Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | MARCH 2022 | 17 Electricity distribution going to come to the DNO at some point and say we are going to have some EV charging for our buses. "If the block ends up being the energy system, then that's not a good look for the energy system and energy players when they are meant to be part of the solution." DNO obligations Billington says that engagement between some local authorities and DNOs has increased over the five years since UK100 was created, especially with councils that have declared climate emergencies. "I have heard good reports from a number of our members about DNOs being keen to engage but it's the scale that is required and the pace of change that needs to be shiƒed," she says. One great example of energy projects being under- taken by local authorities is a subsidy-free retrofit scheme in the Trent Basin which was showcased by the government ahead of COP26. "I've been going on about the Trent Basin for five years; we need to have Trent Basin projects all over the place, but they are still small because things are not growing at scale." While some councils are very active on energy, such as Nottingham, Bristol and Cornwall, for others it is less of a priority, and in fact energy is not a statuary respon- sibility for any local authority. "In terms of statuary responsibilities, most local authorities only have responsibility for vulnerable chil- dren and adults, they don't even by law have to empty your bins." Billington says that with a significant number of local authorities experiencing "painful financial situations", even for those who have declared a climate emergency the decarbonisation of the energy system risks being just another burden. To avoid this, DNOs need to understand how decar- bonising and decentralising the energy system can help achieve many of local authorities' priorities, such as tackling the cost of living, reducing people's energy bills, creating jobs, skilling people, and improving health and wellbeing by dealing with damp, mould and air pollution. "The knowledge and understanding of the energy system that DNOs have needs to be shared with local authorities with an open mind and a recognition of what local authorities' priorities are … and how the energy system and its transformation to net zero can help sup- port those priorities," says Billington. Currently, the DNO price control advises them to do local energy planning, but it is not mandated. UK100 has been in conversation with Ofgem about introducing obligations on DNOs to act at the pace and scale required. "That is where we would like to get to," she says. Billington says that while DNOs could act without obligations, a formal framework would ensure the right capacity, competence and relationships are developed in a regionally coordinated fashion. "We've just got to get on with it. I've been banging on about this stuff since the establishment of the Depart- ment for Energy and Climate Change in 2008 when technology wasn't as advanced, but the urgency was still "We've now got the technology that could enable decarbon- isation to happen. The last thing we want is for the problem to be the regulatory and legislative framework, which is currently what it looks like." there. We've now got the technology that could enable this to happen. The last thing we want is for the problem to be the regulatory and legislative framework, which is currently what it looks like." National framework As well as new obligations on DNOs, UK100 is calling for the government to put in place a national framework that would give a greater role and more powers to local and regional authorities. "The decentralisation of our energy system is essential to the decarbonisation of it, and therefore the shaping of it needs to have some kind of democratic oversight and directly elected officials. Councillors and metro mayors and others should have a say in shaping what that energy system looks like," she says. The government's net-zero strategy, which was pub- lished late last year, sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the economy. UK100 had specifically asked for a net zero local delivery board, which it didn't get, but the strategy did agree to a forum. "That's going to have representation from across government and from across local authori- ties to start talking about what that framework might need to look like. It's a start of a conversation." Although the role and scope of a Future System Oper- ator (FSO) is still up for debate, UK100 believes it could play a role in either providing advice directly to local authorities or setting a common planning approach. Billington says it is key that when the FSO is being devised the role of local authorities in delivering action is acknowledged. "The risk is that is there is a percep- tion that local authorities do what they are told, but actually the whole point about local authorities is they know their communities well and they need to be involved in designing something that works for them." The approach for Liverpool cannot be the same as for Ludlow, says Billington, but that does not mean each community is so unique that there cannot be a frame- work. "The challenges around social equity I totally understand, and we are very alive to the fact that differ- ent local authorities have different targets. "Ofgem as a regulator will say how are we supposed to meet the needs of people with different targets when we are supposed to be trying to do this equally and fairly. That is a useful and constructive conversation to have, because that is about brokering what is achiev- able within the targets that people have committed to. It is about what technologies are available, what energy resources are close to them, what the demographics will accept, and what the costs and opportunities are – that's a useful conversation to have." The other difficulty – the lack of knowledge of the energy system by councils – could be solved by the newly renamed Net Zero Hubs. "We understand that expecting every local authority to become an expert in climate is probably not going to happen, therefore we think the Net Zero Hubs need to be really resourced with expertise to be able to do this stuff at pace and scale." Lucinda Dann, features editor

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