23 March 2012: This report, commissioned by London First in conjunction with the City of London and City Property Association looks at the “long-standing concerns from developers about the challenge of securing a reliable and timely connection to the electricity network for new projects, particularly in the City and the West End where there is often little spare capacity.” Further detail here; report downloadable here.
Measure of the density of central London’s electricity demand.
The summary highlights problems associated with connecting new consumers to the distribution network, specifically:
- General communication and performance by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) in dealing with developers could be improved. We recognise that in confidential interviews of this type there is a danger of focussing on the negatives, but found the level of dissatisfaction notable.
- There is a sense that developers cannot get the level of service they want,or indeed feel is necessary from the DNO. It is notable that developers stated that they would in general be willing to pay more for such a service,but this was not on offer from the DNO.
- In practical terms, developers expressed a preference for a quick guaranteed connection and suggested that a greater degree of anticipatory investment by the DNO would help to facilitate this.
- In relation to the third point, above, there is a lack of understanding as to why the DNO has not invested to a greater extent in London’s Central Business District (CBD) in light of the view that there will be a significant localized increase in electricity demand over the next ten years.
Mayorwatch has posted a news story which includes a comment from London’s DNO- UK Power Networks– in response to the study.