Increased socialisation of connection costs in the distribution electricity network

Closes 24 Apr 2025

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Annex 3 – UR/DfE Joint Call for Evidence - Responses

    1. On 7 July 2023, UR and the Department published a joint Call for Evidence[1] on the Electricity Connection Policy Framework[2] for the distribution network, which closed on 6 October 2023.  The Call for Evidence did not extend to connections for the transmission network which are covered separately, under SONI’s connection charging policy and are outside the scope of this paper.  We followed this up by publishing the Call for Evidence responses in full, along with a summary[3] of these responses.
    2. Most stakeholders expressed a favourable inclination towards a more socialised connection charging policy, and therefore more socialisation of network reinforcement costs (this view was expressed mainly by generators, developers and building suppliers).
    3. A smaller, but significant segment of respondents (mainly 3rd party/consumer representatives) noted the potential short-term financial burdens of socialised connection costs on the fuel poor and other vulnerable groups.
    4. The majority of respondents considered that our present charging arrangements may hinder the roll-out of low carbon technologies across the energy system and that current charging arrangements are causing distortions and barriers to investment on our distribution network.
 

[2] This review considered all aspects of electricity connections to the distribution network apart from: the Standard Connection Charge within NIE Networks’ Statement of Connection Charges (for housing developments of more than 12 dwellings); the connection charging policy for generation cluster developments and any issues to do with future offshore connections as this is the subject of a separate DfE workstream.