Distribution network operators (DNOs) are starting to focus on their customers and not just engineering as they seek to develop a smart grid, they said at a Low Carbon Network Fund (LCNF) meeting in Cardiff last week.
Stewart Reid, future networks and policy manager at SSE Power Distribution, said the LCNF was “not just about loads of engineers playing with a Meccano set”.
All the DNOs pointed towards informing the public of their work to reduce the need to upgrade the distribution network. Roger Hey, Western Power Distribution’s future networks manager, said “communities actually like DNOs” and they had to make the most of that “unique position”. Jim Cardwell, head of regulation and strategy at Northern Powergrid, added DNOs need to tell the public “we’re actually trying to stop spending money” by developing technologies and systems to “get more from what we’ve got”.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 2nd November 2012.
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