Central Networks
Central Networks: Electricity distribution
Central Networks, our electricity distribution business, is the second largest in the UK. It covers some 27,000 square kilometres across central England and distributes electricity to 4.9 million homes and businesses via 132,000km of overhead lines and underground cables.
Electricity distributed, TWh
 |
2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|
| Residential and SME | 31.287 | 31.238 |
| Industrial and Commercial | 26.129 | 25.915 |
The amount of electricity we need to send across the network depends on a number of general factors, such as customer numbers and the weather, as well as more specific factors like customer uptake of energy efficiency measures and distributed generation. Domestic and small non-domestic customers make up over 99% of Central Networks' total customer numbers with large non-domestic customers accounting for less than 0.4% but consuming around 45% of the total electricity we supply. So this latter market is the key driver behind the amount of electricity we need to send down the wires.
Over the last two years, the volume of electricity we've distributed has been lower than normal due to mild winter weather and sharp rises in retail electricity prices. Both the industrial and commercial, and the domestic sectors have responded to higher prices and we wait to see if the anticipated reduction in prices will bring an increase in the amount of electricity we need to distribute.
Inevitably when large amounts of electricity are transported around the network, some is lost. Our network losses stand at around 5% of units distributed and are among the lowest in the UK.
Electricity Network Losses, MWh
| 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|
| 3,116,795 | 3,095,990 |
