Exploring Electricity North West’s Social DSO strategy and stakeholder views on how it can bring value to individuals and communities in its licence area.
As distribution system operators seek to develop their identities, pushing beyond the largely functional regulatory framework established by Ofgem, Electricity North West is putting the potential benefits to society and community wellbeing front and centre.
This Insight report, created by Utility Week in partnership with Electricity North West (ENW), examines what a 'Social DNO' means for customers in practice, including for those struggling to pay energy bills or at risk of exclusion from the net-zero transition. The report is based on interviews with senior ENW representatives and leading local stakeholders who have influenced and helped enact its Social DSO approach. Topics covered in this report include:
This is the first of two reports from Utility Week exploring ENW’s Social DSO model. The second will be published later this year, with a focus on driving benefits for place, including insight into how the Social DSO is supporting economic development and opportunity in the North West.
From facilitating flexible connections and improving network visibility, to supporting local flexibility markets and implementing smarter grid management, electricity networks have been developing their distribution system operator (DSO) functions in earnest since the start of RIIO2 in 2023.
Significant progress has been made, but in the run up to RIIO-ED3 there are calls to take stock and recalibrate to ensure that DSO activities are delivering on customer and stakeholder expectations and facilitating the transition to net zero.
Electricity North West (ENW) is advocating for a more progressive approach guided, not just by technical functions and targets set by Ofgem, but also specific social commitments designed to tackle societal issues and enhance community wellbeing.
The network has adopted a Social DSO Strategy and aims to become the ‘leading Social DSO’ in Great Britain by combining a focus on decarbonisation, in line with the transition to net zero, economic growth and affordable infrastructure delivery, with specific measures intended to maximise societal benefits.
This puts a new perspective on decision making with clear goals designed to tackle social inequalities and ensure a fair and inclusive energy transition, so no one is left behind in the shift to clean energy.
Developed in consultation with customers and stakeholders, the Social DSO model builds on activities that have helped reduce energy bills for customers in the North West, especially those most in need of support, and advanced decarbonisation by encouraging the uptake of low-carbon technologies (LCTs) such as heat pumps and electric vehicles (EVs). ENW is also working with local business and public sector organisations to ensure the benefits of decarbonisation for individuals, such as improved health and wellbeing, are measured robustly.
Paul Auckland, head of economic regulation and DSO at ENW says: “It's a major challenge to ensure the net zero transition benefits all segments of society, requiring more outreach and more proactive engagement from us. That's where we are on our journey, we're looking at the activities we already do, leaning them in towards creating social benefits, and devising new DSO activities to deliver new benefits in the social space.”
A Utility Week Intelligence report, in association with Electricity North West
A Utility Week Intelligence report, in association with Electricity North West