The week in a minuteConnections, VAT and the kettle
Ofgem's two consultations on network connections close today, so if a late connection has ever cost you a job, today is the day to say so. Household electricity now carries no VAT until July 2027, while the law has just made clear that public and workplace charging still pays the full rate. A government review has also put numbers on what public charging costs. In Lunch and learn we watch a charger back off on a busy evening, and the kettle turns out to be mostly innocent.
Rules and regsClosing today, and VAT two ways
Ofgem's connections consultations close today
Proposal · responses by 6 November 2026Ofgem is consulting on minimum service standards for connections, on keeping to the dates it gives and on a standard route for disputes, with a second consultation on connections data. Both cover the larger connections. Single homes and small housing developments get a separate programme later. Guidance is expected in early 2027, and Ofgem is asking whether the new licence duties should start in summer 2027 or in April 2028.
- Who it affects
- Anyone whose job needs a larger connection from the DNO (the local network operator), such as a depot or a public hub. A single home is not covered.
- What to do
- If a connection date slipped on one of your jobs, today is the last day to tell Ofgem, through either consultation page.
Our take: the smaller connections programme is the one most domestic installers will feel, and we will watch for it.
Sources: Ofgem, Transforming the connections experience · Ofgem, Transforming connections data
No VAT on household electricity until July 2027
In force from 1 October 2026Household electricity in Great Britain has carried no VAT since 1 October 2026. The Budget on 28 October extended the cut "through the winter and spring to July", and the energy department says until July 2027, with no day given. HMRC's note still shows the first end date, 31 March 2027, so expect that to catch up. Northern Ireland stays at 5 %.
- Who it affects
- Households in England, Scotland and Wales, and anyone quoting them a running cost.
- What to do
- Leave VAT off the electricity when you show a customer what home charging costs, until July 2027. It is for household supplies only, so business sites still pay it.
Sources: GOV.UK, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero · Budget speech, 28 October 2026 · HMRC note
Public and workplace charging keeps its VAT
In force from 1 November 2026HMRC says legislation taking effect on 1 November 2026 confirms that electricity sold through a charge point open to the public, or one at a workplace for staff and contractors, is not for domestic use. That means the standard rate of VAT, and Climate Change Levy, whatever happens to household bills. HMRC says this puts its long-standing view on a legal footing after a tribunal case went the other way. Charging that comes through a home's own supply, or a stand-alone point for private residential use, can still get the domestic relief.
- Who it affects
- Charge point operators, and any business or landlord whose staff or visitors pay to charge.
- What to do
- When you give a workplace or public site customer a running cost, show the electricity with VAT at the standard rate. For a car park in a block of flats, point the customer to HMRC's notice, because the brief does not cover shared residents' bays directly.
The week in chargingNews from the trade
- What public charging costs. A government review published on 28 October found average prices in its sample of 54p a kWh at standard public chargers and 79p at rapid and ultra-rapid ones, and estimated that operators now pay standing charges 83 % to 283 % higher than in 2021. One of its five recommendations is letting drivers use their home tariff at a public charger. GOV.UK
- £100 million for slower chargers near homes. From spring 2027 the government will put £100 million over two years into bringing prices down at lower-powered public chargers, about a third of the network. A taskforce will look at using home tariffs away from home, and the Department for Transport will say more later. GOV.UK
- A new edition of the DC charging standard. BSI lists BS EN IEC 61851-23:2026+A11:2026 as published on 31 October. It is written for the people who make DC chargers, and it is the number you will start seeing on their data sheets. BSI
- October's registrations. SMMT says battery electric cars took 32.0 % of new car registrations in October 2026, 48,858 of them, and 26.6 % so far this year against the 33 % the mandate asks for. Electric vans had their best October yet at 3,369, or 12.9 % of the market, and SMMT again says van-friendly public charging and quicker depot grid connections are what is missing. SMMT, cars · SMMT, vans
Number of the weekWhat a unit costs at home
26.32p
The average price of a unit (1 kWh) of electricity under Ofgem's price cap, paying by Direct Debit, from 1 October to 31 December 2026, with no VAT. The standing charge is 54.83p a day. Put that next to the 54p a kWh the review found at a standard public charger and the case for a home charger makes itself. Ofgem
Lunch and learnWhat load management does when the kettle goes on
Most houses cannot take a 32 A charger on top of a busy evening without some help, and a load limiter is that help. A CT clamp (a current sensor that closes around a cable) goes on the incoming line conductor, usually at the meter tails, and reads the whole supply, car included. The charger takes its own current off that reading to find the house load, then charges with whatever is left under a limit set at commissioning, a little below the main fuse and never at it.
The figure follows one evening at a house with a 100 A fuse and a 90 A limit. With the oven and hob on, the house draws 34 A and the car still gets its full 32 A (7.4 kW). The kettle adds 13 A and nothing changes. Once it has boiled, someone turns on a 41 A shower, the house reaches 75 A and the charger turns down to 15 A. Put the kettle on again during the shower and only 2 A is left, below the 6 A minimum, so the charger pauses. When both go off, it goes back up to 32 A on its own.
So the kettle gets the blame, and the shower does most of the work. The charger only ever turns the car down, never the house. Keep the clamp's sensor cable radial, never daisy-chained, and check how the charger, car and controller behave, including what happens if the signal is lost.
Three quick questions
- Where does the CT clamp go?
Show the answer
Around the incoming line conductor, usually at the meter tails, so it reads the whole supply. - On a 100 A main fuse, should the charger's limit be set at 100 A?
Show the answer
No. Set it a little below the fuse, such as 90 A, never at it. - What does the charger do when less than 6 A is left under its limit?
Show the answer
It pauses, then starts again by itself when the house load drops.
More in the guide CT-clamp load limiting for tight supplies.
From the vanGodalming, 145 years on
This month in 1881, Godalming in Surrey got electric street lighting. A generator at Westbrook Mill, driven by two waterwheels, fed three 250 V arc lights at the mill and, by overhead cable along Mill Street, four more in the town centre. A separate 40 V circuit ran 34 ordinary lamps. By the end of the year the generator had moved behind the White Hart pub onto a steam engine. The reviews were mixed: the town's lights were too dim and the mill's too bright. In 1884 the contract was not renewed and Godalming went back to gas. Some customers have always been hard to please. Wikipedia
Planner tipThe DNO pack does the reading for you
On the Issue page, the DNO application pack reads the network operator from the first two digits of the MPAN core (the 13-digit number on the bill), gives the likely route from the ENA criteria, and makes one PDF with your plans, the diagram and the supply photos. Open the planner
EV Site Planner assists site design decisions. It does not certify electrical work. Check every rule against the source before acting on it.