Frequently asked questions

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.

Average cost is £750 excluding VAT

To move your Electricity Meter, it will always require excavation work, so if you have a front garden, we can talk you through completing this yourself to save you money.

The average cost to move your Electricity Supply is £750 excluding VAT. This option is with customers providing their own meter housing and ducting and completing their own excavation work.

If you would like us to dig this for you, then the average cost is around £1,700 excluding VAT.

Other charges for you to consider:

• An Electrician to move your internal electrics & re-connect once we have done our work.
• Meter housing & ducting
• Builder for groundworks

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.

There are no acceptance charges for domestic connections (connections to 1-4 propertied or a single connection under 60kVA).

Customers requesting business and larger scale connections are required to pay an acceptance charge.

This is a bespoke cost for each connection; depending on the project design and assessment, the cost is fixed to cover the works to produce the quotation and to cover the costs for the next steps. 

In order to assess this, we would require a completed application form along with the schematic [Single Line Diagram] detailing the current installation configuration and the additional amount of capacity required. Your Installer / electrician can help determine what additional capacity is required. Please note that this application isn’t chargeable for installations under 1MW, however you may be subject to charges from your installer.

For domestic and small commercial properties, you will need to contact a solar panel installer to arrange installation of your panels.  We're unable to recommend an installer.  Once the panels have been installed, the installer will submit the relevant notification forms.

If you notice any street furniture such as street lights, traffic lights or bollards without power the initial report needs to be made to the relevant local authority.

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.

• For a single property up to 3.68kW single phase / or 11.6kW for three phase please use G98 Form B
• For a multiple premises, each up to 3.68kW single phase / or 11.6kW for three phase please use G98 Form A
• For applications above 3.68kW up to 50kW please use G99 Form A1.1
• For applications above 50kW, please use the Standard Application Form (SAF)

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.

A charge of £1,000 + VAT is applicable for G99 applications that are 1MW or larger. This is payable on receipt of your offer and you will be invoiced for this.

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

A flexible connection is defined as one that has constraints associated with the terms of connection. These constraints may relate to time limits or system abnormalities.

Flexible connections can offer an enduring solution for accommodating a new connection without the need to reinforce our network, but they can also be used temporarily whilst awaiting the completion of the network changes necessary to allow unconstrained operation.

System Normal Connection - A system normal connection is disconnected or constrained when there is a First Circuit Outage affecting the circuit dedicated to supplying the customer or the local Distribution System. This connection could be managed either remotely or via an intertripping scheme.

Export Limited Connection - A connection where the installed generation equipment has a greater export capability than that which has been agreed to be exported onto the Electricity North West distribution system.

We are in the process of implementing our new Network Management System which will allow us to offer the following additional flexible connection options:

Timed Connection - A connection arrangement where connection capacity is subject to restrictions within specific time periods.

Import Limited Connection - A connection where the installed equipment has a greater import capability than that which has been agreed to be imported from the Electricity North West distribution system.

Active Network Management - Use of control systems to modify import and/or export in line with previous agreed limits.

If you accept a flexible connection offer, your asset may be constrained up to an agreed limit under certain conditions, ie when the network is operating ‘abnormally’.  The conditions of the constraint and level of constraint will be set out in your offer letter.

To progress with an alternative connection offer, you will need to make sure you are able to control your asset in response to the constraint conditions within your offer.

How do I switch from a flexible connection to a firm connection or increase my security of supply?

We understand that flexible connections are not suitable for all customers’ requirements and that sometimes people may want to adjust the terms of their agreements. In the majority of cases a flexible connection will have been offered in order to prevent network reinforcement or at the request of the original applicant. 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 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. 

Our quote's charges include the costs to produce the quote and are in accordance with regulatory requirements and in line with industry levels.  

The charge includes the following: - 

• Cost of all budget estimates issued
• Cost of all Gen+ initial assessments, excluding the initial charge
• Cost of all quotes that are accepted
• Cost of all quotes that are declined

All costs associated with issuing quotes are recovered through the quote's charges: part recovered from the initial £2,000-£5,000 charge and the outstanding amount on acceptance. 

You will have 30 days to pay the charge for the quote once the invoice has been sent to you or the connection offer will become invalid.  We will send you your quote and an invoice at the same time. 

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

The initial charge does not include the full cost of the work, so the subsequent charge includes the outstanding balance.

The quote we provide is conditional on the invoice being paid in full within 30 days.  If the charge is not paid within 30 days, the quotation will become invalid.  You will still be liable for the charge and if you need to apply again you will need to pay an additional charge for another quote.

If you don’t pay for three quotes, in addition to paying the outstanding balance, we will require payment in advance for any further quotes. 

Distribution Network Operators (DNO’s), including Electricity North West are legally obliged to provide a quote on request, and in doing we incur costs. These typically include the costs of assessing and modelling the electricity network, designing the connection and any wider network works as well as undertaking surveys, site visits, drawing plans, accommodation and equipment amongst other things.

We won't charge you for the following: - 

• Budget estimates
• Minor connections (1-4)
• Cancellations within cooling off period
• Offers for service alterations or diversions

We will charge you for the following: - 

• Extra High Voltage offers (demand & generation)
• High Voltage offers over 1mw/1MVA
• Requotes including interactivity requotes
• Cancellations (after cooling off period)
• Gen+ initial assessments

DCP161 is a modification to the Distribution Connection and Use of System Agreement (DCUSA) which has changed the charging structure for excess capacity. As of April 2018, any capacity used in excess of your Maximum Import Capacity will be charged at a higher rate, whereas previously all capacity used was charged at the same rate.

For import capacities up to 300kVA: You can apply for an additional load by filling out our online application form or download a pdf application form here and return to connectionapplications@enwl.co.uk. *Select Additional load to an existing supply in the Type of supply section of the form. 

For import capacities over 300kVA You can apply for an additional load by filling out our online application form or download a pdf application form here and return to connectionapplications@enwl.co.uk. *Select Additional load to an existing supply in the Type of supply section of the form. 

Alternatively if you have received a letter from flexible.contracts, please complete the attached form and submit it to MPANLiaison@enwl.co.uk.

To reduce your Maximum Import Capacity, please email us with details of your new requirements using the link below.

We may contact you if you are consistently over or under achieving your assigned capacity to ensure that your capacity is in line with your demand and that you are charged appropriately by your electricity supplier. If you would like to find out what your usage is you can request a monthly meter reading from your supplier.

The MIC value should reflect the maximum amount of power that will be consumed on site. We recommend your MIC should be set to 10% above the peak achieved in the last 12 months to allow for any seasonal variations or anomalies. Your MIC can only be changed once within each 12 month period.

You can use the self-serve tool on the Futureproof Your Power website to check if you need to upgrade your equipment.

You can enlist the support of a contractor to undertake the work on your behalf, a google search #G59 #ALoMCP or alternatively we do have a list of recognised contractors who may be able to help you.

This is a change to the distribution code and non compliance breaches the terms of your connection agreement. These changes are a legal requirement.

If you know what type of protection you have, and you know it is non-compliant then you must arrange for the necessary upgrades to be completed or face enforcement action.

If you know your protection is compliant then we need to be notified so we can mark your site as compliant and remove you from our list of people to contact. If your site is already compliant with G59/3, please notify us by completing this form.

Yes; It is a requirement of G59, that any material change to the G59 protection settings or generating equipment are communicated to the DNO (Electricity North West), which supplies the site. In some cases, we reserve the right to witness the testing of the system and protection settings. Please note witness of testing may be subject to a fee.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to apply for funding closed in May 2022. Payments were previously available to incentivise early compliance however now that the mandatory compliance deadline has passed, any costs associated with the necessary changes must now be covered by the generator owner. 

The total cost of making the changes will depend on the amount of work required and at the discretion of your chosen contractor.

By becoming compliant you will make your generation more reliable.  This will mean it is less likely to trip off, ensuring more consistent generation and a steadier income stream.  More widely, by becoming compliant you will help strengthen the electricity network – this will help deliver cost savings to consumers and will also embed the network with more resilience, meaning that more renewable electricity can be brought online, helping us meet the UK’s low carbon ambitions.

The work should be carried out by an accredited G59 generation installer. A contractor directory can be found here.  The ENA and Electricity North West accept no liability or responsibility for the competence of any contractors / consultants listed and do not endorse or make preference to any of the companies or individuals listed.

Sites should ensure that they maintain a safe system of work and always ensure generators are disconnected and fully isolated when carrying out work on or directly adjacent to electrical equipment within the site.

It is believed that in the majority of situations it is highly unlikely that the changes to protection settings will create any additional safety risks. In some very rare cases; following the loss of network in feed to a site, a generator can continue to inadvertently generate until such time as the protection settings have been exceeded. Due to the protection settings being relaxed there is a marginal increase in probability of this occurring. This is generally only the case where the local demand and generation are evenly matched and where the generating unit is synchronous (i.e. not solar panels or batteries).

If you have read the sections above and you are still not sure, then this is a good time to get in touch with our team. In some cases, we do have some limited records of what your installer will have told us was installed; due to the volume and age of some of the connections this information is not always available or up to date with what is actually onsite. We can also offer dedicated technical support expertise should you need this.