Electricity North West is a British electricity

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 networ ...

, responsible for the administration and maintenance of the network, that distributes electricity to the North West of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Annual Report and Accounts 2012
/ref> excluding Merseyside and parts of Cheshire.

Background and history

Electricity North West Limited is a private limited company registered in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. The company is ultimately owned by long term infrastructure funds managed by Colonial First State Global Asset Management (a member of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Group) and by JP Morgan Investment Management Inc. The principal activity of the group is the distribution of electricity in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

on behalf of the electricity supply companies. Customers receive their electricity bill from their suppliers who pay for use of the electricity network. Electricity North West delivers electricity to five million people, in 2.4 million properties in the North West. The distribution network had originated as NORWEB, the state-owned North West Electricity Board from 1948 to 1990. On 19 December 2007, United Utilities Group plc sold United Utilities Electricity Limited to North West Electricity Networks (Jersey) Limited, a company advised by

Colonial First State Colonial First State (CFS), is an Australian wealth management group that provides investment, superannuation and retirement products to individuals and corporate and superannuation fund investors. History The company was established in 1988 ...

Global Asset Management and the Infrastructure Investment Group, which is advised by

JP Morgan Asset Management JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...

. United Utilities operated and maintained North West England's electricity network on behalf of Electricity North West Limited, until June 2010. On 30 June 2010, the company completed the purchase of United Utilities Electricity Services Limited (‘UUES’) from United Utilities Group PLC (‘UU’). The purchase of UUES, which had previously been contracted to operate and maintain the network, established one group which owns, operates, manages and maintains its network. UUES was subsequently renamed Electricity North West Services Limited (‘ENWSL’). In November 2019, Equitix and power firm from Japan,

Kansai Electric Power , also known as , is an electric utility with its operational area of Kansai region, Japan (including the Keihanshin megalopolis). The Kansai region is Japan's second-largest industrial area, and in normal times, its most nuclear-reliant. Befo ...

, acquired a 50% stake in ENW.

Operations

As the

for much of

, Electricity North West owns and is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the network that distributes electricity in the region. This includes the inspection and maintenance of assets which include 13,000 km of overhead lines, 43,000 km of underground cables, and 38,000 transformers.Strategic Direction Statement
/ref>

References

{{Energy in the United Kingdom, companies Electric power distribution network operators in the United Kingdom British companies established in 2007 Companies based in Warrington