Northern Powergrid Holdings Company (formerly CE Electric UK Funding Company) is an
electrical distribution company based in
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
in England. It is the owner of Northern Powergrid (Northeast) plc (formerly Northern Electric Distribution Limited (NEDL)) and Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc (formerly Yorkshire Electricity Distribution plc (YEDL)) which are the
distribution network operator
A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...
s for the North East England and Yorkshire regions and the
North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...
area.
History
The company was created after the takeover of
Northern Electric
Northern Electric was an electricity supply and distribution company serving north east England.
History
It had its origins as the North Eastern Electricity Board, formed as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Ele ...
by
CalEnergy in 1996. The company disposed of the supply business of Northern Electric to
Innogy plc in 2001 in exchange for the distribution business of
Yorkshire Electricity. Thus it represents the electricity distribution systems of the former
North Eastern Electricity Board
North Eastern Electricity Board was an electricity distribution utility in England, serving the North East of England.
History
Formed as the North Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB) in 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity indust ...
and
Yorkshire Electricity Board, which were privatised in 1990.
Network
Northern Powergrid is an electricity distribution business, delivering electricity on behalf of suppliers from the national transmission system to 3.9 million domestic and business customers.
Covering an area of 25,000 square kilometres, Northern Powergrid's network extends from north Northumberland, south to the Humber and northern Lincolnshire, and from the east coast to the Pennines. The network consists of more than 63,000 substations and around 96,000 kilometres of overhead line and underground cables.
Ownership and structure
Northern Powergrid is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
On 1 November 2011 Northern Powergrid was rebranded from CE Electric UK. The new name is intended to give a better customer representation of the business, its location and operations.
Company Criticism
In November 2021, the United Kingdom was affected by
Storm Arwen which led to strong winds and snow which battered the UK on the 25th to the 28th. Over 240,000 people lost supply in the Northern Powergrid region, with their region being the worst affected. The storm was considered so severe for Northern Powergrid, they declared an internal emergency on the 26th, when the worst of the storm struck.
Over 290 incidents of damage were reported on the network on the 27th, while the wind was too high to allow engineers to repair the failing infrastructure. 10 days later, at least 1,600 homes were still disconnected.
A report was published by the government, highlighting key failures from Northern PowerGrid.
The company was required to pay out compensation to affected households and businesses.
References
External links
Northern Powergrid
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{{Electricity generation in North East England
{{Energy in the United Kingdom, companies
Berkshire Hathaway
Companies based in Tyne and Wear
Electric power companies of the United Kingdom
Distribution companies of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne
1996 establishments in England
Energy companies established in 1996
Companies established in 1996