Who runs the network in Liverpool
Great Britain's local electricity networks are run by a handful of distribution network operators, each licensed for an area. In Liverpool it is SP Energy Networks, which says it owns and operates networks in central and southern Scotland and in Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and North Shropshire; the English and Welsh area is its SP Manweb licence. It runs the substations, underground cables and service cables up to your meter. Your supplier, the company that sends the bill, is a different business, and you cannot choose your network operator.
Why a heat pump has to be reported
A heat pump draws a steady load for long periods in cold weather, and in a street of terraces the same cable can feed dozens of homes. The network operator needs to know where those loads are so that it can plan reinforcement before cables and substations run short. That is why every heat pump connection has to be reported, and why the installer, not the homeowner, normally does the reporting.
MCS, the certification scheme for heat pump installers, describes two routes:
- Connect and notify. Where the home's maximum demand, including the heat pump, stays within 60A, the installer can fit the heat pump and then notify the network operator within 28 days.
- Apply to connect. Where the maximum demand would be between 60A to 100A, the installer applies before connecting, and the operator assesses the application within 10 working days.
Ask the installer which route applies to your home and to confirm in writing that it will make the notification or application.
What the installer checks at the house
- The main fuse. The rating on the cut-out sets how much the home can draw. The installer adds the heat pump to the home's existing loads to work out the maximum demand.
- The service cable and cut-out. Older equipment may need replacing by the network operator before a large new load is added.
- A shared supply. Some older terraces share a service cable with a neighbour, a so-called looped supply. The network operator may need to separate them before a heat pump is added.
- The consumer unit. A heat pump needs its own circuit and protection, which may mean a new consumer unit inside the home.
None of this is unusual, and most of it is routine. The point is to know before the installation date, because work by the network operator runs to its own timetable.
Flats and electric-heated homes
In 2021, 23.2% of Liverpool households lived in flats, where supplies can run through a shared intake and meter room. Adding a heat pump to one flat is still a matter for that flat's supply, but access to the shared equipment is a question for the building's owner. For the 20,288 households heated by electricity alone, a heat pump can reduce the electricity needed for heating, though the change of load still has to be assessed and reported in the same way. The 1,107 households on heat networks are outside this: their heat comes from a shared plant.
Tariffs and meters
A heat pump can run on any domestic tariff, but some households choose a tariff designed for heat pumps or for cheaper electricity at certain times. That is a choice between you and your supplier, not the network operator. If a smart meter is needed for a particular tariff, the supplier arranges it.