INCENTIVE ON CONNECTIONS ENGAGEMENT (ICE) 2018/19 MID-YEAR UPDATE CONTENTS 3 FOREWORD 4 WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO 6 ENGAGEMENT UPDATE 8 WHAT WE’VE DONE 12 WHAT WE’RE STILL WORKING ON 18 WHAT’S NEW 24 OUR 2018/19 ICE WORK PLAN 2 INCENTIVE ON CONNECTIONS ENGAGEMENT (ICE) FOREWORD New connections and changes to existing to temper this with a creative and open and specially targeted stakeholders. connections, are central to the major approach. Our conversations focus on The addition of a flagship external changes we are seeing across our electricity the outcomes our customers are looking address from an EV owner at this event distribution networks today. to achieve. Our dedicated connections contributed important perspective to the sessions home in on key issues that discussion with 68 delegates. Across the country, we are readying our influence the wider agenda – from our • We have worked to link the ICE process infrastructure for some significant changes. transition to a Distribution Systems Operator to our wider stakeholder engagement These include the mass rollout of Electric (DSO) to the rise of EVs. Giving a platform programme. Building a sustained, Vehicles (EVs), the growth of low-carbon for group debate opens up dialogue open and accessible approach enables electric heating and the rise of the ‘prosumer’ between us and our stakeholders – leading us to better understand the needs of (producers, storers and consumers of energy) to both invaluable knowledge transfer and our connections customers and help who are connecting new types of generation important feedback for our connections support the wider communities that we to the electricity network with SMART control team, as well as the wider business. are proud to serve. systems. Here at Northern Powergrid, we are For example, stakeholder engagement working hard to meet the evolving needs of around connections is helping shape our Continuous improvement is a core principle the communities we serve and to implement forthcoming Distribution System Operator for our business. We acknowledge that new measures to improve our connections (DSO) development plan. we still have work to do in order to provide process, whilst maintaining the integrity of the a seamless connections process for our energy system. Acting on your feedback customers and we are grateful for the opportunity to reflect on our actions during This mid-year update on the commitments • This mid-year ICE update highlights this update. we are delivering as part of our Incentive on five new actions we have added to our Connections Engagement (ICE) work plan 2018/19 ICE plan, taking the total for Over the past few months we have been for 2018/19 has been created to offer our the year to 22. pleased that feedback from Ofgem and our connections customers and other interested • We are making use of new technology stakeholders has been generally positive. parties an overview of the programme created to steer a thoroughly modern approach Many of the actions we’re now adding to as a direct result of sustained stakeholder to engagement. The introduction of our work plan have come directly from engagement throughout the year. webinars in particular has been well the feedback received during the ICE received. This month also saw our consultation process – proving its continued Every customer – every time first use of digital Q&A technology worth to both us, and our stakeholders. that allowed delegates to vote for the Working in partnership, we have built a Again, I cannot stress enough how much we questions they wanted us to prioritise programme of connections engagement that value your feedback as part of our continued at our engagement events. delivers real value and we are delighted that effort to engage meaningfully with our our stakeholders and customers continue • We have delivered sustained, stakeholders. As always, our focus remains to invest their time and effort into helping us prolonged programme of engagement firmly on the people and communities we develop our service improvement plans. on Connections Offer Expenses (also serve, the new homes we will power, the known as Assessment & Design or new businesses that can start trading, the As a critical infrastructure operator and A&D fees) stretching far beyond formal new generation brought on stream and the major employer, we recognise that we have consultation and the introduction of new services delivered to the energy system a vital role to play in the development of fees. The early signs suggest that through the new connections we deliver. the northern economy. All our connections we are seeing a positive reduction in engagements are led with this in mind, overtly speculative applications, an I hope you find this update informative, and we remain committed to making the important step towards improving and please do continue to engage with us connections process as efficient as possible the connections experience for all our and provide your thoughts and feedback for every customer – every time. customers. wherever you can. Dialogue at the forefront • We are delivering a dedicated programme of engagement focused The connections process is grounded on new EV connections, which started in statutory duties that are intrinsically with a workshop in October, delivering formulaic and methodical – we seek information en-mass to highly relevant PATRICK ERWIN POLICY AND MARKETS DIRECTOR OCTOBER 2018 3 WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO TEAM POWERGRID At Northern Powergrid we look after the electricity distribution network that Northumberland & County Durham keeps the lights on across the Northeast, Yorkshire Tyne and Northern Lincolnshire. & Wear We deliver power to 3.9 million homes and businesses via our network of more than 63,000 substations, some 60,000 miles of overhead lines Teeside and underground cables spanning 9,650 square operating miles. Team Powergrid is dedicated to delivering zones a safe and reliable electricity supply to our 9 customers. We keep the power flowing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and if our customers ever do Yorkshire Moors experience a power cut, we will be there to fix it. Yorkshire & Wolds Dales Humber Estuary West Yorkshire South Yorkshire North Lincolnshire 4 INCENTIVE ON CONNECTIONS ENGAGEMENT (ICE) Northumberland & County Durham 2,500 nine Tyne & Wear strong zones We serve a population Nine zones meet the specific needs of Teeside Team Powergrid is 2,500 strong. of 8 million people. our diverse operating area. Yorkshire Moors Yorkshire & Wolds Dales Humber Estuary West Yorkshire 30,000 3.5GW 2,000 connections connected applications South Yorkshire North We deliver in excess of 30,000 new We have more than 3.5GW of distributed We process almost 2,000 new Lincolnshire connections each year. generation connected to our network. distributed generation applications. OCTOBER 2018 5 ENGAGEMENT UPDATE ENGAGEMENT UPDATE HOW WE’RE LISTENING AND ACTING ON YOUR FEEDBACK We work hard to understand the needs of all our connections stakeholders and to continually improve the service we provide. We have a clearly defined strategy for engaging with our connections We then went out to consultation in Spring 2018 to ensure that the stakeholders that informs our business planning and priorities service improvement commitments we were proposing would be and delivers measurable and positive outcomes. Our engagement valuable to a broad and inclusive range of connections stakeholders strategy also aligns closely to the overarching Northern Powergrid and not only the individual requesting the change, in doing so we; strategy, ensuring that our customers stay at the centre of everything we do. • contacted 5,800 connections stakeholders via email to invite their feedback on our proposed plan; Effective engagement is fundamental to ICE. We employ a • conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 300 customers, robust, stakeholder-driven process when forming our ICE plans facilitated by independent market research firm Explain; and and are confident that we give our major works stakeholders plenty of opportunities to help to shape and influence our service • presented our plan at our Connections Customer Forum in April improvement plans. 2018 and asked attendees to vote live on whether they world endorse our plans. Our strategy continues to be well received and endorsed by our stakeholders. In a recent survey, 88% of respondents agreed that But our work didn’t stop there. We have continued to engage with our we engage with our connections stakeholders and do a good job of connections stakeholders and encourage them to tell us what we do facilitating joint discussions. well and what we could be doing better, this on-going and sustained engagement has resulted in us adding five new actions to our work plan at this, the mid-year point in the 2018/19 ICE plan year. Developing our 2018/19 ICE work plan For each of these new actions, we have clearly stated the action, In forming our ICE plans, we collate, consider and where appropriate the outcome we will deliver and have set measurable performance act upon feedback received from a broad and inclusive range of targets that let our stakeholders judge how well we have delivered connections stakeholders. against the commitments we made. As part of this, we are providing a forecast completion date for each new action, however in every Once again, we are very grateful to all those that shared their case, our commitment is to deliver the action and associated suggestions for improvement with us and the level of engagement outcomes in the remainder of this ICE plan year. ensured that we had a diverse range of feedback to work with. We also took into consideration some feedback from this year’s ICE Following a comprehensive review of the 280 comments we received consultation that our target measures could be more specific and last year, we were able to define 17 proposed service improvement stretching.