Northern Powergrid becomes final DNO to appoint CEG chair

Northern Powergrid has appointed the chair of its customer engagement group (CEG), making it the sixth and final network operator in Britain to do so.

Justin McCracken has experience on boards across multiple sectors including public health and environment and currently serves on the board of the Office of Rail and Road.

He said: “As inaugural chair of Northern Powergrid’s CEG, I’m determined to build a forward-looking team that will effectively represent the needs and priorities of our region’s broad customer base, from single person households to the multinational companies.

“As an independent group, we will operate in an open and transparent way. With the industry on the cusp of significant change, the actions we will guide can help directly improve quality of life and business in the area while contributing to nationwide decarbonisation and the growth of the clean economy and job market.

“I relish the opportunity to play an active role in shaping them.”

Meanwhile Phil Jones, chief executive of Northern Powergrid, said: “We are delighted to have secured someone of Justin’s calibre and experience to lead our customer engagement group.

“Our business will produce a better plan, and in turn will deliver a better service to our region as a result of having addressed the challenges brought by the group he will lead. I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with him.”

As part of the RIIO2 price controls set out by Ofgem, distribution network operators (DNOs) are required to set up independently chaired customer engagement groups. This, the industry regulator says, will challenge the business plans proposed by the network companies for the next round of price controls.

As well as the CEGs, Ofgem will establish an independent RIIO2 challenge group to look at plans proposed by the companies. This will operate in parallel with the CEGs.

The regulator has stressed that the CEGs will not be a means of identifying customer needs. Instead, they are there to hold companies to account on whether they have properly reflected local stakeholder requirements.

In November 2018 Western Power Distribution (WPD) became the first DNO to appoint its customer engagement group chair, with the appointment of the chief executive of Yes Energy Solutions, Duncan McCombie.

Customer engagement group chairs

• Western Power Distribution – Duncan McCombie
• Electricity North West – Jeff Halliwell
• Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks – Tracey Barlow
• Scottish Power Energy Networks – John Howard
• UK Power Networks – Ann Bishop
• Northern Powergrid – Justin McCracken