How to Turn on the Electricity in My House for the First Time

Updated on: 05/03/2025

Turning on the electricity for the first time in an existing home

In this case, we are talking about turning on the electricity in a home, office, or premises that has had an electrical supply at some point in the past and currently, the supply is disconnected.

The steps you must follow in this situation are as follows:

1.- Contact the retailer of your choice to request the activation. They will inform you if the supply point is contractable or if it is necessary to open a file through the distributor.

2.- If it is contractable, you must provide the following documentation:
 

• Supply holder's details: full name, DNI/NIF, phone, and email.
• Address of the supply point (home).
• Universal Supply Point Code (CUPS): this code identifies the supply point and is usually on old invoices or can be provided by the distributor
• Electrical Installation Certificate (CIE): only if the electrical installation has been modified or does not have this updated certificate.

3.- Choose the rate and power you want to contract.

Once these procedures are completed, the retailer will contact the distributor, who will install or activate the electric meter within 5 business days.

Turning on the electricity for the first time in a new home

In the case of a new home, office, or premises, the process can be somewhat more complex since the home does not have a connection point to the electrical network.

Therefore, it is necessary to open a new supply file through your distributor's platform or through an authorized professional of your choice.

If your distributor is i-DE, we indicate the steps to follow:

1.    Confirm if i-DE is your distributor on our website through the available map by entering your address.
2.    Register in our Private Area.
3.    Within the Private Area, go to the File Management section where you can request the opening of a new supply file. This management can be delegated to the authorized professional of your choice. 

For the opening of this file, we will guide you to facilitate this procedure, but it is important that you have clear the mandatory information that we will request:

• Supply Holder's Information: full name, DNI/NIF, phone number, email, and mailing address.
• Location of the supply point, either by CUPS code or by address. During the process, we will ask you to indicate the outline of the plot and mark the location of the General Protection Box (CGP).
• Voltage and power (how many kW you need to contract).
• Cadastral reference.
• Plot usage agreement: you must attach the property contract, lease, or usage agreement for the plot.

Additionally, if necessary, the following documents will be requested:

• Technical report (only if the requested power is greater than 45 kW).
• Proposal for the location of the transformation center (only if the power is equal to or greater than 100 kW).

Once the file is opened with us, we will send you the preliminary proposal detailing the technical-economic conditions to make the connection with the network, which you will have to accept to continue with the request. If you agree with them, you must make the payment through our website with Bizum or a bank card.

The next step is to wait for the distributor, if necessary, to carry out the corresponding works to make the connection. Meanwhile, your installer or electrician must adapt your installation and provide you with the Electrical Installation Certificate (CIE).

Finally, you must provide all the documentation, including the bulletin, to the retailer of your choice to determine the rate and power you want to contract. Once the request is validated, they communicate it to your distributor, and they will proceed to give you access to the supply within 5 business days.

Steps to follow:

How long does it take to turn on the electricity for the first time?

The duration will depend on the type of request and the scope of the work to be carried out on the electrical network for each of them.

For individual supplies (home, office, premises, etc.) and with an existing supply point, the process is usually more agile and shorter. On the contrary, if several supplies or a new supply point that requires works are requested, the complexity is greater, and the times are longer.

In both cases, once the connection is made, it is necessary to contact the retailer to contract the electricity. They will verify the documentation, manage the electricity supply contract, and forward the information to the distributor.

The distributor checks the documentation and adjusts the connection according to the contracted power. Once this process is completed, the distributor authorizes the activation, and within 5 business days, the electrical supply will be activated.

Is it possible to turn on the electricity online?

Yes, it is possible to turn on the electricity online. The first thing to keep in mind is that electricity distributors are established by geographical areas and there can only be one. Therefore, the first step is to know who your electricity distributor is.

To facilitate this step, at i-DE we provide a section on our website (electricity distributors map) where you can check if your home or future home or premises belongs to the i-DE distribution area.

If this is the case, you can manage your new supply file through our Private Area in the File Management functionality. From here, you can easily request the file and track it.