Why your DNO region matters
Octopus Agile prices vary by region across Great Britain. A household in North Scotland may pay 2p per kWh overnight while a household in London pays 8p for the same half-hour slot. These are not the same prices, and using the wrong region on AgileAlert means every number you see is wrong.
Your DNO - Distribution Network Operator - is the company that owns and maintains the physical cables and equipment that deliver electricity to your home. Great Britain has 14 of them. Your postcode determines which one serves your area, and that determines which Agile price zone applies to you.
Finding your DNO takes under two minutes using any of the three methods below.
Method 1: enter your postcode on the Energy Networks Association site
This is the fastest and most reliable method. Go to energynetworks.org and look for the network map or postcode checker tool. Enter your full postcode - including the space - and the tool returns your DNO immediately.
The result shows the company name and often the regional brand name. For example, you might see "Northern Powergrid" or "UK Power Networks Eastern". Keep that name to hand - you will cross-reference it with the list of Agile regions below.
This method works for anyone, regardless of who your current energy supplier is. It takes roughly 30 seconds from start to finish.
Method 2: find it on your electricity bill
Your paper or PDF electricity bill contains your DNO information, though it is not always labelled prominently. Look for the following on your bill:
Search for the term "Distribution Network Operator" or the abbreviation "DNO." It often appears near your MPAN - the 13-digit Meter Point Administration Number that uniquely identifies your electricity supply point. On some bills, the DNO is listed as the network company rather than your energy supplier, because they are different organisations.
On bills from suppliers like British Gas, EDF, E.ON, or Octopus, the network company is typically named in the breakdown of charges. You may see a line item for "distribution use of system" or "DUoS charges" attributed to a specific network operator. That company is your DNO.
If you cannot find it on the first page, check the detailed tariff breakdown page. It is always there somewhere - suppliers are required to include it.
Method 3: check in the Octopus Energy app
If you are already an Octopus Energy customer, the simplest route is through your account. Open the Octopus Energy app or log in at octopus.energy. Navigate to "My Account" and then to your meter details or property information section.
Your meter details include your MPAN and, alongside it, your DNO. Octopus surfaces this information cleanly because regional pricing is central to how their smart tariffs work. The app will show the full DNO name.
This method only works if you are already an Octopus customer. If you are with another supplier, use Method 1 or 2 instead.
The 14 UK DNO regions: which one are you in?
Great Britain has 14 Distribution Network Operator regions. Here is a brief guide to the geographic area each one covers, so you can cross-check what you find using the methods above.
- North Scotland (SSEN North) - Highlands, Islands, and far north
- South Scotland (SP Distribution) - Central Belt, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway
- North East England (Northern Powergrid) - Northumberland, Durham, Tyne and Wear, parts of Yorkshire
- North West England (Electricity North West) - Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria
- Yorkshire (Northern Powergrid Yorkshire) - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding
- North Wales and Merseyside (SP Manweb) - Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales
- East Midlands (Western Power Distribution East Midlands / National Grid) - Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire
- West Midlands (Western Power Distribution West Midlands / National Grid) - Birmingham, Coventry, Staffordshire, Worcestershire
- Eastern England (UK Power Networks EPN) - Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire
- London (UK Power Networks LPN) - Greater London
- South East England (UK Power Networks SPN) - Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey
- South (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks South) - Hampshire, Isle of Wight, parts of Berkshire and Oxfordshire
- South West England (Western Power Distribution South West / National Grid) - Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset
- South Wales (Western Power Distribution South Wales / National Grid) - South Wales and parts of Herefordshire
Northern Ireland is not included. The Northern Irish grid operates under a separate system - NIESO and SONI - and Octopus Agile is not available there. Agile covers England, Scotland, and Wales only.
Setting your region on AgileAlert
Once you know your region, setting it on AgileAlert takes about ten seconds. Open the dashboard and locate the region selector, which appears as a dropdown near the top of the price chart. Select your DNO region from the list. The half-hourly price chart updates immediately to show your region's rates for today and tomorrow.
Your selection persists in your browser, so you will not need to re-select it on future visits from the same device. If you use AgileAlert on multiple devices, you will need to set the region on each one separately.
If you are not sure whether you have selected correctly, compare the prices you see against a reliable reference point - for example, if you know you are in London, prices should generally be higher than if you are in Scotland. The live dashboard makes the regional differences immediately obvious once you start comparing.