Last reviewed: 3 September 2026. Operator names and the postcode
lookup were checked against the Energy Networks Association on that date. If you find a link that has
moved, please tell us.
Your distribution network operator, or DNO, is the company that owns the cables, poles and
substations in your street. It is almost certainly not the company that sends you your bill. You need
to know which one it is because you are required to tell it that you have installed a plug-in solar
device, within 28 days of switching the device on. Finding it takes about thirty seconds if you know
where to look, and this page shows you three ways to do it, including one that works when the postcode
lookup gives you an answer you were not expecting.
The fastest way: the ENA postcode lookup
The Energy Networks Association, the trade body for the network companies, runs the only lookup
worth using: energynetworks.org — find my network operator. Type in your
postcode and it returns the operator for your area, along with its contact details and the 105
emergency number.
Use that rather than a comparison site’s version of the same tool. The ENA lookup is maintained by
the operators themselves, so when a licence changes hands or a company rebrands, it is the page that
gets corrected first.
Why your supplier is the wrong answer
This is the single most common confusion, and it is worth spending a paragraph on because getting
it wrong means sending your notification to a company that cannot do anything with it.
- Your supplier buys electricity and bills you for it. You chose it, and you can
change it this afternoon. Octopus, EDF, British Gas, E.ON Next and the rest are suppliers. - Your distribution network operator owns the physical wires that bring the
electricity to your meter. You did not choose it and you cannot change it. It is determined entirely
by where the property is.
Two neighbours on opposite sides of a street have the same DNO no matter who bills them. The same
supplier in Leeds and in Cardiff means two completely different DNOs. If you switch supplier tomorrow,
your DNO does not change, and a notification you already made does not need repeating.
The second method: read it off your electricity bill
Every electricity meter point in Great Britain has a thirteen-digit MPAN — the “supply number” or
“S number” printed in a bordered box on your bill, usually with the letter S at the top left. The
bottom line of that box starts with two digits called the distributor ID, and those two digits name
your DNO outright.
There are fourteen distribution licence areas in Great Britain, held by six operator groups. This
is our own compilation of which ID belongs to which operator and roughly which part of the country it
covers.
| First two digits | Licence area | Operator group | Broadly covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Eastern | UK Power Networks | East Anglia, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire |
| 11 | East Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution | Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire |
| 12 | London | UK Power Networks | Greater London |
| 13 | Merseyside & North Wales (Manweb) | SP Energy Networks | Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, North Shropshire |
| 14 | West Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution | Birmingham, the Black Country, Shropshire, Herefordshire |
| 15 | North East | Northern Powergrid | Tyne and Wear, Durham, Northumberland, Teesside |
| 16 | North West | Electricity North West | Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria |
| 17 | North Scotland | SSEN | The Highlands, the islands, Aberdeenshire, Tayside |
| 18 | Central & Southern Scotland | SP Energy Networks | Glasgow, Edinburgh, the central belt, the Borders |
| 19 | South East | UK Power Networks | Kent, Sussex, Surrey |
| 20 | Southern | SSEN | Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Dorset |
| 21 | South Wales | National Grid Electricity Distribution | Cardiff, Swansea, the valleys, west Wales |
| 22 | South West | National Grid Electricity Distribution | Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Gloucestershire |
| 23 | Yorkshire | Northern Powergrid | West, South and North Yorkshire, northern Lincolnshire |
The “broadly covers” column is a guide, not a boundary. These licence areas follow the old area
electricity board lines drawn decades before the current county and council map, which is exactly why
a postcode lookup beats reading a map.
The third method: ask, or look at the pole
If you have no bill to hand and no internet, the operator’s name is usually on the sticker on the
nearest substation door or green cabinet, and on the pole-mounted transformer in rural areas. Calling
105 from any phone in Great Britain also connects you to your own network operator —
it is the power-cut number, so do not use it to ask about notifications, but it does confirm who you
are dealing with.
Two situations where the simple answer is wrong
New-build estates and independent networks
On many estates built in the last twenty years the local wires belong to an independent
distribution network operator (IDNO), which connects into the incumbent DNO’s network. If you
live on one, your notification goes to the IDNO, not to the regional DNO the postcode lookup names.
The clue is usually a company you have never heard of on the substation sticker, or a distributor ID
in the twenties or above that does not appear in the table. If in doubt, send the notification to the
operator the ENA lookup gives you and ask them to redirect it — they will.
Flats with a landlord supply
In some converted or purpose-built blocks the individual flats sit behind a landlord’s or managing
agent’s supply arrangement. The DNO is still the DNO, but you may also need the freeholder’s or
managing agent’s consent before installing anything at all, which is a separate question from
notification. Read the plug-in solar rules for the consent side.
Northern Ireland is a different system entirely
There is one distribution network operator in Northern Ireland, NIE Networks, and none of the
Great Britain framework above applies there. More importantly, the regulation that made plug-in solar
lawful to use — SI 2026/848 — extends its key operative provision to England and Wales and
Scotland only. Northern Ireland readers should not treat any of the plug-in solar guidance on this site
as applying to them without checking locally.
Once you know: what to do with the answer
Knowing the operator is step one of a three-step job, and none of the steps costs anything.
- Identify the operator, above.
- Submit an Engineering Recommendation G98 notification within 28 days of switching the device on.
It is a notification, not an application — nobody has to approve it, there is no fee and there is no
site visit. See how to fill in a G98 notification
for the form field by field, and the DNO notification guide for
each operator’s own page. - Keep the confirmation email. It is the only proof you complied.
One thing this process does not do is register you to be paid for electricity you export.
That requires a certified installation and an export meter point, which a self-installed plug-in kit
does not have — see SEG payments and plug-in
solar. Everything the kit is worth to you is electricity you use in the house at the moment it is
generated, which is why our
plug-in solar savings calculator values
exported units at zero.
Frequently asked questions
Can I be refused?
Not for a compliant device notified under G98. Your operator is being informed, not asked.
Does my DNO change if I switch supplier?
No. It is fixed by the address.
I have two meters at one property. Which DNO?
The same one, in almost every case — both MPANs will start with the same two digits. Check both.
I moved house. Do I notify again?
Yes. The device moves with you, so notify the operator at the new address, and tell the old
operator that the device has been removed from the old one.
Is there a national register I can check instead?
Not for consumers. The nearest equivalent is the ENA’s
Type Test
Register, which lists compliant generating devices rather than addresses, and which you will need
when you fill in the form.
Sources.
Energy Networks Association, find my network operator ·
SI
2026/848 ·
DESNZ, plug-in solar consultation and government response, July 2026 ·
ENA Type Test
Register. The distributor ID table is our own compilation and is offered as a cross-check on the
ENA lookup, not as a substitute for it. How we check things.