Energy system decarbonisation will increasingly involve changes to our homes, streets and neighbourhoods. Consistent local and regional energy planning could play a central role in coordinating decision-making across vectors and scales, attracting investment, and engaging citizens and communities.
Many local authorities and partners are already developing detailed energy decarbonisation plans – whether Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) in Scotland or Local Area Energy Plans (LAEP) in England and Wales – but progress is varied. Energy network planning is also well established in the regulated electricity and gas networks sectors. Ofgem’s 2023 decision to introduce Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) adds a new regional dimension to energy planning and investment.
Based on UKERC research from 2022 – 2024, this report outlines recommendations to create a more robust and consistent framework for local energy planning. It draws on analysis of policy documents relating to local and regional energy systems, 45 interviews with stakeholders at local, regional and national levels, and a workshop with 30 energy modelling practitioners and users.
Learning from development of LHEES in Scotland, LAEPs in Wales and England, and recent DNO innovation projects provide a strong evidence base on benefits, barriers and challenges of local energy planning and delivery. Government should consolidate this learning within the next 6 months and develop a clear framework for effective local energy planning.
Standardising data formats and flows, with centralisation of core data sets, would reduce duplication of effort across the country and improve confidence in data quality. The RESPs are likely to be well suited to fulfilling this role.
Current reliance on consultants to prepare plans can limit usability for local authorities as they are unable to interrogate assumptions or refine scenarios over time. Our research indicates considerable support for common modelling platforms rather than funding one-off plans.
Whilst stakeholder engagement is central to both LAEP and LHEES, the participation of communities and households tends to be limited. Leaving engagement and public deliberation until developments are underway risks people perceiving plans as being done to them, not with them. More work should explore methods for engaging communities in local energy planning, prioritisation and project delivery.
LAEP and LHEES provide good evidence to support local investment programmes, but translating plans into viable projects is critical and requires additional support. More standardised and consistent local energy planning data and tools will support delivery, but localities also need access to technical skills and project development support. DNO and local authority-led approaches to energy planning should be aligned, with the status of plans formalised in network investment.
Time to act
Considerable learning exists on how to do local energy planning well, and a relatively modest investment in tools, processes and capabilities could play an important role in unleashing local action.