Trisha McAuley, RIIO 2 independent Chair of the National Grid Electricity and Gas Transmission Independent Stakeholder Groups shares her thoughts after having recently held our third round of stakeholder group meetings for gas and electricity transmission

"Members of the group have been learning about National Grid through site visits and a considerable amount of reading material, and we continue to learn about National Grid. To get things in motion and to make sure that we are working together and in the right way - we all signed a charter that lays out our objective; responsibilities; what we do; and what success looks like.

What really struck me this time was the diversity of backgrounds and ideas from the groups, and yet we are beginning to work as a collective. As an example of this, we all recognised that there is considerable work to do for stakeholders – this was robustly challenged by members. National Grid attendees were receptive to the challenges and are looking at new ways of addressing this. This would not be possible if it wasn’t for the openness, trust and honesty we are establishing.

There is a lot more work for National Grid to do, and the stakeholder groups will keep challenging to make certain that the plan delivers the right outcomes for stakeholders and delivering value for consumers.

I’m already looking forward to our next round of meetings that are scheduled for 28 and 29 November for electricity and gas transmissions respectively.

Please check back in to hear my views on the groups’ work as we start reviewing and challenging."