The pandemic has taught us a lot. One lesson is that, very often, Whitehall doesn’t know best.
From the botched, initially top-down rollout of test and trace, to the vaccination programme, central government has had to swallow humble pie and admit that some tasks are better left to the local level.
Richard Halsey, capabilities director at the Energy Systems Catapult, believes that the challenges raised by decarbonisation of our society are “not dissimilar” to those posed by the pandemic.
He says: “It requires strong direction from central government and a clear strategy and an outline of the direction of travel.”
However, local authorities have had a crucial role too, he says: “Underneath that it requires mechanisms that translate into practical implementation.
“We need strong clear leadership at a national level but as a country, it will depend on local input to see things happen.”
Different areas will present very varied energy challenges and opportunities, depending on factors like the state of their building stock and power networks.
Areas largely made up of Victorian terraced housing, for example, will probably have bigger energy efficiency challenges than new-build estates. And in such neighbourhoods, more households will be reliant on public charging points because lack of driveways means fewer electric vehicles can be plugged into the domestic mains supply.
Localities will also have very different resources that they can tap into.
Polly Billington, chief executive of the UK 100 umbrella group of local council leaders, pointed a recent select committee hearing to how Stoke council has used spare warmth from industry for its heat network. Other areas have been able to draw heat from underground sources such disused mines or Tube lines.
Each area therefore will have very specific characteristics, particularly when it comes to decarbonisation of heat.
One thing is clear: the man or woman in Whitehall won’t have sufficient on the ground experience to know the right mix of solutions in both Helston and Hexham.
Councils are “absolutely the best partners” national government has for achieving net zero, said Billington: “It cannot be done without local design and delivery.”
Policies and investment decisions should be “place-based” on the needs of particular areas or localities, according to the Catapult.
Collective action
Local government is collectively on board with the drive to cut emissions. More than 300 authorities have declared a “climate emergency”, and a third have developed strategies or have action plans in place to deliver net zero between 2030 and 2050.
However, councils lack many of the basic levers required to turn these lofty aspirations into practical policy.
Authorities don’t even have to consult energy networks when projects are being developed unlike water and telecoms providers.
Some authorities stand out, such as the Greater London Authority, which has historically taken a pro-active role in ensuring that energy planning is factored into new developments.
But too often networks often find out about projects at “the 11th hour”, says Randolph Brazier, director, innovation and electricity systems at the Energy Networks Association.
This means in turn that councils are generally lacking in expertise about the sector, he says: “A lot of local authorities don’t have that much resource or experience inhouse: we’re looking at how we can help.”
Some DNOs are trying to fill gaps, Brazier says, pointing as an example to Scottish Power’s Project Pace. This has embedded staff in local authorities for short periods to help plan and co-ordinate activity, like helping to identify the best locations to install charge points.
However forging links with local authorities is a “genuine challenge”, says Charles Wood, head of new energy services and heat at Energy UK.
To help authorities navigate what for many will be the strange, new world of energy, the ESC has developed a concept called local area energy planning (LAEP).
The idea behind this is to enable councils to tailor whole system energy transitions strategies around their local needs and priorities.
“The intention was that it should be a catalyst for better dialogue based on evidence,” says Halsey.
Knowing the level of off-street parking in a neighbourhood will be an important factor when considering future electricity network upgrades for example.
Wood was alerted to the value of this grass roots approach when carrying out work on deployment of fast chargers.
A co-ordinated approach can result in EV chargers being installed where capacity exists rather than a nearby location, which could involve a big network upgrade, he says.
The flipside is that a less integrated approach can lead to chargers installed in poorly located spots because the connection charges are lower than in town centres, Billington pointed out at the select committee.
A planned approach to energy would facilitate the development of smart local grids, according to research recently published by Citizens Advice.
It could help to boost customer engagement at the community level, says Wood. “It will help us get over barriers, like negative stories about EVs based on fear of the unknown.”
This kind of community engagement could be a “lot more effective” than a national campaign, which could be particularly valuable for heat given the range of factors that have to be taken into account.
Councils are the “most appropriate” vehicle for doing this jobs because they are “convenors” of activity at the local level, says Halsey.
Looking local
Better data about the state of energy networks will also help cities when they are carrying out big development projects or drawing up their statutory local land use plans, says Wood.
This kind of information will feed into local transport planning too as the growing uptake of EVs increases the interconnections between the two systems.
But while the concept has been piloted in Bridgend and Greater Manchester, where it has given a fresh push to the roll out of heat networks, energy planning is piecemeal.
A “single, agreed definition or approach for local area energy” doesn’t yet exist, according to the Citizens Advice research.
And while councils have a lot of legal obligations, such as delivering care for the elderly, they don’t yet extend to energy planning, says Halsey: “There’s no statutory duty on local authorities for energy planning: it’s done out of an enthusiasm to decarbonise.”
The risk is that relying on what may be the passion of an influential individual elected councillor will result in a patchy rollout.
While some local authorities have “really ambitious” net-zero targets, others may be held back by lack of resources or because they are focused on other and more immediately pressing priorities, says Wood.
This could leave poorer areas, which already often suffer from higher levels of air pollution, being left further disadvantaged than they already are.
This “postcode lottery” could mean some people paying more or missing out on programmes to upgrade their homes solely because of where they live, Dhara Vyas, head of future energy services at Citizens Advice has warned.
To prevent the emergence of these new inequalities, the ESC is pushing for energy planning to become a statutory duty for councils.
But while local authorities should lead the delivery the right kind of solutions to their localities, central government would continue to be responsible for putting together the high-level policy framework, says the Catapult.
A robust system of local energy planning could though help to shape central shape investment and policy decisions, says Halsey: “LAEPs could provide a mechanism for national government to sense check and see if the direction of travel is right and whether they need to course correct or provide additional support mechanisms.”
Avoiding stranded assets
And LAEPs could provide important evidence for informing the business plan of networks and developer of energy projects, he says: “If a local authority identifies an area as suitable for a heat network, that is a piece of evidence for promoting or planning a heat network.”
The hope is that investment underpinned by local energy planning will ultimately be more coherent, says Halsey, avoiding the risk of stranded assets resulting from multiple, competing investments in an area.
Greater consistency across the UK would be beneficial says Brazier: “We fully support councils declaring climate emergencies ahead of 2030. If we can do it in consistent way across the country, it will be better for everyone.”
A more even approach will also help councils to develop solutions without having to constantly reinvent the wheel, he adds.
However, a lot of legwork will be required to get grassroots and central bodies with different drivers pushing in the same direction, acknowledges Halsey.
“It’s easy to say but in reality making that happen cohesively requires lot of collaboration.”
The themes from this article will be explored further in a Countdown to COP webinar, to be held on 29 June. Panelists include Eric Brown, chief technology officer at Energy Systems Catapult, Roger Hey DSO, Systems & Projects manager at Western Power Distribution and Cheryl Hiles, director of energy capital at the West Midlands Combined Authority