£1.25bn investment planned for gas network
Leeds-headquartered Northern Gas Networks, the North of England’s gas distributor, has planned a £1.25bn investment in the network from 2021 – 2026, which it says will deliver £90m worth of additional knock-on benefits for the region.
The plan aims to deliver long-term savings to customers as well as leading plans to tackle climate change.
Northern Gas Networks has pledged to reduce the average customer bill by 8.6% until 2026, which equates to a reduction of £150m over five years.
It will invest a further £800m across the region until 2026, with an additional £440m to be spent on operating and maintaining the network to ensure even greater levels of safety and reliability.
And the distributor plans to reduce its business carbon footprint by 47% over five years, pledging to become carbon neutral by 2031 as part of its drive to tackle climate change. It aims to reduce gas leakage by 24% through the continued modernisation of the network, introducing new measures to reduce plastic waste, investing in a cleaner vehicle fleet and planting 40,000 trees.
Mark Horsley, chief executive officer at Northern Gas Networks, said: “We have a responsibility to deliver a great value service to our customers throughout the North of England.
“Our business plan for 2021-2026 is our most ambitious yet and has been shaped by the most extensive consultation exercise in our company’s history. More than 189,000 voices across the region have influenced our plan, and importantly 92% of customers and 96% of future customers have confirmed that they support the proposals they have helped to shape.
“As a business in the heart of the region, our responsibility goes much further than simply delivering a good service, it’s about being a positive influence on the communities that we live and work in and delivering long term prosperity throughout the North.
“That includes environmental leadership to tackle climate change, supporting the most vulnerable customers in our communities and providing enduring social and economic value to the people that we serve to ensure long-term economic growth and prosperity for the region.”
Northern Gas Networks submitted its final plan to the energy regulator, Ofgem on 9 December, following reviews and challenge from its independent Customer Engagement Panel (CEG) and Ofgem’s independent Consumer Challenge Panel.
