Regional pricing explained

Energy prices in Great Britain are not identical everywhere. The unit rate you pay per kWh and the daily standing charge can both depend on your postcode, your meter type and how you pay.

That matters when you compare Octopus tariffs. A national average price-cap figure is useful background, but it is not the exact rate for your home. The safest comparison is always your own postcode, your own meter and your own annual usage.

The short version

If you only remember one thing, remember this: use postcode-specific rates.

Octopus and Ofgem both publish average or regional rates, but your bill is built from the tariff attached to your supply address. Two households with the same usage can pay different amounts if they are in different electricity distribution areas, have different meter setups or pay in different ways.

Regional pricing is not a special Octopus rule. It is part of how energy network costs are recovered across Great Britain.

The 14 electricity regions

Great Britain is divided into 14 electricity distribution regions. These are often called distribution areas, DNO regions or GSP groups. Octopus tariff codes use the same single-letter region suffixes.

The electricity regions and their common letter codes are:

Code	Region
A	Eastern England
B	East Midlands
C	London
D	Merseyside and North Wales
E	West Midlands
F	North Eastern England
G	North Western England
H	Southern England
J	South Eastern England
K	South Wales
L	South Western England
M	Yorkshire
N	Southern Scotland
P	Northern Scotland

The letter I is skipped to avoid confusion with the number 1. In the Octopus API, these usually appear with an underscore, for example _C for London or _P for Northern Scotland.

MPAN distributor IDs

Your electricity MPAN, sometimes called the supply number, includes a distributor ID. This is the two-digit number that identifies the electricity distribution area for the supply.

Distributor ID	Code	Region
10	A	Eastern England
11	B	East Midlands
12	C	London
13	D	Merseyside and North Wales
14	E	West Midlands
15	F	North Eastern England
16	G	North Western England
17	P	Northern Scotland
18	N	Southern Scotland
19	J	South Eastern England
20	H	Southern England
21	K	South Wales
22	L	South Western England
23	M	Yorkshire

This page previously used a neat numerical sequence after 16, which was too tidy and wrong for several regions. If you are checking a real bill, trust the MPAN distributor ID, the supplier’s tariff details or the Octopus postcode lookup rather than a guessed sequence.

Why prices differ between regions

A large part of the difference comes from network costs: the cost of maintaining and upgrading the pipes, wires, substations and other infrastructure that gets energy to homes.

Those costs are not identical in every area. Rural networks, coastal regions, denser cities, older infrastructure and areas with more network reinforcement needs can all have different cost profiles. Ofgem then reflects regional cost differences in the capped rates for default tariffs. Suppliers also price many fixed and smart tariffs region by region.

It is tempting to say one region is always cheap and another is always expensive. That can be misleading. The answer can change by quarter, payment method, meter type and tariff. Standing charges and unit rates can also move in opposite directions, so the cheapest region for one usage pattern is not automatically the cheapest for another.

How Octopus uses regional tariff codes

Octopus tariff codes normally include the product, the meter type and the region suffix. For example, an electricity tariff code ending in -C is for London, while one ending in -P is for Northern Scotland.

The Octopus API also groups tariff data by region. A product response may show regional keys such as _A, _B, _C and so on. For postcode lookups, Octopus has a public endpoint that returns the GSP group for a postcode:

https://api.octopus.energy/v1/industry/grid-supply-points/?postcode=SW1A1AA

For that example postcode, the current response returns _C, the London electricity region. Use this as a lookup aid, not as a substitute for checking the actual rates offered to your address.

Gas regions are separate

Gas has its own network geography. The gas distribution regions do not map neatly onto the 14 electricity areas. Gas regional variation is usually less obvious to customers than electricity regional variation.

The practical advice is the same: use postcode-specific tariff details. Do not assume your gas and electricity region labels will line up perfectly.

Why this matters for Octopus comparisons

Regional pricing affects several common comparisons:

• Flexible Octopus versus the price cap. Ofgem’s headline cap rate is a GB average. Your Flexible rate can vary by region, payment method and meter type.
• Go and Intelligent Octopus Go. The cheap window is the headline feature, but the day rate and standing charge still vary by postcode.
• Agile and Tracker. Regional formulas and standing charges mean two homes can see different costs even if they shift usage in the same way.
• Export and solar decisions. Import rates, standing charges and export rates need to be considered together, especially if a household has a battery.

The tariff comparison tool on this site asks for a postcode so it can pull the right regional rates rather than relying on national averages.

How to check your own region and rates

The simplest route is to check your Octopus account or app. Your tariff details should show the exact unit rates and standing charges for your property.

You can also:

1. enter your postcode on the relevant Octopus tariff page
2. check your latest bill or tariff information label
3. look at the distributor ID in your electricity MPAN
4. use the Octopus postcode-to-GSP API endpoint if you are comfortable with technical checks
5. compare against Ofgem’s regional price-cap tables if you are on a standard variable tariff

For current Octopus tariff prices, use the relevant tariff page rather than a copied rate table. Rates can change, with the right number depending on the address and product.

Can you change region?

No. Your region is tied to the supply address. You can choose tariff, payment method and sometimes meter setup, but you cannot choose a different electricity distribution region for the same property.

This does not mean regional pricing is pointless to understand. It helps you avoid bad comparisons. A tariff screenshot from another postcode, a forum post from another region or a national average can all be useful clues, but they are not your quote.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has a separate electricity market and is not covered by the 14 Great Britain electricity regions listed above. Octopus does operate in Northern Ireland through a different setup, with different tariffs and pricing. This site mainly covers England, Scotland and Wales.