Created by you, delivered by us: Have your say on the first draft of our £6 billion business plan

We’ve launched the first draft of our 2023-2028 business plan – and we want customers to have their say on our plans to create a network for the future.

We’ve worked with electricity customers, local authorities, charities and other energy providers to co-create a business plan that reflects the diverse needs and expectations of communities across our region. This means that our planned £6 billion network investment will be used to deliver what our customers have asked for.

We want to meet the future energy needs of communities, businesses and energy consumers, while committing to help them to deliver net zero by 2050.

While annual expenditure is set to increase, compared to current RIIO-ED1 levels, allowing for greater spending on decarbonisation, digitalisation and network utilisation commitments, the network element of customer bills is expected to remain largely unchanged at £96 per year.

Core commitments

The release of the draft plan follows two years of engagement with more than 4,500 stakeholders, who were asked to comment specifically on our plans for RIIO-ED2.

The resulting plan outlines 67 core commitments, under three key headings set by Ofgem. These focus on meeting the needs of consumers and network users, maintaining a safe and resilient network, and delivering an environmentally sustainable service.

Key commitments in our draft plan include:

What next?

We are the first network operator to invite customers and stakeholders to share their views on our draft plan.

To make feedback easier, we’ve launched an online tool which enables stakeholders to give their views on key priorities and on the potential financial impact for customers. The online tools can be found here:
Maintaining a safe and resilient network
Meeting the need of consumers and network users
Delivering an environmentally sustainable network

In this way, stakeholders will be able to influence the plan by indicating where they think we should go beyond current targets or where we should consider new commitments entirely.

These insights will be analysed and used to revise the current version of the plan to ensure our strategic direction is aligned as closely as possible with the views of its stakeholders.

The updated draft of the plan will be published in March, ahead of the final submission to Ofgem in December.

Phil Swift, WPD Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted to be launching our first draft business plan covering 2023-2028 today and look forward to continuing our ongoing engagement with stakeholders to develop a network that is fit for the future.

“While 2020 was a challenging year with our focus on maintaining power and excellent service for hospitals, homes, and businesses, this did not stop us from planning for the future. Our priority remains – and will continue to remain – creating an electricity network that supports the ever-changing needs of customers and best meets their expectations in terms of providing operational excellence, ensuring safety and resilience of the network, and doing all of this in an environmentally sustainable and affordable manner.

“As we continue to work towards the Government’s net zero targets for decarbonisation in 2050, we propose to invest £6 billion in RIIO-ED2 and have intentionally undertaken a significant consultation period, which started in 2019, for our business plan to enable us to collaborate closely with a range of stakeholders and identify the best path forward to reflect all our needs and ambitions for the future of electricity in the UK.”

The deadline for the current call for input is 28 February 2021. Stakeholders can share their views via the website here or can get in touch via email at yourpowerfuture@westernpower.co.uk for more information.