Supporting our customers

Keeping you updated is important to us so ensuring we have your latest contact details is key.

If your power supply is ever interrupted we can help keep you informed by sending text updates and it will also help speed up any payments should we not meet industry guaranteed standards and you are eligible for compensation.

Contact our team on 105 to update your details. 

Protecting your data is important to us and you can view our privacy policy.

We follow a strict code of practice and any visit to your home will either be from a member of our team, or from an appointed contractor working on our behalf.

We make sure that all our colleagues and contractors are familiar with our code of practice and keep to it at all times. If you have any doubts about whether a caller is genuine, do not let them in and call us on 105 to speak with a member of our team for advice.

To help you feel safe and comfortable when we visit your home, you can also ask us to use a password. If you would like to set up a password, call us on 0800 169 2996.

In addition to our own discretionary welfare support arrangements for customers affected by a long-duration power cut, we work with a range of partners who can provide welfare support if your power may be affected for an extended period, e.g. following severe weather and network damage.

We work with British Red Cross to support our most vulnerable customers. We also work with local resilience partners, such as local authorities and emergency services, who are responsible for coordinating support to local people in an emergency. We work in partnership with them and offer location guidance to ensure any support provided benefits the most customers.

We provide linked-up services for people who, due to a disability, find communicating via telephone difficult.

Minicom enables customers to communicate via a keyboard attached to their phone. Minicom/Textphone 0800 028 9507. Lines are open: 24/7. Text Relay is a service which uses an intermediary to relay text conversations. Text Relay – Prefix 18001 then 0800 169 2996. Lines are open: 24/7. 

You can also contact us using British Sign Language through our InterpretersLive! service (lines are open 24/7).  If English isn’t your first language, call our Priority Services line on 0800 169 2996 and we can arrange an interpreter to support you.

Almost nine out of 10 of our customers are satisfied with the services we provide according to the industry Broad Measure of Customer Satisfaction. 

We are committed to continually improving services for our customers. We've invested in our web and telephony systems, increased our call centre capacity, introduced enhanced voice services to provide mass messaging and we are growing our customer service team.

As part of our 2023-28 business plan, which was shaped with the views of around 18,000 customers, we will further improve the quality and range of services we offer. 

If you feel you’ve received a high standard of service, we’d love to hear about it so we can share it with our colleagues who work every day to power your life. Equally, if you have suggestions on how we can further improve our services, we’d welcome your feedback.

If you wish to raise a complaint, you can email us, call us on freephone 0800 781 8848 or write to our Customer Care Operations Manager and send Freepost (no stamp required) to: RSXE-RCZX-XKBL Northern Powergrid, Manor House, Station Road, Penshaw, Houghton-le-Spring DH4 7LA 

We are committed to delivering a quality service for our customers and we have Guaranteed Standards to ensure we appropriately and fairly recognise disruption to our customers.

All electricity distribution network operators follow national Guaranteed Standards for service, which are set by the industry regulator. As a minimum, if your property is affected by a power cut lasting more than 12 hours we will proactively contact you with a payment which is more than the average domestic customer's total annual Northern Powergrid network-related charges (which appear as part of your bill from your chosen electricity supplier).

Being a force for good goes beyond our network which powers peoples' everyday lives. It includes everything from making a positive contribution to the communities we work and live in, to creating a cleaner, greener energy system that everyone can benefit from.

We have a range of partnerships in place to support our customers and the communities we serve.

If you need energy advice or have money worries and want to reduce your energy costs from your chosen supplier you can find out more or access free support through our partners.

If you're passionate about customer service and think you could help us deliver outstanding service, visit our careers page to find out about opportunities.

You could be part of the team that powers everyday life for 8 million customers across 3.9 million homes and businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire and is helping create a greener energy system to help our region achieve Net Zero emission.