not possible to meet these conditions, then a metred connection may be considered impractical.

What are the load conditions of an unmetered connection?

To use an unmetered supply, the load of the electrical equipment must be predictable and less than 500W. The industry guidelines set by Ofgem for unmetered supplies encourage Distribution Network Operators (DNO's), including SP Electricity North West to interpret the guidance in a practical way. In some circumstances, our policy permits feeder pillar connections up to 5kW.

More information on the regulations and guidelines please click here

What do I need to consider before I apply for an unmetered connection?

You can apply online here but please consider the below points before you apply. We are not obliged to provide an unmetered connection, so we recommend that you read the following to ensure the application meets the criteria.

1: The customer must provide evidence of the permission for of an unmetered connection.
2: The supplier, customer and SP Electricity North West must all agree to an unmetered connection.
3: If you are moving existing electrical equipment, you must ensure that you have permission from the asset owner and the landowner or highway authority.
4: Section 4 of the National Terms of Connection applies specifically to unmetered supplies and includes the requirement for the customer to provide a detailed inventory of equipment, identifying the location and providing sufficient detail (type, description, and wattage, together with control gear and switching regimes if applicable) to allow calculation of the electricity consumption. We must be notified with any additions, deletions or amendments once per calendar year or as otherwise specified.

The process for an unmetered connection

Please use our online application form to apply for an unmetered connection or get support before you apply from our Pre-Application Customer Engagement (PACE) team here. The PACE team can discuss your options and provide guidance on the processes before you commit to an application.

We will send you a 55-reference number by email and assign a designer who will be in contact to understand your requirements.

When you are ready to accept you can either complete the forms sent with your quote or use our editable online forms, if you use the online forms please do not forget to include your 55-reference number.

We can accept payment by cheque or bacs; if you send a cheque please make payable to ENWL & write your 55-reference number on the back. If you pay by BACs please make sure you include your 55-reference number as the transaction reference, so we can link up your payment.

We also need you to share the technical information via our Energy liability acceptance form, we will use this information to create the MPAN which will be needed for the billing.

We strongly recommend that you nominate an electricity supplier before accepting our quote to avoid delays further on.

We will review the energy liability information you have provided and issue your unmetered connection certificate and details of the estimated annual consumption (EAC) to both you and your nominated supplier.

If you did not nominate a supplier at acceptance you will need to contact the supplier directly to set up your account.

We will notify your supplier to make the MPAN live in their registration system. Only once your MPAN is live can we give the green light to complete the work on site.

We will contact you to co-ordinate the planned dates for the work, so that you can arrange for any access requirements.

Please note we are unable to give specific appointment times therefore if we require access to a locked cabinet you may wish to provide us a with a copy of the keys in advance of the planned dates.

The dates to complete the work will be subject to approval by the relevant local authority. but we aim to outperform our guaranteed standard of 35 days wherever possible.