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NETWORK / 8 / MAY 2019 INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Decarbonisation driving change at ENW Electricity North West is putting decarbonisation at the heart of its plans. Alec Peachey spoke to chief executive Peter Emery about a number of subjects including the company's drive to reduce carbon emissions, regulation, infrastructure – and how they're performing against the backdrop of a strategic review that could lead to a sale of the business. I t's business as usual. That's the response I get from Emery when I ask him how challenging it is to run a business that he knows could be sold. During our conversation the chief executive acknowledges that the company is undergoing a strategic review that could lead to a sale of the business. Up to now, the distribution network operator has declined to comment on the rumours of a possible £2 billion sale of the company which were reported by sister publication Utility Week in December. Speaking exclusively to Network Magazine, Emery said: "We are undergoing a strategic review. That is no secret. The challenge for me and my senior team is to manage that process efficiently and professionally whilst at the same time run the business as business as usual. "What we've said is that the strategic review may lead to a sale of the business. At the end of the day we can't control who buys our business, but what we can do is do the best job we can." Electricity North West is jointly owned by infrastructure investment funds managed by JP Morgan Asset Management and Colonial First State. Emery confirmed that it is business as usual for the com - pany which own, run and main- tain the North West's electricity network, connecting 2.4 million properties and five million peo- ple to the National Grid. He added: "We've managed I think to ringfence resource to fo- cus on the strategic review quite effectively without affecting the whole business. Depending on the outcome we will then manage it when we're dealing with something concrete rather than speculation. I think so far we've managed to achieve that relatively well and we'll see what happens." The man with a plan At the end of March the network operator launched its transform- ative plan for decarbonising the region. Entitled; 'Leading the North West to Zero Carbon', the plan was presented by Emery (pic- tured), at Manchester's Green Summit. The plan sets out how Elec- tricity North West is investing £63.5 million over the next four years, to drive down its own