NESO and Consumer Scotland agree new strategic partnership to support energy consumers in Scotland

Launched on 1 October as a new independent public body, NESO has taken on a new duty to have regard to impacts upon consumers, and consumer behaviour in undertaking its work.

Our mission is to forge the path to a sustainable future, where everyone has access to clean, reliable and affordable energy.

Consumer Scotland is an independent statutory body established to ensure consumer interests are at the heart of a fair, transparent and sustainable market in Scotland.

NESO and Consumer Scotland will support each other in working towards three main shared objectives:

1. Improved Services to Citizens: Supporting each organisation’s respective statutory roles through mutual support and/or advice, thereby improving services, creating better outcomes and delivering better value for consumers.
2. A Just Energy Transition: Working towards an energy transition that is affordable, fair and equitable, with consideration of consumers at the core of the future system’s design, inclusive of different demographics, needs, preferences and vulnerabilities.
3. Informed Stakeholders: Sector decision-making that is informed by high-quality, robust evidence, analyses and insights, representative of the broad demographics relevant to modern Great Britain.

On a recent visit to NESO’s offices in Glasgow, Consumer Scotland Chair David Wilson met with NESO CEO Fintan Slye to formalise the partnership. 

Fintan set out the value that insights from Consumer Scotland will bring as the organisation considers the impact on consumers as part of its duties and the importance of consumers being at the heart of NESO.

NESO intends to develop further strategic partnerships with relevant organisations over the coming months to support the organisation in fulfilling its new whole-systems functions and roles in the energy sector.

Commenting, NESO chief executive Fintan Slye said:

"We are delighted to have the expertise and support of Consumer Scotland to draw on as we get to work on delivering value for consumers, ensuring that communities across Great Britain are brought with us on the journey to deliver the clean, green energy system of the future. 

“NESO takes extremely seriously our mission to deliver clean power and the impact this will have across society. We are determined to ensure that the benefits of this transition are realised for all, be this through new jobs, environmental improvements, more affordable bills or increased resilience within the system.”

Consumer Scotland Chair David Wilson said:

“The decisions taken by NESO on the design of the future energy system will have significant implications for consumers across Scotland.

“For future systems to be successful they need to be affordable, fair and equitable, with consideration of consumers at their core.

“This partnership will help ensure the design of the future energy systems aligns with consumer behaviours to achieve a just transition.”