Which power connection do you have, and do you need to upgrade?

Two places tell you a lot: the main switch in your meter cupboard and your annual bill.

• Single-phase: at Liander a single-phase connection comes with a 2-pole main switch.
• Three-phase: at Liander it comes with a 4-pole main switch of at least 40 amps. That applies to 3x25 A as well, so the number on the switch need not be your connection value.
• Your connection value, for example 3x25 A, is on the annual statement from your energy supplier. At Enexis it is also in Mijn Meterkast.

The table follows Liander. Other grid operators may use other names and conditions; check the site of your own grid operator for your connection.

Not sure what fits on your connection? Send a photo of your meter cupboard with your quote request.

Often you do not. A large connection is generally only needed for a heat pump in a larger home that is moderately to poorly insulated, or for a sauna or heated swimming pool.

An electric car charges more slowly on a smaller connection, but fast enough for daily use. A hybrid heat pump needs no upgrade in most cases and works well on a smaller single-phase connection. How much power a heat pump uses is in the consumption of a heat pump.

Enexis also writes that more is often possible on your existing connection than you think. Upgrading is sometimes needed, for example with extra solar panels, electric heating, a heat pump, electric cooking or an EV charger.

Does your plan just not fit? Then tuning the heat pump or charger better, or an energy management system can make room within your current connection. A charger with load balancing turns its power down as soon as the rest of the home asks for a lot. How big consumers fit together on one connection is covered at the simultaneity factor. More on an EV charger on 3 phases and on the choice between an 11 or 22 kW EV charger is in the related articles. For a home battery, read the trade-off at single-phase or three-phase home battery.

Assumptions: a 3x25 A connection (17 kW according to Liander), an 11 kW charger (3x16 A) and no other big consumers on at the same time.

• Available: 17 kW
• Charger: 11 kW
• Left for the rest of the home: about 6 kW

With a heat pump and induction cooking at the same time that gets tight. Load balancing then helps, so the charger scales back. On 3x35 A (24 kW) 13 kW is left, but at Liander and Enexis that room costs over €1,450 a year extra in fixed grid fees. This is an indication: the installer determines the actual room. More sums like this are at the simultaneity factor.

Upgrading costs money twice: once for the work of the grid operator, and every year through higher fixed grid fees. On top of that your installer adjusts the meter cupboard, for example with a main switch for 3 phases. Those costs come separately.

So going from single-phase to 3x25 A does not change your fixed grid fees: at Liander and Enexis that is the same tariff group. Only above 3x25 A do you pay over €1,450 a year more, even if you do not use that extra power. For a heat pump, EV charger or home battery, 3x25 A is therefore often the logical step, and 3x35 A only if it really has to be.

Note: the ACM is working on new grid tariffs for households from 1 January 2029, where part depends on how much power you use and when. That is a draft decision; the final decision follows in early 2027.

An upgrade does not take equally long everywhere, and in many cases you do not need one. Enexis shows on its site, per address, how much room is left on the grid and how long it takes. Requests at Enexis may take longer at the moment, and Stedin writes that you may have to wait longer for an upgrade.

In part of the province of Utrecht, around Utrecht, Woerden, De Ronde Venen, Zeist and Houten, new or heavier connections have only been possible since 1 July 2026 if the grid has been expanded or room frees up. In Amersfoort, Bunschoten, Soest and Veenendaal that pause does not apply (position on 25 October 2026).

Grid operators have been dividing the scarce room since 1 July 2026 under a priority framework. From 1 January 2027 the room that is left also goes to requests without priority, in order of request date. Households that want a heavier connection, for example for induction cooking or an EV charger, then depend on the room that is left on the grid. More background is at grid congestion.

More than 300,000 households and small businesses have a heavier connection than their power use probably requires. Among them are 266,000 households and businesses with a connection above 3x25 A and a use under 15,000 kWh a year.

On national average a standard connection up to 3x25 A costs €360 a year in 2026. It suits a use of up to 15,000 kWh a year; an average family of four in a terraced house uses about 3,500 kWh. A 3x35 A connection costs €1,800 a year on average, and 3x80 A rises to €4,500 a year. These are national averages, not tariffs of one grid operator; they differ from the Liander and Enexis amounts above. To know what your grid operator charges, use the tariffs above.

Do you use less than 15,000 kWh a year and have a connection above 3x25 amps? Then on national figures you can save at least €1,400 a year by downsizing to 3x25 amps. Grid operators call downsizing lightening (verlichten), and nationally it costs about €300 one-off. For comparison, a tariff of one grid operator: Liander charges €304.22 in 2026 for downsizing within 3 phases.

Think it through. In areas with a full grid you will often end up on a waiting list if you later want a heavier connection again. If you have anything from 1x25 A up to and including 3x25 A, none of this applies: from 1x25 A up to and including 3x25 A you pay the same fixed grid fees at Liander and Enexis, so downsizing gains you nothing there.

• First have a certified installer decide whether an upgrade is needed. Enexis asks you to start the request only after your installer confirms that an upgrade is needed.
• Check your current connection on your annual bill and look on your grid operator's site whether there is still room on the grid in your neighbourhood.
• Request the upgrade via mijnaansluiting.nl.
• Have the meter cupboard adjusted: the main switch must suit the number of phases and the new power, according to the applicable NEN standard.

Not sure whether you need an upgrade? Book an advice call and we look at your meter cupboard together.