£2 billion investment planned for region’s electricity network

Electricity North West, the company responsible for maintenance of the region’s power grid, has released a draft plan, outlining £2 billion of proposed investment to the network to be delivered by 2028.

The plan was written based on a public consultation which received input from 18,000 people in the North West, and is now looking for further feedback from those living and working in the region before it is submitted to the energy sector regulator, Ofgem, for approval.

Electricity North West is proposing £1.97 billion of investment between 2023 and 2028 that aims to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages and protect the network from storm and flood events. Investment into the region’s 57,000 km of underground and overhead power cables will also help to improve the grid’s capacity for new low-carbon technologies, such as a electric vehicle charging. The plan represents a 44% increase in investment levels compared to the current five-year period.

Peter Emery, chief executive of Electricity North West, said:

The challenge of delivering stretching environmental ambitions on net zero while keeping bills low and making sure we don’t leave anybody behind is tough.

“Our research has shown that 80% of customers are willing to pay an additional £9.80 to achieve our ambitious proposals – but that means 20% are not. We have worked hard to find a solution through innovation and efficiencies where we can deliver that high level of investment for just £2.14 extra a year on the average household bill.

“The result of that work would be to facilitate a greener, fairer, more prosperous and more connected future for our region – but before we finalise our plan we want to get the views of our customers and stakeholders We would encourage anybody to read through our plan and let us know what they think so we can refine it further.”

While the draft plan has been written following the contributions of members of the public via a  range of physical and virtual forums, a dedicated online community, surveys and other engagement events, Electricity North West continues to hear from customers ahead of the proposal’s 1st July submission to Ofgem. The full draft business plan and details of how to participate in the consultation can be found on the company’s website.