A new collaboration led by UK Power Networks, working with National Grid Electricity Distribution and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, could soon make local energy planning faster and more consistent for local authorities.
The project has delivered a standardised ‘Local Authority Common Ask’ for sharing granular spatial forecasts, including outputs from Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP). LAEPs are designed to provide a blueprint for local energy planning, linking planned development and decarbonisation ambitions to future network investment.
The change is expected to have the biggest impact for the 54 local authorities whose boundaries cross multiple networks. Under the new approach, councils will be able to share data in the same format regardless of which, or how many, networks serve their area – reducing the burden of working with different formats, structures and assumptions.
The initiative builds on earlier cross-sector collaboration involving Cadent and SGN, and work first started under the Energy Networks Association’s Open Networks project in 2020.
Supporters of the scheme say it should reduce the time and cost local authorities spend sharing the same local data in different ways. By enabling LAEP outcomes to be shared and interpreted more quickly, the template is intended to support council decision-making on heat, transport, and energy infrastructure planning.
The project also aims to improve the consistency and quality of the data fed into network planning and investment processes, including Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES) and the Distribution Network Options Assessment (DNOA). The press release argues that better forecasting can support more efficient, targeted investment.
Delivery partners ERM and Regen worked alongside multiple DSOs, local authorities and other stakeholders. The project also says other DSOs have expressed interest in the approach, suggesting it could be scaled more widely.
Sarah Kerr, Energy Systems Lead at Oxfordshire County Council, noted, “Local authorities like us rely on clear, consistent and high-quality data to deliver our net zero ambitions. This standardised template removes a major barrier for councils like ours that work with more than one DNO. It will save time and resources while giving us the confidence that our plans are fully aligned with regional and national energy needs. We welcome the collaborative approach taken and see real potential for the template to be adopted widely.”
Lynne McDonald, Head of Local Net Zero at UK Power Networks, added, “This joint DSO initiative is a powerful example of sector-wide collaboration to make life simpler for local authorities. By standardising how councils can share their clean energy and growth data, we enable data to be “shared once” by our local authorities and then this data used by all local utilities. That means smarter, more efficient planning and investment decisions shaped by local needs – ultimately delivering benefits for every electricity customer.”
