Petersfield’s electricity network is not run by UK Power Networks. The town centre sits in SSEN Distribution’s Southern Electric Power Distribution licence area, about 26 km from the nearest UK Power Networks boundary on the national licence maps, so a home in GU31 or GU32 answers to SSEN. That matters for a charger, because SSEN runs its own process for connecting one. Our page on EV charger installation in Petersfield covers parking, grants and the National Park; this guide is about the cable coming into your house.
The question a Petersfield survey answers first is whether your supply can carry a car charging for hours alongside everything else, and if not, whether the answer is load management or a call to SSEN. DVLA records 4,982 privately kept plug-in vehicles across East Hampshire at the end of June 2026, up from 3,541 a year earlier, so SSEN’s process is one more local households are now going through.
What a 7 kW charger asks of a Petersfield supply
A 7 kW home charger draws 32 A, and it draws it continuously, often for several hours overnight. Household main fuses are commonly 60 A, 80 A or 100 A. The fuse rating is printed on the cut-out, the sealed box where SSEN’s cable enters the house, usually beside the meter.
Petersfield’s housing is mixed. At Census 2021 its 6,859 households split 29.7% detached, 23.6% semi-detached, 23.0% terraced and 17.9% purpose-built flats. A detached house on Herne Farm with an electric shower, an electric oven and a car charging at the same moment is a very different load from a small terrace on gas, and the survey adds up what your house actually runs before deciding anything.
SSEN’s two routes for a charger
SSEN’s EV connections page sets out two routes, and the installer, not you, uses them.
Connect and Notify. If the property’s total demand is 60 amps or less and there are no safety concerns, the installer can fit the charger without applying in advance, then submit a notification to SSEN within 28 days.
Apply to Connect, with a Load Check. If the total demand is more than 60 amps, or the property does not meet the other Connect and Notify conditions, the installer must apply to connect and wait for SSEN’s approval before installing the charger.
That 60 amp figure is the property’s total demand, not the charger alone. With the charger’s 32 A included, a Petersfield house that already runs an electric shower and cooker can pass 60 A on paper quickly, which is where load management comes in.
Looped supplies in Petersfield streets
A looped supply is one where your service cable is shared with another property. SSEN is specific about it: if the property is looped, a Load Check application must be submitted before installation, whatever the demand figure. Removing a loop means separating the two supplies, and that involves the neighbour who shares the cable as well as you.
We do not assume a Petersfield street is looped or unlooped from its age or its house type. The survey looks at the cut-out and the incoming cable, and if a loop is there, the application goes to SSEN before any installation date is set. It is better known at the start than discovered on the day.
Load management or a fuse upgrade
Load management is the usual first answer. A current sensor clipped around the incoming supply tells the charger how much the house is drawing, and the charger turns itself down while the shower or oven is on, then back up. For a Petersfield household charging overnight, when the rest of the house is quiet, the charger may have most of the supply to itself. Our guide to whether your fuse will take a 7 kW charger explains the arithmetic.
Where the fuse itself is the problem, SSEN’s guidance on changing a supply says older properties often have 30 A or 60 A fuses and that it can upgrade these to an 80 A or 100 A fuse at no charge. It sends a no-obligation quotation for supply work that stays valid for 90 days. It also says plainly that your electrician is not accredited to work on SSEN’s network, so the electrician handles everything from the meter to the consumer unit, and SSEN handles the cut-out and the cable beyond it. Any supply work on your side of the meter appears as a line on your written quote; our EV charger installation cost page explains what those lines are.
When solar or a battery joins the supply
A charger is a load; solar panels and a battery are generation, and SSEN treats generation through the G98 and G99 rules rather than the EV routes. A system up to 16 A per phase, 3.68 kW, is notified under G98; anything larger needs a G99 application approved before work starts. DESNZ records about 7,356 solar PV installations of every size across East Hampshire at the end of 2025, as first published, so plenty of Petersfield supplies already carry generation.
If panels or storage are on your list, plan them with the charger so the supply is assessed once. Our page on battery storage in Petersfield covers how a battery shares a supply with a charger.
What to have ready for a Petersfield survey
A few things save time. A photo of the cut-out and meter shows the fuse rating and often whether a second cable leaves it. A list of your large electrical loads, such as an electric shower, oven or hob, sets the demand. And the position you want the charger in sets the cable run from the consumer unit.
If you rent, the landlord’s written consent comes first; private renters were 16.9% of Petersfield households at Census 2021. Renters and people who own and live in a flat can get 75% of the cost, up to £500 per socket, with private off-street or allocated parking, and our guide to who qualifies for the EV chargepoint grant covers the detail. Claims must be made through an OZEV-authorised installer, so tell us your situation at the quote stage. A home charger carries 20% VAT. You can send the photos through our contact page or call 0204 547 1892.
Sources: SSEN, EV Connections (https://www.ssen.co.uk/our-services/new-supplies/ev-connections/), read 19 October 2026; SSEN, Increase or decrease your electricity supply: FAQs (https://www.ssen.co.uk/our-services/existing-electricity-supplies/change-in-capacity-upgrade-or-reduce-your-supply/faqs/), read 19 October 2026; NESO, GIS boundaries for GB DNO licence areas (May 2024); SSEN, Who we are; DfT and DVLA, VEH0142 licensed plug-in vehicles by keepership and local authority, East Hampshire, 2026 Q2 and 2025 Q2 (published 23 September 2026); Census 2021, TS044 Accommodation type and TS054 Tenure, Petersfield built-up area (censusdata.uk); DESNZ, Renewable electricity by local authority, 2014 to 2025 (published 29 September 2026); Energy Networks Association, EREC G98 Issue 2 (10 March 2025); GOV.UK, Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026 (updated 7 July 2026); HMRC, VAT Notice 708/6.