Upgrade or reduce your supply

Do you need to upgrade the capacity of your commercial connection to accommodate more electrical goods? Or not using your full capacity and looking to reduce it? Find out how to amend your assigned capacity below.

Maximum Import Capacity

All half hourly metered customers are allocated a standard Maximum Import Capacity (MIC). Many of these are legacy values from when the site was first connected, and the allocated capacity remains unchanged unless requested to be increased or decreased by the customer.

kVA is a measurement of apparent power, and tells you the total amount of power in use in a system. The Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) value should reflect the maximum amount of power that should be consumed. You may need to upgrade your kVA to accommodate more electrical goods or reduce your kVA if you are not using as much electricity. Did you know that you could be charged up to twice as much if you are using more than your allocated capacity? This will be reflected in the electricity bill you receive from your supplier which outlines how much kVA you are using each month. There will be no charge associated with reducing your MIC, however increasing your MIC could result in the need for reinforcement of the network in order to cope with the additional demand.

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.

Maximum Export Capacity

Maximum Export Capacity (MEC) is the amount of electricity that may be exported onto the Electricity North West Distribution System.

For any variations to your MEC, please email us at connectionapplications@enwl.co.uk.

Residential and small business queries

If your query relates to a change of supply at a residential property or small business, please email our Connections team using the link below or phone 0800 988 1730.

Email us

Commercial capacity queries

If your query relates to a change in capacity at a commercial property, please email our team using the link below.

Email us

Electric vehicles and heat pumps

To upgrade your supply to accommodate an electric vehicle charge (EV) point or heat pump, please visit the EV and heat pump pages using the link below.

Our progress so far

We have been contacting customers that are consistently over or under achieving their assigned capacity to ensure that their capacity is in line with their demand and that they are charged appropriately by their electricity supplier. The below graph shows some of the benefits this has brought to both our customers and the network.

Change or upgrade.PNG

Costs are estimated based on previous 12 months maximum demand data of customers and 2020/2021 Distribution Use of System Charges (DUoS) charges; and assumes Maximum Import Capacities (MICs) were changed as a direct result of notifications sent.

If you are installing new electrical equipment at your property you may need to increase the size of your supply. Domestic properties have a standard supply of up to 20kW - this is a single phase supply.

If you require an electricity supply over 20kW, you may need to apply for an amp increase or an increase from a single phase to a three phase supply. please visit our 1-4 properties page where you can find the relevant application form and contact information.

1-4 properties

Maximum demand (MD) is the maximum amount of power drawn from the network at any one time during a billing period. Your MD should not exceed the agreed MIC value - and if it does - excess capacity charges are applied.

These charges are passed from Electricity North West to your supplier and are reflected in your monthly electricity bill.

The full set of charges per connection voltage can be found on our current charging information page.

Click here

We understand that sometimes customers require an increased security of supply. Whilst we endeavour to keep supplies operating without interruption there are periods where it is sometimes necessary to curtail supplies or, where is cannot be avoided, supplies may be temperately disconnected. Customers can opt to request a greater security of supply as part of our connections processes. For existing supplies with connection agreements the terms of your security of supply can be found within your connection agreement. 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 require some additional works and so 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.

Upgrade or reduce your supply