IN Brief:
- Ofgem has opened consultation on notice-period options for electricity distribution network charges at the start of ED3.
- The next electricity distribution price control begins in April 2028 and runs to 2033.
- Distribution network operators have asked Ofgem to consider reducing the current 15-month notice period.
Ofgem has opened consultation on notice-period options for electricity distribution network charges during the transition to the next electricity distribution price control.
RIIO-ED3 is due to begin in April 2028 and will run until 2033. The consultation covers the notice period that should apply to network charges for the first two years of the new control. Distribution network operators have asked the regulator to consider a derogation from the current 15-month notice period and have proposed options for reducing it.
The consultation is open until 20 August 2026. Ofgem plans to make its final decision by the end of September 2026. Responses are invited from energy suppliers, network companies, generators, and non-domestic consumers, with submissions directed to duos@ofgem.gov.uk.
Distribution network charges are a major part of the cost framework for electricity users and market participants. They influence suppliers, generators, large commercial users, industrial loads, embedded generation, storage projects, EV charging operators, and flexibility providers. The length of notice before charges take effect affects budgeting, tariff setting, procurement, investment appraisal, and contract management.
A shorter notice period can give network companies and the regulator more flexibility to align charges with updated settlement information, demand forecasts, allowed revenue, and price-control decisions. It can also reduce the risk that early charge publications are based on assumptions that later prove inaccurate. The trade-off is reduced forward visibility for customers and suppliers that need to plan costs well ahead of delivery.
The issue is especially sensitive at the start of ED3. The price control will shape how Britain’s distribution network operators invest in capacity, resilience, automation, asset replacement, flexibility, and customer service from 2028 to 2033. Network charging arrangements sit alongside that settlement because they determine how allowed revenue is recovered from users.
ED3 will arrive as distribution systems face rising demand from EV charging, heat pumps, industrial electrification, data centres, local generation, storage, and new connection requests. The charging framework needs to support cost recovery without creating unnecessary volatility for users making long-term investment decisions.
The wider ED3 resilience debate already centres on business planning, flexibility, uncertainty mechanisms, and the need to justify expenditure through engineering evidence. The notice-period consultation is narrower, although it belongs to the same regulatory cycle.
For suppliers, notice periods affect how network costs are reflected in tariffs and customer contracts. For large users, they influence cost forecasting and exposure to network charge changes. For generators and storage operators, distribution charges can alter project economics, especially where margins depend on trading spreads, local network arrangements, or connection-specific assumptions.
The consultation also reflects a wider shift toward more adaptive regulation. Electricity distribution is becoming harder to forecast because demand growth is uneven and technology adoption varies by location. A local cluster of EV chargers, heat pumps, solar PV, or industrial electrification can change network reinforcement needs faster than traditional planning cycles anticipated.
Ofgem’s ED3 methodology already uses uncertainty mechanisms, volume drivers, reopeners, and pass-through costs to manage that uncertainty. Charging notice periods are another part of the same problem: how to give enough certainty for planning while keeping the regulatory framework responsive to updated information.
The current 15-month notice period gives market participants long visibility. Reducing it could make charges more accurate but would shorten the planning window. The balance depends on whether the benefit of more timely cost data outweighs the disruption caused by later charge confirmation.
The decision expected by the end of September 2026 will shape the transition into ED3 and set the charging timetable for the first two years of the new control. A technical regulatory change will therefore feed directly into electricity cost planning across the distribution system.
