Everything here is free, needs no account, and works in any modern browser. The
eleven resources are independent, so you can start anywhere, but they are designed
to complement one another. The cost maps explain what the components of
a bill are, the Calendar shows when the industry's key dates fall, the dashboard
explains how the market got here, the atlas sets Britain in
global context, MPAN Life follows a single connection through its
whole lifecycle, the model builder lets you build your own business case,
the graph builder turns your data into native Excel charts,
the settlement guide shows how every unit of electricity is accounted for,
the grid animation follows electricity from power station to plug,
and the quiz tests whether it stuck. Two more resources, CSS and Energy bill, are on the way.
On the Home page
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Question of the day. A single question drawn from the quiz
bank, the same one for every visitor on a given day. Click the row to reveal
it, then click an answer to see whether you were right along with an
explanation. A different question appears each day.
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What's new. The most recent change to the site. Click the row
to expand the full history. Entries marked with an orange bar are significant
additions rather than minor tweaks.
A bank of questions covering electricity costs, gas costs, industry concepts and
market events, at three difficulty levels.
- Choose a session length, difficulty and the topics you want before starting.
- Answer options are shuffled on every session, so repeating a set does not let you memorise positions.
- Every question carries an explanation, shown once you answer, so a wrong answer is still informative.
- At the end you get a score with a breakdown by topic, showing where the gaps are.
Interactive maps of the main costs that make up a GB electricity or gas bill for
homes and small businesses.
- Each bubble is a cost. Click one to open a side panel explaining what it is, who sets it and who pays it.
- Connector lines link each cost to the part of the system that causes it, and the border colour shows what kind of cost it is.
- The two maps follow the same layout, so comparing the electricity and gas cost stacks side by side is straightforward.
A 24-month calendar of dated events across the GB energy industry, from price cap
announcements and network charges to consultations, company results, industry
programmes, supplier ratings and government fiscal events.
- Switch between Month and Year views, and use the arrows (or the left and right arrow keys) to page through the window.
- Each event is Confirmed (a solid bar) or Expected (a dashed bar, an estimate with its evidence stated). Major events are in bold.
- Click an event for the reason behind its date, the evidence, and a link to the source. Press Tab to search every event, by keyword or category.
- Print the current month, or add a single event to your calendar from its detail panel.
An interactive timeline of the UK retail energy market from 1980 to 2026, covering
privatisation, regulation, network charging reform, the price cap, supplier
failures, and mergers and acquisitions.
- Every dot on the timeline is a real event. Click one to read what happened, why it mattered, and where to find the original source.
- Filter by category, by time period, or by "story", meaning a curated narrative thread such as the 2021 to 2022 energy crisis.
- Use the search button, or press Tab, to search across every event's title, description and implications.
- The data section at the bottom plots the underlying numbers, including market shares, wholesale prices, the price cap, customer debt, supplier failures, smart meter rollout and generation mix, with the option to overlay event markers.
- A companion page, linked from the "How to use this dashboard" box at the top of the dashboard, explains how the whole thing is built for anyone curious about the engineering.
An interactive atlas of how the world produces and uses energy, covering 62
countries and 8 regions.
- Click any country or region on the map to open its energy profile.
- Switch the map between regions, or use the region buttons above it to zoom straight to one part of the world.
- Compare countries side by side to see how two energy systems differ.
- The stories section picks out patterns worth knowing, such as who exports the most energy.
- Figures are given in exajoules throughout so fuels and countries can be compared directly.
The life of a single GB electricity or gas connection, from the day a property is
connected to the day it is retired, told through its MPAN or MPRN.
- Scroll down to move through time, from the connection being created, through its working life, to the day it is closed.
- Open any stage to read the detail and the industry source behind it.
- Use the fuel switch at the top to follow an electricity connection (MPAN) or a gas one (MPRN).
A business case model builder that assembles a fully linked annual financial model
in your browser, then hands you the Excel file. Nothing leaves your machine.
- Start with a Standard model (customers, revenue, costs and a profit and loss) or switch to Advanced for cash flow, a balance sheet and investment appraisal.
- Fill the form from top to bottom; the "Your model" panel on the right updates as you go and flags anything inconsistent.
- Set the name, horizon and revenue and cost lines, then export a self-checking workbook with "Download XLSX", or print the profit and loss to PDF.
A library of chart types for energy and finance analysis that turns your own data
into native Excel charts, ready to download as a workbook.
- Pick a chart in the library; each one explains when it works, when to avoid it and how it is built in Excel.
- Paste a range copied from Excel, or type into the grid, then shape the chart on the Chart, Axes and Style tabs while the preview updates.
- Add charts to your workbook and download it. Every chart is a real Excel chart linked to an Excel Table, so it redraws when the numbers change.
- Everything runs in your browser, and your data is not uploaded anywhere.
A plain-English, fully-sourced walk through how Great Britain settles electricity
today, and how Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) changes it.
- Read it top to bottom, or jump between parts with the contents bar; it goes from first principles to the technical detail, with the harder material tucked into optional panels.
- Hover or tap any dotted term for a plain-English definition, and every factual claim links to its source in a per-section footnotes panel.
- Interactive tools turn an annual figure into a half-hourly shape, break open a supply point's codes, and compare the current regime with MHHS side by side.
An animated 3D model of the GB electricity system that follows electricity from the
power stations where it is made, through the transmission and distribution networks,
to the homes and businesses that use it.
- Drag to turn the scene, scroll or pinch to zoom, and use the arrow keys (with the pointer over the scene) to move around.
- Select a label, building or card to fly there and read how it works, or press Guided tour to be taken through the system step by step.
- Open "Flows and key" to show power flows, and switch batteries, pumped storage and interconnectors between their two directions.
- The buttons on the right switch between day and night, hide the labels or go full screen. Everything in the scene is also listed in text below it.
Coming soon
Two more resources are in development and appear greyed out in the navigation bar
for now.
- CSS. Browse and compare Consolidated Segmental Statements of GB energy suppliers.
- Energy bill. Everything you should know about the typical energy bill. Expected late 2026.
Site-wide
- Dark mode. The toggle in the top right of any page switches theme, and your choice follows you across every page.
- Navigation. The bar at the top of every page links to all resources, with the electricity, gas and world maps grouped under Maps and the model and graph builders under Modelling. Greyed-out items are still in development.
- Mobile. Every page adapts to smaller screens, though the dashboard and cost maps reward a larger display.