Speaking at a Utility Week conference, National Grid Gas Distribution business change specialist Robert Cairns said: “We should be sharing the learning, not just with National Grid, but with the other GDNs as well.”
He added that doubling up on research would ultimately increase consumer bills. “Ofgem has allocated spend to us to innovate and it’s very important that we don’t all pick up one project in one area and start innovating in that area, this is going to be a waste of the consumer’s money. So must all share their learning.”
The RIIO framework provides funding for network companies to undertake innovation where the commercial benefits are not clear, in the form of the network innovation competition (NIC) and the network innovation allowance (NIA).
RIIO-GD1, the price control framework for GDNs, was implemented in 2013 to “drive benefits for consumers”. It will run for eight years to 2021. Speakers at the conference emphasised the fact that the regulator and the networks were “already looking ahead to GD2”.
Also speaking at the conference, Ofgem senior manager of smarter grids and governance Robert Beavis told delegates that the average payment for gas distribution in a consumer bill should come down by 5.5 per cent from £141 to £133 by 2021, “setting the benchmark for future price controls”.
Overall, distribution charges currently make up 16 per cent of a consumer bill, with transmission charges accounting for 2 per cent of a gas and 4 per cent of an electricity bill.