Find my gas network: postcode finder
Enter your postcode and the finder shows the gas distribution network that covers your area, with its guide page and emergency number. Don't know your postcode? Switch to the region tab. This maps you to the network covering most of your area; a few postcodes sit on a boundary, and the 0800 111 999 emergency line always auto-routes to the right one by your exact location.
Just the first part is enough, for example M1, CF10 or NE1. The result updates as you type.
Region-level matches are reliable across each network's core area.
Owns the gas pipes across .
Your postcode area sits on a boundary between two networks, so parts of it may be served by a different one. The 0800 111 999 line routes by your exact address, and you can confirm your network free at Find My Supplier (Xoserve).
Northern Ireland has three gas networks (Phoenix Natural Gas, firmus energy and SGN Natural Gas), and some areas have no mains gas at all. The emergency number is different: 0800 002 001.
We couldn't match that yet.
Keep typing, switch to the region tab, or use the full reference table below. If you smell gas anywhere in Great Britain, dial 0800 111 999.
Assumptions: each postcode area is mapped to the gas network covering most of it; region results use each network's core territory. Source: the four GDNs' published licence areas. For a guaranteed answer use Find My Supplier (Xoserve). Nothing you type leaves your browser.
The short answer
A gas network (Gas Distribution Network, or GDN) is the company that owns and maintains the pipes carrying gas to your area. It is fixed by your postcode and you cannot switch it. Four companies cover Great Britain across eight licence areas: Cadent, SGN, Northern Gas Networks and Wales and West Utilities. If you smell gas you call the network on 0800 111 999 (free, 24/7), not your supplier. There is no short network code on a gas bill, so the practical way to identify yours is your postcode or the free Find My Supplier tool.
Current figures: last updated 2026-06-25
Network transportation charges change with each Ofgem price-control period. Confirm the live network-cost share via Ofgem and your GDN before relying on it. The number of operators, licence areas, the emergency line and the postcode method are stable.
What a gas distribution network actually does
Picture the gas system as a water network. The National Transmission System is the big trunk main, carrying gas at very high pressure across the country. Your gas network (GDN) owns the local pipes, the street mains and the service pipe up to your meter. Your supplier is the company that sells you the gas and posts you the bill. The network charge on your bill pays for the pipes, not the gas itself.
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1
Transmission: the high-pressure trunk
National Gas Transmission owns and runs the National Transmission System, the high-pressure pipes that move gas from terminals and storage across Great Britain to hundreds of offtake points.
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Distribution: your GDN's pipes
Your GDN takes gas off the trunk at a pressure-reduction station, steps the pressure down, and carries it through street mains and service pipes to your meter. This is the part that leaks, and the only part an engineer can come and make safe.
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Supply: your bill
A supplier buys gas wholesale, pays your GDN a transportation charge, and resells it to you. The supplier is the only link in this chain you can change.
Why the price is capped: the regulated-monopoly reality
Here is the mechanism most people never see. Your GDN is a monopoly. You can't shop around for a different set of pipes, so normal competition can't hold its price down. To stop monopolies overcharging, the regulator Ofgem caps each network's total revenue for years at a time under a framework called RIIO (Revenue = Incentives + Innovation + Outputs).
The consequence matters for your bill: a slice of what you pay funds your GDN whether you use a lot of gas or a little, and that slice is set by Ofgem, not the market. Two identical homes on two different networks can pay slightly different transportation charges for exactly the same gas. That gap is invisible on your bill, and you can't shop your way out of it.
The belief that can be dangerous: "I'll ring my supplier about the gas smell"
When people smell gas, many reach for the company they recognise: the brand on the bill, the supplier. With gas this is not just slow, it can be dangerous, because the supplier cannot send anyone to make a leak safe. Here is why the instinct is wrong.
The surface understanding
"My energy company supplies my gas, so my energy company deals with a leak." The supplier is the only part of the system the customer ever talks to, so the brain assumes it controls everything, including safety.
What's really going on
Your supplier has no pipes, no engineers and no emergency crews. It cannot make a leak safe. Only your gas network can, and the single number 0800 111 999 reaches it directly, 24/7. Calling the supplier first wastes the minutes that matter most.
Why most articles get this wrong
Most "who is my gas network" pages stop at a definition and four logos. That feels complete, but it skips the two things that actually change what you do: how to identify your own network, and why the system is built so the company responsible for safety is invisible to you. A list of logos is no help when you can smell gas in the kitchen.
There's a subtler error too. Some guides imply you can "choose a better gas network" the way you choose a supplier. You can't. Treating the network like a shoppable product sends people hunting for a switch that doesn't exist, and distracts from the one lever they do control: the supplier and tariff.
Gas network vs energy supplier: who handles what
This split is fixed across Great Britain. Get it right and, in an emergency, it can keep you safe. Call the wrong one and you wait.
| If your issue is | Your gas network | Your supplier |
|---|---|---|
| Smell of gas or a suspected leak | Yes, call 0800 111 999 | No |
| Carbon monoxide alarm sounding | Yes, 0800 111 999 | No |
| New gas connection or pipe move | Yes | No |
| No gas supply (whole area) | Yes | No |
| New, faulty or smart meter | No | Yes |
| Switch tariff or compare prices | No | Yes |
| Bill, payment or direct debit | No | Yes |
One thing both share: the Priority Services Register. Sign up through your supplier, and your gas network uses the same list to prioritise you if your supply is interrupted.
The insider truth: gas has no "switch", and your bill is quietly paying to replace iron pipes
Unlike electricity, gas has no short distributor code printed on your bill to name your network in one glance. But there are two things worth knowing that standard guides never mention.
1. The single emergency number does the routing for you
You do not need to know your network to get help. 0800 111 999 is shared by all four GB networks and routes your call automatically by your location. That is by design: in an emergency, working out your operator first would cost lives. To confirm your network calmly (for a connection or a query), the free Find My Supplier service from Xoserve returns your network and your meter point reference number (MPRN) from your postcode.
2. A big slice of your network charge is replacing Victorian iron mains
Under a long-running safety programme overseen by the Health and Safety Executive, the GDNs are replacing old metal gas mains within 30 metres of buildings with plastic pipe, a project running to the early 2030s. It is one of the largest civil-engineering programmes in the country, and it is funded through the transportation charge in your bill. So part of what you pay is not for gas at all: it is for digging up and replacing the pipes under your street.
The behavioural design behind the confusion
There is a reason so few people know any of this. The market was split so that the part you pay (the supplier) competes for your attention, while the part that keeps you safe (the network) stays in the background. The network charge is bundled invisibly into your unit rate and standing charge, never itemised as "transportation". Behavioural economists call this the default effect: what isn't shown isn't questioned.
That design has a real cost. Because the charge is hidden, people assume switching supplier can lower it. It can't. Roughly a fifth of a typical gas bill is a regulated network cost you cannot shop away, so the honest takeaway is to stop trying to, and focus your effort where it actually moves the price: the supplier, the tariff, and how much gas you use.
Every UK gas distribution network at a glance
The full reference. This table is the static version of the finder above: every network, the regions it serves, its emergency line and its website. If you smell gas anywhere in Great Britain, the number is always 0800 111 999.
| Gas network | Region served | Emergency line | Network website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadent | The North West, the West Midlands, the East of England and North London | 0800 111 999 | Website |
| SGN (Scotia Gas Networks) | Scotland and the south of England | 0800 111 999 | Website |
| Northern Gas Networks (NGN) | The North East, Yorkshire, northern Lincolnshire and Cumbria | 0800 111 999 | Website |
| Wales and West Utilities (WWU) | Wales and the South West of England | 0800 111 999 | Website |
| Northern Ireland gas networks | Northern Ireland (Phoenix Natural Gas, firmus energy and SGN Natural Gas) | 0800 002 001 | Website |
Looking for the electricity equivalent? See who is my DNO.
What to do with this, in order
Identify your gas network now, before you need it
Use the finder above, or confirm it free through Find My Supplier. Save 0800 111 999 in your phone today.
If you smell gas, call 0800 111 999 first, not your supplier
Leave the building, open doors and windows, do not touch electrical switches, and put out naked flames. The network sends an engineer; the supplier cannot.
If someone is vulnerable, register for priority support
Join the Priority Services Register through your supplier if anyone in the home needs extra help during a supply interruption.
Save money where you actually can
You can't change your gas network or its share of your bill. You can change your supplier and tariff. Put your energy there: that is the only part of the chain that responds to you.
The one thing to remember
Your gas network owns the pipes to your home. It is set by your postcode, you can't switch it, and it is the only party that can make a leak safe. The supplier on your bill can't. Knowing the difference keeps you safe when you smell gas and stops you wasting money chasing a switch that doesn't exist.
This matters more as the gas system changes. The networks are spending billions replacing old iron mains and studying whether parts of the grid could one day carry hydrogen, and that investment flows into the transportation charge buried in your bill. You can't shop it away, but you can recognise it, and aim your switching effort at the part of the bill that actually moves: your supplier.
Who is my gas network: frequently asked questions
Your gas network is the Gas Distribution Network (GDN) that owns the pipes serving your address. Four companies cover Great Britain: Cadent, SGN, Northern Gas Networks and Wales and West Utilities. Which one is yours depends only on where you live, not on which supplier you pay. Enter your postcode in the finder on this page to see yours.
Type your postcode into the finder near the top of this page. It matches your postcode to the gas network that covers most of that area and shows you the operator, a guide page and the emergency number. A few postcodes sit on a boundary between two networks. If you ever smell gas, the 0800 111 999 line routes you to the right network automatically by your exact location.
Your supplier (Octopus, British Gas, EDF and so on) sells you the gas and sends your bill. Your gas network owns the pipes that physically deliver it. You can switch supplier whenever you like; you cannot switch gas network, because each one is a regional monopoly fixed by your postcode. If you smell gas, only the network can make it safe.
In Great Britain, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, free and 24/7. It routes you to your local gas network automatically. In Northern Ireland the number is 0800 002 001. Leave the building, open doors and windows, and do not switch anything electrical on or off. Do not call your energy supplier: they cannot make a leak safe.
No. Your gas network is a regulated regional monopoly set by your address. You can change the company that bills you (your supplier) at any time, but the pipes to your home always belong to the same network. Switching supplier never changes who responds to a gas leak or maintains your local pipes.
Use the free Find My Supplier service run by Xoserve (findmysupplier.energy): enter your postcode and it returns your gas network and your meter point reference number (MPRN). Unlike electricity, gas has no short distributor code printed on the bill, so the postcode lookup and Find My Supplier are the practical ways to confirm your network.