National Energy System Operator (NESO) is a new public body responsible for planning and operating Great Britain’s clean energy system. We’ve responded to their consultation on a draft methodology for Regional Energy Strategic Planning. 

What is Regional Energy Strategic Planning?

Regional Energy Strategic Planning (RESP) is a planning framework that will enable network infrastructure to be developed ahead of when it’s needed. It aims to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and heat while supporting economic growth.  

The plans will take a whole-system view for each area, covering electricity and heat demand, renewable electricity and heat generation, uptake of electric vehicles, and heat pumps and heat networks. They will then model the resulting infrastructure needs in each region. RESP covers a vast and complex scope, but it sets out a structured process, with oversight in place to ensure a reasonable level of consistency across regions. 

Overall, we believe RESP has the potential to become a valuable long-term planning framework, bringing together top-down system modelling with bottom-up local intelligence. The use of detailed regional and local datasets, refreshed regularly, could improve transparency and bring down costs for local authorities, communities and other local organisations.

What’s missing from RESP

However, there are several areas where the RESP methodology needs strengthening in order to deliver fair, effective and genuinely place-based outcomes.

Small local authorities need to be supported

Our central concern is support for local authorities. While we welcome the idea of a dedicated support programme, the current proposals are lacking in detail. Local authorities aren’t all the same: their capacity, expertise and resources vary widely. Without targeted support and additional resourcing, there’s a real risk that smaller or less well-resourced authorities and third-sector organisations will be excluded. Support must be embedded from the outset, not deferred to later phases, and all local authorities need to clearly understand how they’ll benefit from engaging.

Governance shouldn’t be politicised

RESP boards will require strong technical expertise, continuity and consistency across regions. Allowing wide variation in board composition risks politicisation and uneven decision-making. There should be a stronger role for senior technical officers, alongside greater representation from cross-sector and community energy organisations.

Net zero timelines are too long

RESP will include a single 10-year pathway and multiple 25-year pathways to net zero. We’re concerned that the 10-year pathway risks reinforcing business-as-usual approaches, while the longer-term goals may be too distant to drive urgent action. By contrast, the Climate Change Committee breaks down the 2050 target into five-year carbon budgets, providing short-term, clear milestones. We need to see similar short-term accountability embedded within RESP.

The elephant in the room

Planning for the managed decline of the gas network is conspicuously not addressed. Once a tipping point in renewable heat uptake is reached, gas demand could fall rapidly, leaving a shrinking and potentially less affluent customer base to unfairly bear the costs of maintaining the remaining gas network.  

RESP is modelling the expansion of heat networks and heat pumps and the supporting infrastructure needed in great detail. Why isn’t it also planning for the gradual, managed winding down of the gas network? A “wait and see” approach risks higher system costs and unfair outcomes for vulnerable households dependent on gas supply.  

Societal outcomes should be taken into account

Considerations such as equity, health and environmental co-benefits must carry real weight in decision-making, but there’s no detail on this. Different pathways to net zero will deliver very different societal outcomes for communities, and this matters.

Conclusions

RESP represents a significant opportunity. With clearer roles, stronger governance, better support for local authorities and a sharper focus on fairness and delivery, it could play a vital role in enabling a just, coordinated transition to a clean energy system.