Energy prices by region
Great Britain’s electricity is priced by fourteen distribution regions. Each is served by one network operator, each has its own Ofgem price cap, and which one a household is in is decided by where the property is rather than by who supplies it.
Why your region changes your bill
The cost of getting electricity to a property is not the same everywhere. Long overhead lines across sparse country cost more per household to build, maintain and repair than dense urban cable that serves thousands from one substation. Those costs are recovered through the standing charge and the unit rate, so Ofgem caps each region separately.
The result is that two identical households on identical tariffs pay different amounts, and neither has done anything differently. The spread is not trivial: the table below is the current cap period, and the gap between the cheapest and dearest region is visible at a glance.
Every region, cheapest first
Ofgem cap · Direct Debit · 14 regions
| Region | Electricity unit rate | Standing charge | Typical dual fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 25.10p | 53.60p a day | £1,611 |
| North East England | 25.22p | 64.29p a day | £1,663 |
| Yorkshire | 25.31p | 64.38p a day | £1,664 |
| West Midlands | 25.33p | 59.71p a day | £1,648 |
| Southern Scotland | 25.85p | 64.17p a day | £1,674 |
| North West England | 26.13p | 47.61p a day | £1,621 |
| South Wales | 26.33p | 57.84p a day | £1,682 |
| London | 26.35p | 44.78p a day | £1,642 |
| Eastern England | 26.38p | 53.94p a day | £1,651 |
| South West England | 26.39p | 57.89p a day | £1,686 |
| Southern England | 26.42p | 49.70p a day | £1,661 |
| Northern Scotland | 26.42p | 57.55p a day | £1,664 |
| South East England | 26.67p | 54.45p a day | £1,672 |
| Merseyside and North Wales | 27.66p | 70.76p a day | £1,748 |
Direct Debit, including VAT at 5%. The typical annual figure is Ofgem’s own illustration for a household using a typical amount of energy, not a limit on what anyone can be charged. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Ofgem.
Which region am I in?
Your bill names it. If it does not, the area energy use page resolves it from a postcode that is never stored — the postcode goes in a request body, is used twice, and is discarded.
Frequently asked questions
How many energy regions are there in Great Britain?
Fourteen. Each is an electricity distribution region served by one network operator, and each has its own Ofgem price cap. Northern Ireland has a separate energy market with its own regulator and is not one of the fourteen.
Which region is the cheapest for electricity?
It changes every time Ofgem resets the cap, which is quarterly, and the answer differs for unit rates, standing charges and the typical annual bill — a region can have the cheapest unit rate and an expensive standing charge. The table on this page is drawn from the current cap period rather than written into the text, so it does not go stale.
Can I choose which energy region I am in?
No. It follows the wires into the property, not the contract. Switching supplier changes who bills you; it does not change which network delivers your electricity or which regional cap applies.
Related reading
Written by
Rob Gibbs
Hi, I'm Rob, and I run Energy-Review.co.uk. I initially started this project in 2018 when I was looking to switch energy suppliers and found there wasn't a website that provided simple, data-backed reviews on all the suppliers available. Since then, I have spent a lot of time (too much, some may say!) looking at all publicly available data about each supplier and writing reviews using this information. These reviews are updated as regularly as possible, and any data is backed up by a source where necessary. I have also started writing guides on various energy-related topics, which hopefully you will find useful. If you find any issues, please use our contact form to let us know.