The MPAN: your electricity supply number

MPAN stands for Meter Point Administration Number. It is the unique reference for an electricity supply point: 21 digits, sometimes printed as the supply number or S number. Every electricity meter point has one, and it identifies the supply to the network, to suppliers and to anyone quoting for your business.

It is not the meter serial number. The serial number identifies the physical meter on the wall; the MPAN identifies the supply point, and it stays the same when the meter is exchanged.

On a bill, the MPAN is usually printed in a box marked with a large S, split across two rows of numbers. It may sit on the first page or in the charges breakdown, depending on the supplier.

If there is no bill, the distribution network operator for the area can confirm it from the address. The first two digits of the MPAN identify which network operator that is.

The top row describes how the supply is metered and charged: the profile class, which indicates the type of supply; the meter timeswitch code, which covers how many registers the meter runs; and the line loss factor, which reflects network losses for the site.

The bottom row is the core of the number: the distributor identifier, which names the network region, then the unique reference for the supply point, then a check digit used to catch transcription errors.

You do not need to decode it yourself. What matters is quoting it exactly, in full, because a single wrong digit points at a different supply.

Every quote, contract, switch and capacity change is raised against the MPAN. On a single site that is simple. Across a portfolio, a transposed digit or a supply recorded against the wrong site is how contracts end up covering the wrong meter, and how bills go unchecked.

The gas equivalent is the MPRN, the Meter Point Reference Number, which does the same job for a gas supply.

We hold the MPAN and MPRN for every supply we manage, checked against the meter record and the contract, so a quote or a query is raised against the right supply the first time.