Electricity North West commits to a further £60m investment in the region

The company responsible for maintaining the north west’s electricity network has increased the amount it plans to invest during this decade following consultation with the public.

Electricity North West has said it plans to more than £2bn before 2028. That’s an increase of more than £60m since it first published its draft plans in April.

As a result of this increased investment, the firm will also plant 10,000 trees a year to replace those that are cut away from overhead power lines, turn 100 of its sites into “havens for wildlife” and roll out its innovative carbon-reducing Smart Street programme to cover a total of 250,000 properties across the region.

That is on top of its previously published plans to cut the number and duration of power cuts by 20%, go even further in protecting the network from storms and floods, and continue increasing the capacity of the network so it can accommodate the predicted rise in demand from lower-carbon technologies like electric vehicles and heating.

The company was one of only two network operators to publish an early draft of its business plan and ask residents, businesses and other stakeholders across the region for feedback.

Peter Emery, chief executive of Electricity North West, said: “Publishing an early draft of our plan earlier this year was a new step for us and was very useful in securing even more valuable feedback into our plans for much of the next decade.

“Thanks to hearing from thousands of people and organisations across the region, and a lot of work on innovation and efficiency, we have been able to find a way of hitting hugely ambitious targets while only increasing the average household bill by less than the price of one high street cup of coffee a year.”