The Electricity Industry

Electricity is generated in power stations by companies known as generators.  (For more information about generators, click here).  In the UK there is competition between generators to sell their electricity to suppliers.

Suppliers sell their electricity to customers.  In the UK, there is also competition between suppliers.  You get your electricity bill from your supplier.  (For more information about electricity suppliers, click here).  If you do not know who your supplier is, you can contact us and we can tell you.

Electricity is delivered from the power station to the customer through electricity cables.  In England and Wales, large power stations connect direct to the National Grid which operates the National Transmission System of lines running at 400,000 or 275,000 volts.  Distribution network operators, each covering a particular area of the country, take this electricity, convert it to lower voltages and deliver it to customers.  (Click here for more information about distribution companies in general).  Some smaller power stations (for example, wind farms) may connect direct to distribution systems.