Dear stakeholders, Welcome to our December stakeholder newsletter.
As the year draws to a close we are delighted that this month saw us scoop a fistful of industry awards for our innovation in Smart Street and Net Zero Terrace, culminating in the ultimate honour of being named Utility of the Year at the Utility Week Awards held in London. |
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Earlier this month our colleagues and customers battled Storm Darragh. Over the weekend of 6 December power was restored to more than 22,000 properties in Cumbria and Lancashire. Just over half of the power cuts were resolved automatically within three minutes thanks to our network investment. High winds from early Saturday prevented repair teams from climbing to restore power for some hours with engineers out all day in treacherous wind and rain. Having restored our customers, Electricity North West engineers then supported other areas of the UK in Wales and Northern Ireland. Find the key stats and numbers from Storm Darragh below.
We are delighted to have published our Responsible Business Annual Report 2023/24. This report provides an update on our performance against key commitments aligned with our responsible business framework, showcasing our efforts for our people and partners, our environment, and our communities.
In this month's newsletter we also we provide details of our second enhanced Distribution Network Options Assessment (DNOA), a £1m investment to enhance Rochdale's power network, an important safety warning after disaster is narrowly averted, and a host of partner updates including National Grid Electricity Transmission's regulatory business plan, and Green Economy's new carbon calculator.
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On behalf of the Stakeholder Engagement Team and everyone at Electricity North West, we would like to wish you all a very happy holiday period and all the best to you and yours in the year to come. We look forward to seeing you all in 2025! |
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Following Storm Darragh last weekend, power was restored to more than 22,000 properties in Cumbria and Lancashire. Just over half of the power cuts were resolved automatically within three minutes thanks to our network investment. Electricity North West engineers went on to support other areas of the UK having restored power to the North West, in Wales and Northern Ireland, to assist the restoration and repair efforts there.
See the key figures from Storm Darragh below: |
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Electricity North West DSO releases enhanced Distribution Network Options Assessment |
Electricity North West has released our second, enhanced Distribution Network Options Assessment (DNOA). |
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The comprehensive report provides deeper insights into the optimal use of flexibility services and conventional network reinforcement to meet future network capacity requirements.
New to this year, we have introduced a dedicated focus on stakeholder personas, making the DNOA more useful and accessible than ever before. Read more HERE.
Read the report HERE. |
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| Electricity North West publishes responsible business report |
Our actions to reduce carbon emissions, support customers, diversify our workforce, strengthen our supply chain, increase capacity, and build network resilience will significantly impact our region. |
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In our Responsible Business annual report, we update you on our performance against key commitments aligned with our responsible business framework, showcasing our efforts for our people and partners, our environment, and our communities. We’ve achieved remarkable milestones in supporting vulnerable customers, increasing biodiversity, educating our community on electrical safety and the energy transition, and more.
Throughout the year, we delivered on the responsible business framework , you can read more about our actions here. Additionally, we have enhanced our responsible business framework this year aligning our efforts the UN sustainable goals and Environment, Social and Governance (ESG). Read the report HERE.
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£1m investment to enhance Rochdale power network |
Electricity North West is carrying out work worth £1m to enhance and upgrade our technology on a large section of Rochdale’s power network. The seven-figure investment in remote control technology, will allow for quicker restoration of power cuts should they happen in the area. |
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Teams will install 8km of new fibre cable to aid the remote control of the power network and thousands of customers and businesses will benefit from the work. Read more HERE. |
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| Stakeholder advisory panel update |
Since the last newsletter we have held three of our Q3 stakeholder advisory panels. Our panels represent a range of stakeholders and help us to deliver our business plan by providing insight. |
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At the end of November we held a Stakeholder Insight panel. Panel members discussed the recent regional stakeholder events, the Ofgem load-related re-opener, local authority partnerships, half yearly scorecards and initial RIIO-ED3 planning. In December we held our Digital Futures panel. Panel members discussed progress on our AI initiatives, our open data portal and our Digital Strategy Action Plan (DSAP).
In December we also held our Q3 Independent Oversight Group (IOG). Themes of the day included triangulation, business plan commitments, stakeholder engagement and an IOG and advisory panel review along with the topics covered on advisory panels. |
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Electricity North West scoops quadruple win at industry awards' |
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| Electricity North West named Utility of the Year! |
We’re delighted to have been awarded Utility of The Year at the 2024 Utility Week Awards.
The awards celebrate the gold standard of achievement for UK utilities for those who go above and beyond to enhance the reputation of the sector through performance, innovation and value for customers. |
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Utility Week Awards - Innovation (Energy) award |
The Net Zero project team also scooped the Innovation (Energy) award at the Utility Week awards for our commitment to net zero.
The award celebrates the ambition, creativity and determination of utilities as they push the boundaries of collaborative innovation and was in recognition of our Net Zero Terrace project which provides affordable low carbon energy and healthy warm homes alongside our project partners Rossendale Valley Energy, Centre for Energy Equality and Buro Happold. |
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Smart Street innovation programme wins two awards in a week |
Our Smart Street innovation programme, which cuts costs and carbon for customers across the North West, has won two awards in a week: Prolific North Tech Awards 2024 – Tech Innovation of the Year edie Net Zero Awards 2024 – Smart Systems and Flexibility Project of the Year As the most innovative network operator, we’ve driven forward this tech from concept to trial sites and now to rolling out to 1000 sites across the region which will benefit 250,000 customers.
By installing innovative voltage control technology on our network Smart Street enables customers’ appliances to perform more efficiently – saving money on bills without customers having to do anything. It also makes it easier for low carbon technologies to connect to the electricity network.
We’re targeting the roll out in areas with high levels of fuel poverty making sure we’re helping those customers who need it most. |
Congratulations to all our amazing colleagues and stakeholders who have been part of our sustained success. Our teamwork across the whole region shows what we can deliver together! |
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'One wrong move could have resulted in a death’ say Electricity North West |
Engineers were left speechless after discovering a steel mast had been erected just one metre away from 132,000-volt overhead electricity lines.
The highly dangerous situation in Burnley was discovered by Electricity North West tree cutting teams who were carrying out maintenance in the area. Teams reported the situation immediately and engineers attended the Kiddrow Lane site and quickly made the decision to switch out and earth the circuit for safety reasons. No customers were without power as a result.
In what could have been a potentially fatal incident, we are issuing a stark warning to anybody who works close to our network. Engineers remained on site until the installer attended and within several hours, the pole was taken down. Read more HERE. |
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You can keep-up-to-date with the latest news and opinions from across the organisation and energy industry here.
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National Grid Electricity Transmission set to publish its RIIO-T3 Business Plan |
National Grid Electricity Transmission published their RIIO-T3 business plan covering the period April 2026 to March 2031 today. This ambitious framework represents the most significant step forward in the electricity transmission network that we have seen in a generation. |
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Through it they will double the amount of power that can be transported around the country, supporting the electrification of the industries of today and tomorrow; create new jobs and support inward investment for the UK. A consultation period, known as the Call for Evidence, will take place from 18th December 2024 to 10th February 2025. During this time, National Grid Electricity Transmission will host two national webinars and eight regional webinars in the last two weeks of January 2025. These sessions will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to give feedback on the RIIO-T3 Business Plan and ask questions directly to the National Grid team.
Links to the webinars will be available on their website alongside the Business Plan. We encourage you to participate in these webinars to gain valuable insights into the proposals and engage with key stakeholders from National Grid and the Distribution Network Operators.
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| Green Economy Carbon Calculator |
Green Economy provides end-to-end support to businesses as the UK transitions to net zero. They help businesses to decarbonise with advice, training and support that delivers long term resilience, environmental credibility and financial savings.
Accurately measure and report your business' carbon emissions and discover paths for impactful reductions with Green Economy's new carbon calculator. Calculate your carbon emissions. Reduce your
impact. Access the carbon calculator HERE. |
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