The grid explained
A windy day. A greener grid. But a cheaper bill?
Why a changing generation mix does not instantly change the price on your bill.
The live grid shows the share of electricity supplied by different sources in the latest published period. When wind contributes more, it changes that mix. The map’s turbines use modelled local wind to illustrate the conditions; they do not report the actual output of each wind farm.
Your household electricity bill is based on your tariff: the price per kilowatt-hour and any standing charge. A changing generation mix does not rewrite that tariff every half hour. Some time-of-use tariffs behave differently, so check your contract before drawing conclusions about the cheapest time to run an appliance.
Wholesale prices, supplier purchasing decisions, network charges and policy costs all sit between the power system and the tariff on a bill. A high wind share on its own is not enough evidence to claim that household prices will fall on a particular date.
Use our live map to understand the electricity system. Use your own unit rate, standing charge and usage in the bill calculator to estimate what you will pay. Those are two useful views of energy, with different purposes.
Sources
- Carbon Intensity API: methodology and electricity data ↗
- Ofgem: energy price cap unit rates and standing charges ↗
Prepared with AI assistance for UtilityPrices. Published 10 October 2026. Sources and editorial methodology are available below.