The UK’s clean energy transition is very much under way, with our last coal-fired power plant closing its doors in September this year. One dynamic snapshot of the ever-changing energy mix can be seen on the National Grid Dashboard, with the reassuring green segment of the pie steadily increasing as renewables take on a larger role. It’s this wide range of sources that differentiates the new energy system from the old, which relied primarily on large scale centralised power plants. However, with a broader range of sources comes added complexity.
Now, we need to think in terms of ‘whole systems’ – it’s not just about electricity, but how we travel, heat and cool our homes, and how we power industry for the 21st century. To bring this all together and reach our regional target of net zero by 2038, we’ll need a level of planning and coordination not seen before: to develop and deliver the range of projects that power our lives, alongside the wide range of new infrastructure to keep the energy flowing.
Many of these projects are best delivered at the local level, meaning that democratic organisations, such as councils, play an important role. This place-based action is not just democratic, it’s also cost-effective: analysis from PwC and UKRI found that a bottom-up approach to net zero could save £137 billion compared to a centralised approach. Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission’s own research, as set out in our recently published report Our Carbon Story, shows not only that, but that it is technically possible too.
To enable effective coordination between local and national levels as the energy system transforms, Ofgem have recently consulted on plans to introduce a new piece of governance called Regional Energy System Plans (RESP), which requires regions across the UK to develop regional-scale energy plans that will be used to direct investment.
One of the key roles of the Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission is to provide forums to help decision makers navigate complex issues together, and in so doing create a unified and independent voice. Through its Energy Systems flagship project, the Commission brought together key players in the region’s energy landscape – including local authorities, energy generators, networks operators, and academics – to prepare a collaborative response to this RESP consultation.
Three themes emerged from our conversations which we think should be more prominent in the final RESP plans. These themes are vital to ensure that the action happening to realise the many benefits of the energy transition – like lower bills, energy independence, and new skilled jobs – are fully supported.
Put fairness first
We recommend that Ofgem fully integrate the principles of a just transition into RESP by prioritising customers and communities in both final plans and the process of their development.
One of the Commission’s four key climate action pillars is a just transition. This means that fairness needs to be at the heart of climate and nature action: action will only be successful and acceptable if it helps tackle the inequalities already experienced by communities in our region. While some might argue that promoting fairness is the role of local organisations, it is a complex task: organisations with equity at their heart often struggle with capacity and need support at all levels.
An example of this is community energy. This is the process of creating energy projects with direct community involvement that provides benefits like local ownership of energy generation, and that can be tailored to the needs of that community. But will RESP plans make sure that more high-impact yet financially delicate projects have priority and are supported?
Also missing from the discussion is the role of demand reduction in RESP plans. Energy decarbonisation is often discussed in isolation, yet the scale of energy generation required will depend heavily on how effectively we reduce energy use. Electricity use will definitely increase, but estimates for how much vary between 40% and 150%. Insulating our buildings is central to this and could significantly improve public health, for example by reducing respiratory diseases that happen when living in cold, damp homes. Retrofit plays a key role in the plans being made at the local level, but how RESPs will support them is not clear. If it’s not the job of RESPs and NESO – the new National Electricity Systems Operator – it needs to be clear whose role it is and how they will communicate with energy system planning at the local and regional scales.
Establish clear roles with adequate resources
We recommend that the right activity is performed by the right organisation at the right level, and they have the resources to be able to do this well.
We know that climate action needs to happen at all levels: at the local, regional, national, and global. RESPs are part of that: developing the mechanisms to effectively communicate across scales. What is not yet clear, however, are the precise roles – and therefore accountability – at those different levels. The UK is historically centralised, but devolution is growing, showing that devolved powers and resource can make effective decisions that suit the needs of that place. Therefore, enough resource at each level is needed to deliver what’s best delivered at that level. This is particularly important at the local level due to its connection to communities and the just transition, and its current resource challenges.
A key feature of the RESP proposals is the inclusion of democratic representation on strategic boards, with senior councillors playing a key role in energy system decision making for their region. In our region, this setup includes clear representation for West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and the Humber, but how Northeast Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire will be represented is unclear. These councillors will need robust support to make sound technical decisions while representing the diverse needs of all local authorities within the sub-regional area they represent, and ensuring weight is given equally to both rural and industrial challenges. Given ongoing financial pressures, councils face the challenge of resourcing these new responsibilities alongside delivering essential services.
Design governance for meaningful community engagement
We recommend that place-based engagement is prioritised, and that RESPs take into account both existing engagement processes and the need for new ones.
With an increase in local projects, we will see the impact in our towns, cities, and countryside. Planning will play a key role in overcoming barriers to action, but community engagement is equally essential to bring people along on the journey. We all have preferences for how our places should look and feel, so we need to find ways for those discussions to happen to ensure that any plans are realistic and deliverable. For example, if a community isn’t keen on altering buildings with measures like external wall insulation to reduce energy demand for aesthetic reasons, would they rather see more wind turbines to generate the electricity needed to heat poorly insulated homes?
It’s these types of challenges that need to be unpicked at the local level so that projects can move forward smoothly. Evidence shows that this approach works: initiatives like citizens juries and assemblies find that when given the opportunity, people bring in diverse sources of knowledge to come up with bold and ambitious solutions to climate challenges that otherwise wouldn’t have been thought of by policymakers. The best positioned to do this are local organisations, such as local authorities and their partners, who understand the communities they serve and can meet people where they’re at – both in terms of the places they go, and where they are in their understanding of the climate challenge.
Any new governance structure must not undermine place-based engagement and solution development, or any existing democratic processes. They are vital to ensuring local ownership and the delivery of solutions that benefit communities.
You can download our full response below.
Kat Armstrong, Engagement & Impact Officer, Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission
Photo by Jonny Clow on Unsplash
