Hello and welcome to our latest Local Authority Newsletter. 

This edition includes updates on our Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES) engagement, a look at our new website, a deep dive into a Leicestershire decarbonisation project and details on a new tool set to aid transport decarbonisation planning.  

We hope you find this issue useful and informative. If you'd like to provide any feedback about our newsletter, please email us at nged.energyplanning@nationalgrid.co.uk. 

It’s that time of year again when we ask you to share your plans for housing and industrial growth, as well as local decarbonisation, so we can include these in our Distribution Future Energy Scenarios. 

As a reminder, our Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES) outline the range of credible futures for the growth of the distribution network, broadly aligning with the National Energy System Operator's (NESO’s) Future Energy Scenarios (FES). This is the first stage of our network investment planning process, ensuring our network is ready for a decarbonised future. 

Thanks to the excellent information we've received from you in the past (64% of local authorities responded in 2024), we've tried to make it much easier this year. 

There are three key things we are asking for: 

1. Any changes to domestic developments, given the recent changes to housing targets, and, ideally, Shape files that show their locations.  

2. Any updates to the non-domestic information you have provided us in recent years.  

These are the most important; if you only have time to do this, it will significantly help us plan for your area’s future electricity needs. However, if you do have time, we are also looking for: 

3. You to review our growth assumptions in DFES 2024 using our Local Authority workbook.   

We ran a webinar on 6th May to explain the changes.

We also have drop-in sessions where you can join and ask any questions you may have. You can book these below: 

         Tuesday 08 July – 10am – 11am – Register here

         Thursday 17 July – 3pm – 4pm – Register here

Finally, if you have any further questions, please do reach out to your Strategic Engagement Officer (details at the end of the newsletter). 

The deadline for submission is 25 July. 

We know that housing targets in the UK are high and that there is more pressure than ever on Local Authorities to allocate land for new housing developments. We also know that new housing developments will include an array of Low Carbon Technologies (LCTs), requiring more electricity than ever before. 

Therefore, we are taking a proactive approach to ensuring the electricity network can handle the increased demand. This is why we ask you for updated figures on domestic developments each year, and why we have put a particular focus on gathering this data in 2025 given the new housing targets that have been set by Government. Below, we have highlighted some key figures from our DFES 2024 modelling: 

By 2050, for domestic dwellings we are forecasting: 

East Midlands – a 20-24%, with North Northamptonshire (34,126), West Northamptonshire (31,177), and Charnwood (21,926) seeing the largest number of new homes.  

West Midlands – a 16-19% increase, with Birmingham (83,105), Stroud (16,251), and Stoke-on-Trent (15,567) seeing the largest number of new homes.  

South Wales – a 9-12% increase, with Cardiff (20,288), Swansea (9,050), and Carmarthenshire (7,091) seeing the largest number of new homes.  

South West – a 17-21% increase, with Somerset (25,511), Cornwall (18,698), and the City of Bristol (11,664) seeing the largest number of new homes.  

You can see our housing growth forecasts for each Local Authority or Electricity Supply Area (ESA) using our DFES interactive map. Please note that we expect to see these change as a result of your 2025 DFES submissions. 

For the second year running, we carried out our DSO stakeholder satisfaction survey as part of the DSO incentive scheme. The survey was open from 1st April to 31st May, and we were pleased to receive 50 responses from local and combined authority stakeholders.  

We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Please be assured that we are actively using the valuable feedback you provided to shape our DSO strategy and inform our future engagement plans. Your input is incredibly important to us.  

If you haven’t already, do check out our new DSO webpages. 

It’s now easier than ever to find information about our data and insights, as well as browse resources and publications about how we are creating a smart and flexible network that supports local decarbonisation. There is even a page dedicated to Local Authorities where you can find lots of useful information about the support we can offer and links to useful datasets and previous webinars. 

We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring our new website contains useful data and information to support your work. However, we understand that finding specific details can sometimes be challenging. To help, we’re hosting a webinar on 17 September, 2pm - 3pm, to guide you through where to find the most valuable information. Details of how to book the webinar will be coming out soon. 

Leicestershire Collaborate to Accelerate Net Zero (LCAN) brings together multi-sector partners to accelerate the shift to net zero with a £2.56 million programme, funded by Innovate UK.

What’s happening in Leicestershire?

With a two tier local government structure, including 7 district and borough councils, bringing together partners to collaborate is the back-bone of LCAN. Along side local authorities, the unique and diverse combination of key partners includes Green Fox Energy, Community Energy South, Energy Systems Catapult, University of Leicester and De Montford University, and National Grid Electricity Distribution.

The programme brings together expertise in the energy sector, academia and local government to plan for and deliver future net zero communities in the City, market towns, and rural areas.

The LCAN programme

LCAN focuses on four key delivery areas; Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP), Community Energy, an Advisory Service, and Governance.

Delivery of a dynamic and accessible LAEP is central to this programme, and is achieved through the development of a digital twin of each of the 7 district-based LAEPs.  This interactive tool will help local decision-makers plan and prioritise low-risk, low-regret, low-carbon technology deployment. Stakeholders have been actively involved in shaping this tool, which will serve long beyond the project’s official end in November 2025.

Recognising the need to build capacity in local communities and generate resources, Community Energy partners have established the Leicestershire Community Energy Hub. This network is supporting new and existing community energy groups, accelerating the delivery of locally driven low carbon projects. Since launching, over £400,000 in funding has been secured, with an additional £300,000 targeted before the end of November 2025.

Progress so far

Progress to date has been impressive across all four delivery areas. The advisory service is impacting industry, with over 800 businesses engaged with the service, and 110 directly receiving support. 

The governance stream has focused on developing and recommending models for effective governance across multi-tier local authority landscape, to enable cross-sector collaboration and stream-lined decision making to prepare and drive forward impactful post LAEP interventions.

The momentum in support of community energy through LCAN has resulted in funding a 3 year PhD placement to explore and make recommendations on ‘spreading the benefits and broadening engagement in community projects in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland’. 

Even after funding ends in November 2025, the Digital Twin for the 7 LAEP’s and the ongoing operation of the Community Energy Hub will ensure long-term legacy.

The next step for the project is produce appropriate guidance to support other places to learn from LCAN’s experiences, replicate areas of successful innovation and help shape national approaches to energy planning and net zero delivery.

The role of the DSO in LCAN

National Grid Electricity Distribution have been key partners on LCAN, with involvement from scoping the programme, through to dissemination.  Sharing data on local networks and capacity, providing technical expertise, and feeding information into the DSO on future energy needs of Leicestershire are some highlights of DSO engagement. 

Working with over 120 local and combined authorities, the DSO is also well placed to disseminate best practice and lessons learnt from LCAN.

We have worked alongside the Energy Networks Association (ENA) to launch a new online tool to help if you are looking to introduce or expand electric transport fleets. 

The new Transport Connections Guidance tool is designed to walk commercial, government, or not-for-profit organisations through the steps that need to be taken before a grid connection application is submitted for the connection of EV charging infrastructure. Those seeking to add or expand a grid connection for EV infrastructure can input information about their needs, including their location, business type, number of employees, and current electricity demand. 

We recently hosted a pivotal meeting at our Taunton depot, bringing together Somerset Council, SSEN, NESO, and the South West Net Zero Hub. The meeting focused on a collaborative approach to strategic network planning – essential for powering Somerset’s future growth and net zero ambitions.

This follows a significant piece of collaborative work with SSEN and UKPN where local authorities with shared network boundaries only need to share their infrastructure growth plans once, allowing all network operators to integrate this crucial information into their future investments.

Our engagement with NESO ensures this joined-up approach aligns with the Regional Energy Strategic Planning (RESP) process, while the South West Net Zero Hub champions innovation and vital investment.

We are doing all of this to ensure we are at the forefront of creating a smart, efficient and decarbonised electricity network that meets to future needs of our customers and communities. 

Our Strategic Engagement team are available to support you with local area energy plan and local decarbonisation planning. You can get in touch with the team by emailing nged.energyplanning@nationalgrid.co.uk or contact you local Strategic Engagement Officer.

East Midlands - Elizabeth Hanger, ehanger@nationalgrid.co.uk

West Midlands - Steven Roberts, sroberts4@nationalgrid.co.uk

South Wales - Kathryn Thomas, kthomas@nationalgrid.co.uk

South West - Vaughan Pyne, vpyne@nationalgrid.co.uk

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