How your opinions and feedback are changing our future plans
Find out about past consultations and how they have shaped our business plan and industry.
From: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Published: 10 May 2023
Consultation closed: 11:45pm on 2 August 2023
Consultation description:
The government is seeking views on its proposed Strategy and Policy Statement for energy policy in Great Britain.
The Strategy and Policy Statement is developed in accordance with the Energy Act 2013 and sets out the government’s strategic priorities and other main considerations of its energy policy; the policy outcomes to be achieved as a result of the implementation of that policy; and the roles and responsibilities of those who are involved in implementation of that policy.
Ofgem (the independent energy regulator in Great Britain), and the Future System Operator, once established, will be required to have regard to the strategic priorities in the Strategy and Policy Statement when carrying out their functions. They must also carry out their respective regulatory functions in the manner which the Secretary of State or the Authority (as the case may be) considers is best calculated to further the delivery of the policy outcomes.
Ofgem has published its draft determination on electricity network business plans for 2023-2028. The determination was published as a consultation that closed on 25 August 2022.
Thank you to all our stakeholders who responded to our call for input in responding to Ofgem’s draft decision on our business plan.
Our final plan was based on more than two years of engagement with over 18,000 customers and stakeholders, resulting in our request for £1.8bn to meet the needs of the region.
Ofgem had made it very clear that they were intending to reduce returns for network companies and this is exactly what they have proposed. Ofgem has reduced the amount it will allow us to spend (despite our plan already proposing a 5% reduction in our part of the bill) and has also rejected a number of specific proposals customers and stakeholders had asked for.
As well as a significant financing issue that we are picking up direct with Ofgem, there are four key areas of the plan that have been rejected which you may want to support in a response to the consultation. In its draft determination of our plan for the North West, Ofgem rejected:
Net zero development funding to enable net-zero related development work, small value net zero facilitation projects, and local area energy plan support;
Expansion of the successful Powering Our Communities community energy fund to provide decarbonisation support to a wider range of local projects and increase support available beyond support and advice;
Specific investment to improve network reliability in areas with high concentrations of customers in vulnerable circumstances; and
Our proposal is to increase the monitoring of overhead lines for safety via the rollout of new LineSIGHT technology.
For an overview of our draft determination response click here.
The review of DNO's business plans for 2023 -2028 continued and following the final submission of DNOs’ final business plans, Ofgem ran a series of online open hearings in March 2022.
These hearings follow the call for evidence which we shared with you earlier this year here. The hearings provided an opportunity for Ofgem and stakeholders to scrutinize the companies’ business plans and feedback evidence on various aspects of our plan.
Focus was around company-specific issues, based on our business plan and was a great opportunity for our stakeholders to put their points across directly to Ofgem to support the plan and stress the importance of those aspects of the plan that they have helped develop or are key to their organisation.
The next step following the open hearing is to wait for the draft determination to be published by Ofgem. Keep an eye out on our engagement pages for more information.
In December we submitted our business plan to energy regulator, Ofgem, following more than two years of engagement with stakeholders and customers. The plan covers our £1.8bn plan to invest in the network between 2023-2028.
Ofgem are now reviewing all plans from network operators and as part of that process they are looking for further stakeholder feedback as part of their ‘call for input’. This is a great opportunity for you, independently as stakeholders, to put your points across directly to Ofgem to support the plan and stress to Ofgem the importance of those aspects of the plan that you have helped develop or are key to your organisation.
Ofgem will be looking hard at justification for expenditure for things like net zero, environmental activity, resilience and support for customers in vulnerable circumstances. Post-pandemic the economic situation (and stakeholder feedback) shows that there should be a role for Electricity North West to provide additional services, for example to customers in vulnerable circumstances, but we expect some this to come under intense scrutiny.
These responses will form the basis of Ofgem’s ‘open hearing’ with us in March to discuss our plan. As a stakeholder you are invited to observe, make points or ask questions at the hearing and we’d welcome your continued support. We will share more information on the 'open hearing' soon.
This consultation closed on 10 February and we appreciate everyone who took the time to share their support for either the plan as a whole, or any particular aspects of the plan that you felt strongly about.
On 26 November Storm Arwen caused the most widespread and destructive damage to the electricity network that we have seen in decades with a million properties affected across the country, including 100,000 in the North West. The impact on communities has been enormous and our repair and rebuild of the network is still ongoing, long after we restored power to the last property.
When an incident of this magnitude takes place, it is important that we take time to carry out a full review and establish if there are any lessons to be learned to improve the response.
You may have heard that both the government and energy regulator, Ofgem, are carrying out their own reviews into the incident. We will of course be contributing to these reviews in detail and we are also carrying out our own review for which we need your input.
As a key stakeholder, we’re really keen to hear from you so that we can understand your experiences and thoughts to feed into our review. In January we will also be conducting focus groups with customers and organisations from our local resilience forums.
We want to keep the remit of the review broad and have set out the below questions as a rough guide. Please do comment on any aspect of the incident and Electricity North West’s role in it. The consultation closed on Friday 21 January to stakeholderengagement@enwl.co.uk.
What was the impact on your organisation and those you represent?
What was your role?
How did you work with Electricity North West?
How could the response have been improved?
In April we published our stakeholder engagement strategy for Transparency and get our customers and stakeholders feedback on our plans.
The aim of this strategy is to set out our engagement approach from 2023-2028. It has been developed taking into account and in response to our embedded approach and the enhanced level of customer and stakeholder research in developing our business plan.
The strategy outlines the approach we will take incorporating stakeholders views into our business activities and the governance that will ensure that we remain in touch and accountable to our stakeholders.
In April we published an early draft of our business plan for the period 2023-2028. Over the past two years we have engaged with more than 18,000 customers and stakeholders to develop this plan and make sure that we are getting it right.
Our plan proposes to invest £1.97bn between 2023 - 2028 which aims to cut the number and duration of power cuts by 20%, go even further in protecting the network from storms and floods, and continue increasing the capacity of the network to accommodate the predicted rise in lower-carbon technologies like electric vehicles and heating. It also commits to providing additional support for vulnerable customers to ensure nobody is left behind by the region’s shift to becoming a net zero carbon economy.
We will now consolidate your feedback and submit the draft of our plan to Ofgem in July. We still welcome responses but they may not be incorporated into our draft submission to Ofgem in July and may need to be considered for our final submission in December.
If you have any questions, please contact us at stakeholderengagement@enwl.co.uk.
To help the UK’s efforts to drive a green recovery from Covid-19 we are looking to bring forward around £15 million of investment into schemes that will have significant economic impact in the region.
We plan our investments years in advance as a large infrastructure provider, but we are able to flex our programme to react to changes. By bringing investment forward, we can help the region and kick start the green recovery.
We asked stakeholders and customers for their views on which projects we should bring forward and we also wanted to know if their are any other projects we should be considering. The consultation closed on Friday 19 March and we will be presenting a shortlist to the energy regulator, Ofgem. Chosen projects will be shared in April.
We published our environmental action plan in February which sets out our strategies to enable the decarbonisation of our network and to reduce our wider environmental impacts of network activity.
We’ve already made great strides to improve our environmental performance and limit the environmental impact on the area in which we operate. But we simply cannot stop there. We need to go further, including limiting greenhouse gas emissions to improve the natural biodiversity and to have a minimal impact on the environment.
The consultation is now closed and we want to thank those who sent through their feedback on our strategy. We will now be consolidating views on the strategy that will feed into our business plan for RIIO-ED2.
The consultation is now closed and we want to thank those who sent through their feedback. We will now be consolidating views on the strategy that will feed into our business plan for RIIO-ED2.
The strategy sets out the challenges we face, our approach to support the North West region to address these challenges, and the principles and themes that guide our thinking and the development of our services and commitment.
It highlights the developing services we offer to support the 5.4million electricity users across the region and ensuring that they are included in the journey as we transition to a net zero future. The strategy outlines our approach to the vital role we play in removing barriers that could prevent customers from accessing the services and support available, not just from us, but also the wider support network already in place for the region.
We published our electric vehicle (EV) strategy which sets out the actions we will take to lead and support our customers and wider stakeholders on our journey to decarbonise the region’s transport. Central to these actions will be the preparation of the electricity network for the decarbonisation of transport and the rapid uptake of EVs.
Our five key principles focus on: listening to our customers, making it simple, leading by example, working smart and playing our part in the national strategy.
The consultation is now closed and we want to thank those who sent through their feedback. We will now be consolidating views on the strategy that will feed into our business plan for RIIO-ED2.
Our major connections strategy was published in February and outlined our proposed connections strategies and the approach we are taking to develop them for our next price control period, RIIO-ED2 (2023-2028).
We asked customers and stakeholders to provide feedback on how we are currently performing against a set of baseline expectations that Ofgem has identified focusing on pre-application information and engagement, the application process and delivery of connection.
We also asked for our customer and stakeholders feedback on using established stakeholder engagement channels for each of the relevant market segments and welcomed the opportunity for any further feedback on our process, how we are performing and any suggestions you may have for improvements.
The consultation is now closed and we want to thank those who sent through their feedback. We will now be consolidating views on the strategy that will feed into our business plan for RIIO-ED2.
In summer 2020 we invited our stakeholders to comment on our plans for the electricity network in the North West as part of the transition to net zero carbon.
Our three new documents (our ‘DSO strategy’, ‘Analysis of DSO functions’ and our ‘Grid digitalisation & data strategy’ ) describe the progress we have made and set out the next steps we are taking on the transition to ‘distribution system operation’ (DSO) – an industry-wide initiative to drive the changes needed to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the UK.
We will now be updating our overall strategy to incorporate this feedback.
The UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to address global warming and bring carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. Some areas of the North West have ambitious aims and desires to deliver net zero even sooner.
As we begin the transition to net zero, it’s never been more important to use innovative ways to reduce our carbon emissions and help decarbonise while meeting all our other objectives as a network operator too.
We published our innovation strategy which sets out the challenges we face and our approach to using innovation to address these challenges. It also sets out the principles and themes that guide our thinking in the development of specific innovation projects. It details how we engage with our stakeholders to help us with ideas to deliver our innovation plans.
Technology and information are vital to almost every business, enabling everything including improved customer service, increased job satisfaction and rapid innovation. Our role will take an even greater significance as we: transition to delivering Distribution System Operation; implement the UK’s Energy Data Taskforce recommendations; and support the road to net zero carbon.
We published our digital strategy for feedback and transparency. The strategy aligned to many of our other strategies and outlines how we plan to continue delivering network reliability and security, excellent service and efficient operations. .
Our community and local energy strategy sets out how we will continue to support community and local energy customers now and in the future. As we look to decarbonise and reduce our own emissions and helping businesses, our customers and our colleagues to do the same.
We have an important role to develop community and local energy amongst our customers and stakeholders, by shaping our services based on your input. We first published the strategy in summer 2020 following feedback from our customers and stakeholders and we welcomed further feedback on the startegy in February 2021.
The consultation is now closed and we want to thank those who sent through their feedback. We will now be consolidating views on the strategy that will feed into our business plan for RIIO-ED2.
Improvements to the Common Network Asset Indies Methodology for use in RIIO-ED2
The Common Network Asset Indices Methodology (CNAIM) has been developed by Ofgem and distribution network operators (DNOs) like us to illustrate the effects of the investments made on their networks when we change old plant, such as cables and overhead lines, for new ones.
Introduced in 2017, the current methodology will operate until March 2023. The aim is to create a value of risk for assets before any work is done and a further value of risk after work is completed. The change in the risk values are a measure of the benefit we provide to our customers and stakeholders by upgrading our network. We have set targets to monitor risk change which demonstrates we are investing the money, which we receive from customers’ bills, as we intended we would.
The Energy Networks Association (ENA) hosted a consultation for customers and stakeholders to provide their feedback on revised rules for assessing risk to our assets, and if required, the methodology will then be updated.
As we move into the new price control period (RIIO-ED2) in April 2023, the updated methodology will support our RIIO-ED2 business plan.
Ofgem Sector Specific Methodology Consultation (SSMC)
Ofgem released their Sector Specific Methodology Consultation on 30th July 2020. This consultation is critically important for determining the framework within which Electricity North West will operate for RIIO-ED2 (2023 - 2028).
The decisions made from this consultation will determine our regulatory priorities and how we deliver services to our customers and stakeholders across the North West.
The full consultation is very long so we’ve identified some of Ofgem’s questions that are most relevant and developed an online survey for stakeholders to use to provide responses.
The consultation was open for direct response to Ofgem or stakeholders could share their feedback with Electricity North West to consider as part of their reponse.
Annex 3: Finance – a supporting document focusing on investor and shareholder details and assumptions
Enhanced Engagement Guidance – a supporting document focusing on the continued role of our Customer Engagement Group into RIIO-ED2 and other enhanced stakeholder frameworks
OUTCOME: Ofgem have now published their RIIO-ED2 Sector Specific Methodology decision on their website here with their overview decision document available here.
DSO strategy consultation
We invited our stakeholders to comment on our plans for the electricity network in the North West as part of the transition to net zero carbon.
Our three new documents (our ‘DSO strategy’, ‘Analysis of DSO functions’ and our ‘Grid digitalisation & data strategy’ ) describe the progress we have made and set out the next steps we are taking on the transition to ‘distribution system operation’ (DSO) – an industry-wide initiative to drive the changes needed to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions in the UK.
OUTCOME: We will publish findings from the consultation and our updated strategy documents in January 2021.
In the meantime, you can review all three documents here. If you have any comments on the documents please contact us.
HM Treasury fundamental review of business rates: call for evidence
The government committed to conduct a fundamental review of business rates and published the terms of reference for the review at the Spring Budget.
This call for evidence seeked views on how the business rates system currently works, issues to be addressed, ideas for change and a number of alternative taxes.
This consultation is important to Electricity North West as it will highlight to the Government whether or not business rates are hindering the uptake of low carbon technologies such as solar panels.
The consultation closed on 31st october.
OUTCOME: HM Treasury are currently analysing feedback and will be publishing the outcome here.
Inputs to 2020 DFES consultation
Our annual distribution future electricity scenarios (DFES) document details our view of the North West’s future electricity requirements, and outlines a range of scenarios which show how different influences can change demand and generation on our network.
We invited our customers and wider stakeholders to review and comment on the inputs we will use to create the forecasts for our 2020 DFES, outlined in the ‘Inputs to our 2020 DFES’ document.
OUTCOME: You can now view our 2020 DFES document here including the updated workbook here.
You can also review our previous versions of the DFES document here.
Flexr: The energy data sharing service
We invited stakeholders to participate in the Flexr consultation, a new core service that Electricity North West in partnership with other Distribution Network Operator's (DNOs) and ElectraLink will be bringing to the market.
The new service, called 'Flexr', will be a DNO data provision and standardisation service to facilitate the energy market transition. Flexr will enable and accelerate flexibility markets and platforms by enabling market participants to register for data access, allowing for the discovery of triaged information about DNO resources and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Flexr will accelerate open platform participation and therefore accelerate the GB flexible energy market, ensuring secure and controlled open platform delivery.
Electricity North West are currently working with Electralink in the development stage of Flexr.
OUTCOME:Click here to review the response report on the consultation.
The DNO and IDNO data exchange consultation layed out our plans for data sharing and further engagement between Electricity North West and the Independent Distribution Network Operators (IDNO) operating within our area. Throughout the document we pose questions which we would like to encourage IDNOs to respond to as we all work together as the role of a network operator adapts for the future.
The consultation document and the slides from our webinar held on 3 March 2020 can be found below.
Our Digital strategy 2020 takes us to the end of the RIIO-ED1 price control period and we were looking for your input to help shape our RIIO-ED2 plans.
Thank you to everyone who responded to our recent consultation on the need for modernisation of the energy network and markets that will support the drive for carbon neutrality by 2050.
OUTCOME: Using your feedback we have updated the strategy which is available here. The revised digital strategy will be opening up for consultation again as part of our ongoing ED2 engagement in early 2021.
The smart meter consultation wanted to find out how our customers feel about us having access to the information that a smart meter provides so that Electricity North West can provide a better service to our customers.
A smart meter has a remote display for inside customers property. This is a new kind of electricity meter that gives customers detailed information (on the digital display) about how much electricity they are using, in real time, and how much it is costing them.
These meters can be read remotely and can also automatically notify Electricity North West if there is a problem with customers power supply. This allows customers to receive more accurate bills and for Electricity North West to respond more quickly if there is a problem with the power in their property.
To ensure we continue to deliver the innovation, reliability and value our customers want, we asked customers and stakeholders across the region to take part in our acceptability testing survey.
Our customer and stakeholder views are crucial in helping us gain an even clearer understanding of your electricity priorities and ensure Electricity North West have got it right.
The survey was broken into the seven priority areas that customers and stakeholders told us to focus on these include: Reliability, resilience, safety, our direct environmental impact, leading the North West to net zero, meeting customers’ needs, and supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances.
Thank you to everyone who completed the survey, your on-going support is ensuring we are doing the right thing now and in the future.
We are now in the process of consolidating all views from the survey and will share feedback once we have completed our analysis.