Dear stakeholders,

Welcome to our November stakeholder newsletter.

As you receive this, our engineers are currently on standby for the second named storm of the season. Storm Bert is set to hit the region this weekend. We have plans in place to monitor and respond to any network damage caused by the storm.

You can view live power cut information in the region at www.enwl.co.uk/powercuts, get in touch on X or Facebook, or by calling 105 for free from any phone.

Electricity North West offers extra support to customers through our Extra Care Register. For more information and to register go to www.enwl.co.uk/ExtraCare.

This month we have been delighted to meet so many of you. In October we held our twice-yearly DSO conference in Penrith and our annual stakeholder events have recently been held in Manchester and Lancaster. This means that we have had the opportunity to meet over 200 of our stakeholders and had the opportunity to discuss our regional investment programme and identify opportunities to work even better with you. We are currently reviewing the feedback so watch this space for more information.

Today, we are delighted to publish our first Stakeholder Engagement Report 2023/24, reflecting our activities in the first year of the RIIO-ED2 price control period (2023-28). Find out more below and read the report HERE. 

Our Autumn flexibility tender is now open. We are seeking 870 MW of flexibility in 44 locations between 2025-28, with over £12m revenue available.

This month we also invite you to get involved in our upcoming DSO functions webinar and DSO data consultation. There's a roundup of some of the events we have been involved with over the last month, plus a roundup of the latest partner and ENWL news.  

In this month's newsletter...

Stakeholder Engagement Report

Autumn Flexibility Tender

DSO Functions Webinar

DSO Data Consultation

Events roundup

News and partner updates

Best wishes,

The Stakeholder Engagement Team 

This is the first voluntary Stakeholder Engagement Report, reflecting our activities in the first year of the RIIO-ED2 price control period (2023-28) and follows the Stakeholder Engagement and Consumer Vulnerability (SECV) submissions which were a regulatory requirement in RIIO-ED1 (2015-2023).

Over the last 12 months we have continued to deliver robust stakeholder engagement. This report explains our strategic approach and goes on to provide case studies and examples of where engagement has informed business decisions and delivered tangible change. Please give us feedback and let us know what you think,

Read the report HERE. 

Our Autumn tender asks flexibility providers for 870 MW of flexibility in 44 locations across Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester between 2025-28, with over £12m revenue available for the provision of these services.

With this tender we have introduced Low Voltage (LV) service opportunities, alongside existing High Voltage (HV) and Extra High Voltage (EHV) services.

The addition of LV requirements across 11 eligible locations in the North West marks an important step towards broadening participation from residential flexibility and energy efficiency providers.

How to take part

1. Create an account on either ElectronConnect or Piclo Max - you can choose your preferred platform.

2. Submit your Commercial Qualification application by Friday 17 January 2025. View our Commerical Qualification document for guidance on criteria and example answers.

3. Sign our standard framework agreement, utilised by all UK DNOs.

4. Register your assets.

5. Complete Technical Qualification by Friday 24 January 2025 by confirming the assets you wish to put forward in the competition.

6. We will then assess the capability of your asset(s) to meet the requirements of this tender, and if successful, you will be able to submit a bid for the provision of flexible services during the bidding window in February on your chosen platform.

7. We will assess all bids and notify successful participants via Electron Connect and Piclo Max.

To make this process seamless, this tender will be hosted on the ElectronConnect and Piclo Max platforms, enhancing visibility and ease of participation for all FSPs.

Interested parties can visit:  Flexible Services Autumn 2024 tender to find out more.

This workshop will give an overview of Electricity North West's latest Distribution Future Electricity Scenarios (DFES).

You’ll hear the latest on our Autumn flexible services tender and how to use our Open Data Portal, with experts from our team walking attendees through the data that is published, what it means, and how to use it to help inform potential connections, operations and trades on the network. 

This week we have also launched our latest DSO Data Consultation.

Our stakeholders' expertise and perspectives are highly valued, and we invite you to take part in this consultation. Your feedback will help us not only meet regulatory requirements but exceed them by creating a robust framework for data transparency and engagement that benefits all stakeholders.

To make it easier for stakeholders to take part, we’ll be hosting an online consultation hour as part of our DSO discussions series:

Over the last two weeks, the stakeholder engagement team and colleagues from across Electricity North West, have been engaging with stakeholders at our annual regional stakeholder events. 

Over 130 stakeholders joined us at events in Manchester and Lancaster to hear about our investment programme in the region, how we are responding to recent political changes and a detailed look at some of our innovation, environment and customer initiatives. 

The events were a great opportunity to explain our investment in the region and identify opportunities for greater collaboration and improvements. Nearly 100% of attendees felt the events increased their understanding of how we are delivering investment in the region.

Engaging with our stakeholders is key to driving our business forward; you inform our business priorities and hold us to account. Thank you to everyone that attended. We are currently compiling all the feedback received and will share feedback in due course.

Our October DSO Conference was filled with insightful presentations and thought-provoking discussions with our stakeholders. We want to extend a huge thank you to our guest speakers Nina Klein from Ofgem and John Forbes from Cumbria Action for Sustainability as well as all the stakeholders who attended both in person and online.

Your contributions are invaluable as we continue to shape the future of our energy system through flexibility and data-driven innovation.

Here’s to more collaboration, innovation, and driving the future of energy together!

The event recording is now available: DSO Conference Oct 24 part one and part two

Credit: Open Data Manchester CIC

On Tuesday 5th November 2024 we took part in a data dive in collaboration with Open Data Manchester CIC, and Kraken.

Stakeholders explored and discussed data made available on our open data portal, and other data that might be available to foster collaboration and generate new ideas for data utilisation in the electricity and sustainability sector.

Read more HERE.

Individuals, community groups, schools, and businesses from across Lancashire were celebrated at this year’s Active Lancashire Awards, held at Crow Wood Hotel, Burnley, on Friday 15th November. Active Lancashire are a member of our Strategic Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances Panel.

The 22nd edition of the event welcomed over 300 guests from across the county. Electricity North West were proud to sponsor the Environmental Impact and Sustainability Award with worth winners The Bay for their extraordinary achievements and dedication to environmental sustainability. 

The Bay is a Nature and Wellbeing Programme, offering people living in Morecambe Bay the opportunity to get outdoors, connect with nature, and take part in a range of activities which cover the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. It has been set up to tackle the feelings of isolation and loneliness in Morecambe Bay after the global pandemic.

Electricity North West is calling on eligible customers to register for its free Extra Care Register (ECR). 

If power cuts do happen, then snowy conditions can affect engineers’ ability to respond due to potential access issues. Electricity North West says that being on the Extra Care Register can help give you peace of mind ensuring that they know anyone who has extra needs so they can provide additional support.

Sign up at www.enwl.co.uk/ExtraCare or call for free on 105.

You can keep-up-to-date with the latest news and opinions from across the organisation and energy industry here.

Bee Net Zero is helping Greater Manchester businesses lower their carbon footprint and save money on energy costs this winter. For hospitality businesses, they’ve created 30 quick wins that can help you start saving on energy and waste immediately, which should help businesses in the region see quick returns.

Green Economy is hosting a sustainability Surgery on 10 December in Manchester. With increasing pressures around sustainability, rising energy costs, customer demands, confusion around carbon footprinting, and greenwashing concerns, businesses are under a lot of pressure. This Sustainability Surgery will help you address these challenges and make sustainability simple with peer-to-peer support, expert advice and establishing practical solution. Sign up HERE. 

To learn more about support available from the Bee Net Zero partnership visit www.beenetzero.co.uk 

If you are interested in finding out more about any of our stakeholder advisory panels, or if there is any topic you’d like to see in the next edition of this newsletter, please get in touch with us at stakeholderengagement@enwl.co.uk.

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