Dear Stakeholders,

Welcome to our February newsletter.  

Its been a very busy start to the year. The UK was hit severely by Storm Éowyn on 23 January. Our region saw wind speeds of 83mph with tree branches and debris causing widespread destruction by damaging and bringing down overhead power lines.

Electricity North West’s investment in technology played a crucial role in restoring power quickly. Hundreds of engineers carried out repairs throughout the weekend, once safe for overhead lines teams to climb poles and repair damage. You can find out more in the newsletter below, including the key stats and figures.

A huge thank you to our customers for all of your kind messages of support for our colleagues, our teams for all their hard work and to all our partners and welfare and food outlets who helped support our customers when they needed it the most.

Today we are excited to launch our bi-annual Distribution System Operation Voice of the North West event which returns on 3 April. 

This time the The Lowry Hotel will play host to this popular event focused on co-developing our DSO strategy. 

In this month's newsletter, it's your last chance to take part in our Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey. We really need your help to reflect your feedback in our ongoing planning and have extended the deadline to this Sunday, 2 March.

We have submitted plans to energy regulator Ofgem, with strong support from more than 20 regional stakeholders, including regional MPs, councils and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, to increase overall investment in the region’s grid to meet growing power demand. Details of the load related incremental £200m investment plan to support the region’s continued clean growth through expansion of critical infrastructure can be found below.

We are always excited to share details of our innovation projects. We invite you to join us for a webinar on our CoolDown Project. The webinar will share learnings from in-depth consumer research related to cooling of domestic buildings.

Could your organisation help provide additional help to support our customers? Our Extra Care Partnership Fund is still open for expressions of interest from charities and local organisations.

Plus a roundup of the latest ENWL and partner news. 

DSO Voice of the North West

Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey

CoolDown webinar

Plan to support clean growth

Storm Éowyn

News roundup

Best wishes, the Stakeholder Engagement Team

Calling all North West energy stakeholders!

Mark your calendars for 3 April 2025. Electricity North West is hosting an interactive event at the The Lowry Hotel focused on co-developing our Distribution System Operation (DSO) strategy. This bi-annual event brings together key stakeholders to discuss the latest developments, share best practices, and explore opportunities for collaboration.

Join us for a day of:

Stakeholders will have the opportunity to engage in discussions, share feedback, and explore how ENWL’s DSO activities are directly benefiting them, as well as how we plan to continue delivering value through enhanced flexibility services and greater data transparency. 

Date: 3 April 2025

Time: 11:00am - 4:00pm

Location: The Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Pl, Salford M3 5LH

Lunch and hospitality provided.

Secure your free place today.

Time is running out to contribute to our stakeholder satisfaction survey. We have extended the deadline to Sunday 2 March.

We would really like to encourage you to take part so that we are able to reflect your feedback in our ongoing improvement plans.

Your feedback is invaluable in helping us identify opportunities to improve, manage risk, and deliver even greater value to you—our valued customers and stakeholders.

The survey is being administered by our independent research partner, Feedback Research.

You can access the survey now using the link below.

Alternatively, we can arrange a convenient time to obtain your feedback via telephone. Please indicate that you would like to take part in this way by contacting Electricity North West at: stakeholderengagement@enwl.co.uk.

The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete and to thank you for participating we will be making a £5 charitable donation to a charity you select from a list provided at the end of the survey.

Please join us for a webinar on Electricity North West's CoolDown Project. This webinar will share learnings from in-depth consumer research related to cooling of domestic buildings.

This research provides insights into household cooling uptake and behaviour today, potential near-term changes, as well as the acceptability of potential commercial arrangements designed to support the network manage peaks effectively.

Date: Thursday 6th March 2025

Time: 1:30 PM -2:30 PM 

CoolDown is exploring the impact of cooling on network capacity by producing improved uptake and demand projections as well as developing novel commercial models to incentivise and unlock space-cooling flexibility. This will reduce network reinforcement requirements and optimise value for customers.

Read more about the project HERE.

We are two years into our record £2b five-year investment programme, and our latest plan sets out the need for an additional £200m investment over the next three years, driven by new customer demand.

Electricity North West submitted plans to energy regulator Ofgem, with strong support from more than 20 regional stakeholders, including regional MPs, councils and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, to increase overall investment in the region’s grid to meet growing power demand (load).

The funding, if approved by Ofgem, would boost network capacity and support new businesses, clean power generation and storage, the electrification of public transport, and the deployment of electric vehicle fast chargers.

The investment will also contribute to the Government's target of achieving clean power by 2030 and help deliver new jobs across the North West whilst allowing people to develop the necessary skills to sustain economic growth and build a green economy. Ofgem is expected to make a decision in September.

Our submission to Ofgem can be found HERE. 

Read more HERE.

The Electricity North West Extra Care Partnership Fund is still open for expressions of interest from charities and local organisations. Our mission is to collaborate in identifying and supporting households that may struggle during power cuts. 

We are also seeking partners to help our customer teams enhance their understanding and support for service users before, during, and after power cuts through a little Extra Care.

To learn more and join us in making a difference, please contact our Customer Inclusion Team at Partnerships@enwl.co.uk to request our Expression of Interest Form.

Our teams restored power to 110,000 properties. In Storm Arwen just over 90,000 properties were impacted.

Our teams worked tirelessly to restore customers power, with repair work still ongoing in the weeks following the storm and some of our teams travelling to Ireland and Scotland to support their restoration work.

A huge thank you to our customers for all of your kind messages of support for our colleagues, our colleagues for all your hard work and to all the welfare and food outlets who helped provide a warm space, hot food and drinks for our customers when they needed it the most.

After the storm some people received messages saying their power had been restored when it was still off. This is due to ‘hidden faults’ on the network – additional damage, further down the line, which is only discovered after damage to larger lines has been fixed. The above video was created during the storm of one of our control managers, Chris Fox, explaining this further:

Read the key stats and figures from Storm Éowyn below:

The CEO of the North West power network has called on the energy regulator, Ofgem, to continue investing in local networks to help meet national clean energy targets.

Electricity North West CEO, Ian Smyth, said: “Last week’s National Infrastructure Commission report highlights the need for further and faster investment if we are going to hit the ambitious clean power goals set by Government.

“As a regional network operator in an area with an economy growing faster than the UK as a whole, we are uniquely placed to deliver. We’re ready to go but it’s not going to happen without investment.

“Rather than sit on our hands until the next price control in 2028, we’ve proactively set out the additional £200m investment needed in our critical infrastructure now.

“We know it’s needed to support growth, we know it’s backed by our regional stakeholders and we know that it will ultimately enable residents, businesses and communities to make low carbon choices, ensuing a just transition in the most efficient way.”

Read more HERE. 

Thousands of households across East Lancashire are missing out on crucial free support. New research carried out by Electricity North West has identified a major gap in Extra Care Register registrations across towns and villages served by East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT). The research has revealed a 54 per cent gap in registrations for families with children under five. 

Whilst half of the residents aren’t even aware of the free service which provides support during power cuts.

To help tackle the issue, we've formed a pioneering partnership with ELHT maternity services. The partnership aims to help new parents, ensuring comprehensive care and tailored support for families with young children. Read more HERE.

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

Residents, businesses and visitors are being invited to help shape the future of electric vehicle infrastructure in Westmorland and Furness.

A survey has been launched by Westmorland and Furness Council to gather people’s usage, thoughts and aspirations on electric vehicle infrastructure in their area. Whether they live, work or visit Westmorland and Furness, individuals, organisations and businesses are encouraged to share their views on how they find current provision and what they’d like to see in the future. The survey will close on Sunday 2 March. Read more HERE.

The Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, comprising over eighty organizations from various sectors across the county, is spearheading efforts to combat climate change. Our collective vision is to achieve a net zero carbon county by 2037, enhancing the quality of life, promoting harmony with the environment, and fostering a sustainable low carbon economy.

We are excited to announce that Electricity North West is sponsoring this year's Zero Carbon Cumbria Summit, which will take place in March at the North Lakes Hotel. This summit is a crucial opportunity for all parts of our county to unite in the fight against carbon emissions. By strengthening our partnerships and enhancing the effectiveness of our collaborative actions, we can make significant strides towards our goals.

Join us at the summit to be part of this transformative journey. Together, we can create a greener, more sustainable Cumbria. Find out more HERE.

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.

Read our Stakeholder Engagement Report 2023/24, reflecting our activities in the first year of the RIIO-ED2 price control period (2023-28).

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