Local Authority Common Ask
Who are Cadent and SGN?
Cadent and SGN are both Gas Distribution Networks (GDNs), supplying gas to 16.9 million homes between them across the UK.
They manage and maintain the pipes that keep the gas flowing to our homes and businesses and are committed to delivering a safe, efficient, and sustainable gas supply while transitioning towards low carbon energy solutions.
Who are NGED and SSEN?
National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) are both Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), like UK Power Networks, distributing electricity to over 12 million homes in total across the UK. NGED serves customers in the Midlands, South West England, and South Wales; and SSEN serves customers in central southern England and the north of Scotland. Both NGED and SSEN have shared local authorities’ customers with UK Power Networks.
The Local Authority Common Ask
At UK Power Networks DSO, we recognised the challenge local authorities face in sharing forecasts, including Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) results, separately to each network to inform network planning decisions and investments. This presented an opportunity to collaborate with industry peers across different energy vectors to reduce the reporting burden on local authorities.
The cross-sector collaboration between UK Power Networks DSO, Cadent and SGN has resulted in the first Local Authority Common Ask in 2025. The Local Authority Common Ask is a standardised template, which builds on our Data Dictionary by incorporating forecasts that will be utilised by the GDNs. Now, a local authority only needs to complete the template once and shared with their local GDN and UK Power Networks DSO.
In 2026, the Local Authority Common Ask has expanded for a major step towards a more consistent, joined up approach to planning the energy system with our DSO peers NGED and SSEN. Local authorities will no longer have to spend time and money sharing the same local data in many ways to networks. This means LAEP outcomes can be shared and interpreted quickly, helping councils to make decisions on heat, transport, and energy infrastructure planning more easily. Standardising LAEP outputs also gives DSOs more consistent, higher-quality data to feed into key network planning and investment processes - such as Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES) and the Distribution Network Options Assessment (DNOA).
The project demonstrates significant cross-sector collaboration between multiple network operators, local authorities, and delivery partners ERM and Regen. Other DSOs have already expressed interest, indicating strong potential for national scalability.
