Trisha McAuley, RIIO 2 independent Chair of both groups says the members are committed to working with National Grid to forging the best plans for all stakeholders.

“This was the first chance for both stakeholder groups to home in on the first full draft of the RIIO2 plans. We heard an overview of the gas and electricity plans from key National Grid attendees and were able to challenge them further after presentations on the key topics in the plans. It’s not a one-way street; National Grid is listening and responding to our challenges keenly and we are impressed with their responsiveness.

For me, it was another productive, interactive and honest chapter in our challenge. Some of our questions cannot be addressed until later in the year, others we’ve dealt with as fully as we need to.

The energy, commitment and expertise of our diverse stakeholder groups continues to impress. We are working to ensure that both of the final plans will tell a strong story, one that represent the needs of all stakeholders, not just the bigger players.

We’ll soon stop reviewing and start reporting. Another planning meeting next month will help us picture how we’ll best do that. Beyond that, we’ll meet again to update our challenge on gas and electricity on 14 and 15 August.

Please check back here soon for my views as we start putting together our reports.”