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There has been much made within the energy sector about the need for ‘pace, not perfection’ for the UK to meet its net zero commitment. Our new open access paper provides evidence that, due to the lack of a mandate or sufficient funding for local government and dispersed industrial sites within the current planning regime, there is a governance gap, creating a patchwork planning approach insufficient to achieve the ‘pace’ required for net zero. In the Clean Power Plan, released in December 2024, one of the five functions of Great British Energy is to provide support to deliver the Local Power Plan. While this will provide access to funding for local projects, it falls short of establishing a mandate for local energy planning and there is no mention of the dispersed industrial sites, leaving governance challenges yet to be addressed.

Local and regional energy systems have been used extensively to trial new innovations and processes that may help the UK reach its decarbonisation targets. However, despite numerous trials, there has been little progress in bringing these initiatives into widespread practice. To understand possible approaches to accelerate change, we review current energy planning processes at local and regional scales. Within these local and regional systems, we analyse the energy planning approaches of three sectors: local government, dispersed industrial sites and electricity distribution network planning. Decisions made in each of sectors have consequences across local and regional energy systems, and for the decarbonisation of the electricity system as a whole.

We frame those responsible for planning processes at local and regional levels as ‘user intermediaries’ (Schot et al., 2026[i]). User intermediaries are those actors who create the spaces required for systemic change through the introduction of new rules, regulations, processes and structures. This user intermediary role is vital to moving at pace as new processes, such as planning, are required to accelerate the transition.  Our analysis indicates that the strategic planning approach adopted by the electricity distribution networks in their business planning, in conjunction with the new Regional Energy Strategic Planning role created in the National Energy System Operator, is providing a user intermediary role. However, the impact of this role is constrained by limited energy planning capabilities within the other sectors examined in our case studies.

Formalised user intermediary roles have not been created in local government nor for dispersed industrial sites, resulting in widely varying approaches. This lack of cohesion between sectors could cause difficulties when trying to decarbonise at pace. Delivery of local decarbonisation projects requires network capacity, but electricity distribution networks can only fund network development once there is certainty of demand and technology deployment. Achieving this requires a consistent approach across all aspects of local and regional energy planning.

We recommend that policy targets all user-intermediaries across local and regional energy systems to create a coordinated planning approach that can deliver decarbonisation objectives. Without this, the ability of local and regional energy systems to decarbonise at the pace may be compromised, resulting in net zero delivery reliant on large-scale centralised technology, which while benefitting incumbents, may prove expensive for the consumer (Barrett et al., 2022[ii]). Conversely, by empowering user intermediaries across sectors with both mandates and resources, the UK can unlock the full potential of local and regional energy systems. This approach will help ensure that decarbonisation efforts deliver at pace while delivering cost-effective solutions for all.

The full paper can be read here: Accelerating transitions? Planning for decarbonisation in local and regional energy systems, Helen Poulter, Jess Britton, Imogen Rattle, Ronan Bolton, Jan Webb and Peter Taylor, Energy Research & Social Science Volume 120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103875

We would like to thank the other members of the theme who contributed to early discussions that informed the paper – Oliver Broad, Paul Dodds, Mark Davis, Samuel Hampton, Monica Giuletti, Katherine Sugar, Graeme Hawker, Will Eadson and Richard Blundel.

[i] Schot, J., Kanger, L., Verbong, G., 2016. The roles of users in shaping transitions to new energy systems. Nat Energy. https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.54

[ii] Barrett, J., Pye, S., Betts-Davies, S., Broad, O., Price, J., Eyre, N., Anable, J., Brand, C., Bennett, G., Carr-Whitworth, R., Garvey, A., Giesekam, J., Marsden, G., Norman, J., Oreszczyn, T., Ruyssevelt, P., Scott, K., 2022. Energy demand reduction options for meeting national zero-emission targets in the United Kingdom. Nat Energy 7, 726–735. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01057-y