Continue the conversation – the future of energy in your local area

Strategic planning 9 Jun 2025 - 4 minute read

Contrast of motorway in the middle of image and green fields both sides

This year, we were given a new role to develop Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) for England, Scotland, and Wales. These plans will help to ensure that local areas get the energy infrastructure they need to meet local net zero and economic growth ambitions.

As the National Energy System Operator (NESO) for Great Britain, we’re committed to ensuring the views of stakeholders are at the heart of our work to plan the future energy system.

So, if you have a keen interest in the energy system in your local area, with a particular focus on our new RESP role, join our online RESP Forums.

Why attend a Forum?

Enabling everyone’s voice to be heard is fundamental to delivering an energy system that works for everyone in Great Britain. We want to listen to local communities, businesses and industry to hear your views on the energy system you need to ensure clean, secure and reliable energy for future generations.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first ever Regional Energy Strategic Planning (RESP) Forums earlier this year in March and April. Over 1,200 people attended the sessions in Scotland, Wales and nine regions of England, helping to shape the approach to the delivery of our new RESP role.

Our Summer 2025 Forums will focus on the following:

tRESP update - The‘Transitional Regional Energy Strategic Plan’ (or tRESP) project, which is focused on supporting the development of the electricity distribution network operator (DNO) business plans for their next investment period, 2028-33
Regional Context - An interactive session to help us understand the context we will be working within for each region
Strategic Investment Need - An introduction to the Strategic Investment Need component of tRESP, the value this will bring and why we need your input on major economic growth and development plans in your area
Updates on wider RESP activity
Strategic Energy Planning update - Updates on some of NESO’s other strategic planning activities
Next Steps - Details of upcoming activities where we’d like your further involvement and input

By participating in a Forum for your region or nation, you’ll play a key role in ensuring your area gets the electricity and gas distribution infrastructure it needs to enable economic growth and decarbonisation.

How to sign-up

The Forums will be run online, and the same content will be presented at each meeting apart from any information specific to your region or nation. So, you only need to attend the Forum that is relevant to your local area. However, if you have interests in more than one region or nation, you’re welcome to join multiple sessions.

What you need to do before attending a Forum

1) Attend our Introduction to RESP webinar on 16 June at 11am - 12pm (see below for further details).

2) Familiarise yourself with the Mentimeter platform, as we will be using this to get your input and for you to ask us questions. You do not need to create a Mentimeter account or do anything else. On the day of the webinar or Forum you will be provided with a QR code and passcode to sign in to Mentimeter and ask your questions.

Here is a list of dates and times for the Forums and our Introduction to RESP webinar. Please follow the registration links to sign up

Date	Event title	Time	Where	Registration link
16 June	Introduction to RESP (Summer 2025)	11am – 12pm	Online	Register
26 June	RESP Forum - Scotland	11am – 12:30pm	Online	Register
2 July	RESP Forum - North West	1 – 2:30pm	Online	Register
7 July	RESP Forum - Central England	10:30am – 12:00pm	Online	Register
7 July	RESP Forum - London	2 – 3:30pm	Online	Register
8 July	RESP Forum - West Midlands	1:30 – 3:00pm	Online	Register
8 July	RESP Forum - North East, Yorkshire and Humber	10 – 11:30am	Online	Register
9 July	RESP Forum - South East	10 – 11:30am	Online	Register
9 July	RESP Forum - South West	3 – 4:30pm	Online	Register
10 July	RESP Forum - Wales	10 – 11:30am	Online	Register
10 July	RESP Forum - East Midlands	10:30am – 12:00pm	Online	Register
10 July	RESP Forum - East of England	2 – 3:30pm	Online	Register

A visual representation of the RESP’s 11 regions and nations

Introduction to RESP webinar - Summer 2025

Prior to the Forums, you can also attend our 60-minute Introduction to RESP - Forums 2/Summer 2025 webinar, on 16 June at 11am.

This will be an updated version of the webinar we delivered in Spring 2025. This edition will include details from the RESP Policy Framework, which defines the role that NESO will deliver. The framework was published by Ofgem in April 2025.

Whether you’d like to learn more about RESP in general, or if it’s to help get you up to speed ahead of the next RESP Forums in Summer 2025, all attendees are welcome.

You can also watch our first Introduction to RESP webinar from March 2025. This was held on 20 March before the first-round of Forums in March-April 2025.

Watch here