POD code: how it is built and how to manage it in a company

The POD (Point of Delivery) is the alphanumeric code that identifies with certainty the physical point where electricity is delivered by the seller and withdrawn by the end customer. It does not identify the company or the contract: it identifies the connection to the grid. This is why a business has as many PODs as it has withdrawal points, and a plant with several connections has more than one.

How the code is built

The structure is defined in Terna's Grid Code (Chapter 6) and is the same throughout Italy. A made-up example: IT001E12345678.

Who assigns it and what it is for

Terna coordinates the definition of the code and assigns the distributor code. The distribution company, i.e. the company that operates the local grid, uses that structure to uniquely identify every point on its network. The seller does not choose it: it receives it and uses it to activate the supply.

The POD is the key with which distributors, sellers and Terna exchange data: on the basis of that code, the transport and dispatching of energy are settled and supplier switching requests are handled.

What does not change, and the only exception

The code does not change when you change seller: this is stated by the regulator ARERA in its bill glossary. Since it is tied to the physical point and not to the contract, it follows the installation, not the account holder.

The exception concerns the grid, not the customer. If a portion of a distribution network passes to another distributor, the acquiring company is obliged to recode the PODs of the points acquired; in mergers and incorporations involving an entire network it can choose whether to recode or keep them. Terna publishes the list of distribution companies with their codes and the history of corporate changes. If this happens, the old and the new code must be reconciled in the company's records.

For a business: what to look at

• In the contract. The list of PODs is the perimeter of the supply: each point must be listed with address, voltage level, power and start date. A POD missing from the annex remains outside the negotiated terms.
• In the invoice. In bills that follow the ARERA layout in force since 1 July 2025, the POD is among the identification data of the point, together with the supply address, which may differ from the billing address. Each document must be traced back to the right point and to its cost centre.
• The decisions it affects. A single register of PODs (site, use, power, voltage level, supplier, expiry) is the basis for tendering all points together, aligning expiry dates and comparing consumption across sites. It is the first step of orderly procurement, and the condition for measuring the company's overall exposure in an energy risk management process.
• Typical mistakes. Mistyping the code in supplier switching or account transfer requests; forgetting a secondary point (a warehouse, a substation, a construction-site supply) when moving to the new contract; confusing the electricity POD with the gas PDR; not updating the register after openings, closures or acquisitions of sites.

To put your register of withdrawal points in order before the next expiry, with an IPGS ENERGY consultant: Request a discussion.

Sources

• ARERA — Glossario dei termini della bolletta, voce POD (accessed 10 October 2026)
• ARERA — Glossario della bolletta per la fornitura di energia elettrica, allegato A alla delibera 118/2025/R/com (accessed 10 October 2026)
• Terna — Codice di Rete, capitolo 6: servizio di aggregazione delle misure (accessed 10 October 2026)
• Terna — Allegato A.67 al Codice di Rete: regole di manutenzione e aggiornamento del codice POD (accessed 10 October 2026)
• Terna — Codice di Rete italiano (accessed 10 October 2026)