DNSP (Distribution Network Service Provider)

Written and checked by the Energy Merchants desk · Reviewed 3 October 2026

DNSP stands for distribution network service provider. It is the company that owns and runs the local network of poles, wires and substations that carry electricity from the high-voltage grid to your customers’ meters. It is different from the retailer, who bills them. A customer chooses a retailer, but their DNSP is fixed by where they live.

Examples include Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy in NSW, Energex and Ergon Energy in Queensland, and CitiPower, Powercor and AusNet in Victoria, among others across the states and territories.

What the DNSP does for installers

• Connection approval. It reviews each application and may set an export limit. See grid connection application.
• Technical conditions. It specifies inverter settings, protection and, increasingly, communication requirements. See dynamic operating envelope.
• Metering and meter changes. Meter work is often arranged through the retailer and a metering provider, but the DNSP is involved in network-side requirements.
• Faults and outages. It is the party to call when the network, not the system, is the problem.

In practice

Look up the DNSP early. It tells you which forms, portals and rules apply, and the rules differ between networks. A system that is simple in one area can face tight export limits in another, particularly where lots of rooftop solar has already been connected.

Cross-check the DNSP’s requirements with the equipment. A battery or inverter that does not suit the network’s settings may be refused or limited. Our battery submission guide lists the evidence for the certificate side, which is separate from the connection process.

Common confusion

A DNSP is not the same as a TNSP, the transmission network service provider that runs the high-voltage grid. It is also not the retailer, the Clean Energy Regulator or the market operator.

The certificate regulator and the network operator do not share systems. A connection approval from the DNSP does not create STCs, and an STC claim does not tell the DNSP anything.

See STC trading, /resources/ and the glossary.