Flexibility filters down
Flexibility filters down
With low-carbon technologies more prevalent in wealthier urban areas, individuals and organisations located there are better positioned to become flexibility service providers and take advantage of the financial benefits.
ENW wants to rebalance this situation though its Social DSO model by encouraging anyone bidding for flexibility services to opt in to receive slightly lower compensation, for example a standard 10% reduction in payment, which will be contributed to a fund to support local community groups across the region on initiatives such as community EV charging hubs, battery storage, and solar projects.
“A fund that enables people to move forward on this journey is really beneficial...the payback on all these kinds of progressions is so strong, people just need that helping hand to make it happen.”
Georgina Dingley, director of energy solutions, UK Networks Services
Georgina Dingley, director of energy solutions at UK Networks Services says: “ As a professional working in the energy industry, it's been easy for me to buy an electric car, put solar panels on my roof and install a heat pump and energy storage, I can calculate the payback on these items, and I've got access to the funds to invest in them in the first place. But for many people in my community, that's a million miles away, it's very difficult for people, particularly anything that requires up-front investment.”
Dingley continues: “A fund that enables people to move forward on this journey is really beneficial...the payback on all these kinds of progressions is so strong, people just need that helping hand to make it happen.”
If the DSO Social model is about engaging all walks of society in the shift to a low carbon future, then a major part of the challenge is getting the message out so people are informed of the benefits and how to access them. Many communities aren’t even aware that renewable technologies are something that they should consider or engage with.
ENW has been accelerating its engagement with businesses and communities across the North West, including large charities and other groups representing large portions of its customer base, to ensure their clients and customers understand what the energy transition requires.
Samantha Loukes, head of customer inclusion at ENW says: “This is a massive thing to try and drive through, the more voices we have on our side – the more people we can help understand what it might mean for the end user, from a big industrial customer, down to a domestic customer at the end of a terraced street – the better.”
“Do people realise the reality if everyone in a family has an EV but there’s just one charge point at the property? And what does it mean if there is a power cut?.”
Samantha Loukes, head of customer inclusion, ENW
Information is being made available through new multi-channel communications, community events, where ENW teams speak directly to individuals, and conferences, such as the Resilient North West Customer Summit in June, which will bring together people from across the region to discuss future net zero challenges.
“It's about helping people to understand the future and exactly what it looks like and the changes on the horizon,” says Loukes, “For example, do people realise the reality if everyone in a family has an EV but there’s just one charge point at the property? And what does it mean if there is a power cut?"
The free expert advice service Take Charge, funded by ENW and delivered in partnership with Citizens Advice in the North West and the Energy Saving Trust, has been helping improve electricity users’ understanding of LCTs since 2023.
Available via a website, phoneline, WhatsApp and at low-carbon events across the region, the service takes users through the different options, highlighting the benefits, debunking common myths, and outlining costs and available grants. ENW doesn’t sell any technologies through it.
A Utility Week Intelligence report, in association with Electricity North West
A Utility Week Intelligence report, in association with Electricity North West