UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Tom Sprange KC, Andrea Stauber, Martina Antosova and Lucy Pearson, King & Spalding International LLP
A collection of detailed codes and agreements, known as the industry documents or industry codes, govern the rights and obligations of the companies that participate in the electric- ity industry. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is involved in the modification processes for most of these industry documents and requires, under the terms of the licences granted under the Electricity Act 1989, that: • each licensed company is a party to each agreement and complies with each code that is relevant to its licensable activities (as speci- fied in the licence); and • network companies (eg, National Grid or a Distribution Network Operator (DNO)) or NESO maintain and provide for the adminis- tration of key industry documents. 1.2 Principal State-Owned or Investor- Owned Entities Generation As of 16 May 2025, there are 631 electricity gen- eration licences in Great Britain. Key operators include Drax Power, EDF Energy, Engie, RWE, Scottish Power and SSE. As of 16 May 2025, there are 73 electricity gen- eration licences in Northern Ireland. Transmission In Great Britain, transmission is owned and oper- ated by NESO (who took over from National Grid Electricity Transmission plc on 1 October 2024) in England and Wales, SP Transmission plc in central and southern Scotland, and Scot- tish Hydro Electric Transmission plc (trading as SSEN) in northern Scotland. As of 16 May 2025, there are 30 transmission licence holders in Great Britain.
SONI, a subsidiary of EirGrid plc, holds the transmission system operator licence for North- ern Ireland. NIE Networks Limited and Moyle Interconnector Limited also hold transmission licences. Distribution As of 16 May 2025, there are 14 electricity distri- bution licensees and 22 independent electricity distribution licensees in Great Britain. The distri- bution licensees are: • Eastern Power Networks plc; • Electricity North West Ltd; • London Power Networks plc; • National Grid Electricity Distributions (East Midlands) plc; • National Grid Electricity Distributions (South Wales) plc; • National Grid Electricity Distributions (South West) plc; • National Grid Electricity Distributions (West Midlands) plc; • Northern Powergrid (Northeast) Ltd; • Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc; • Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc; • South Eastern Power Networks plc; • Southern Electric Power Distribution plc; • SP Distribution plc; and • SP Manweb plc. In Northern Ireland, NIE Networks Limited holds a distribution licence. Sales to End-User Consumers As of 16 May 2025, there are 65 domestic and non-domestic suppliers and 39 non-domestic suppliers in Great Britain. The main suppliers include: • British Gas (owned by Centrica plc);
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