Andy Clark, Business Leader – Place, Energy Systems Catapult
Across the UK, the drive to decarbonise and establish a more secure energy system is colliding with one of the most persistent challenges in the energy system – network constraints. As demand grows from new homes, electric vehicles, heat pumps and data centres our local electricity networks are struggling to keep up. Projects stall, connection queues lengthen, and investment is delayed.
It’s a familiar story for many energy managers: there’s the will, the technology, and often the funding – but not always the capacity. What’s missing is a clear, a locally grounded view of what is needed, where it’s needed, and when it will happen to influence regulatory investment. That’s where Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) is beginning to make a real difference.
Network constraints: a blocker to local energy investment
The scale of the challenge is stark. Many Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) report record connection requests – from solar farms, industrial sites, housing developers and energy-hungry data centres. Yet without visibility of local authority development plans or community ambitions, network investment has often been reactive, not proactive.
This disconnect slows the energy transition and threatens local growth. If the grid can’t expand in step with predictable local need, opportunities for jobs, housing, investment and innovation risk being lost or significantly delayed.
How LAEPs change the picture
Energy Systems Catapult has been at the forefront of developing and delivering Local Area Energy Plans – detailed, spatial, data and stakeholder-driven blueprints that help local areas understand their pathways to net zero and the potential impact on the energy networks. Crucially, as well as providing insight for delivery stakeholders and to target investment, LAEPs bridge the information gap between local plans and network planning.
Informed by scenario analysis to identify low-regret projects across a local area, LAEPs help stakeholders target and buy-into delivery plans, meaning network operators can have greater confidence in what’s coming – where EV uptake will surge, where solar deployment is viable, where electrified heating will add load. They can then compare this bottom-up insight to their Distribution Future Energy Scenarios (DFES) and long-term investment plans, allowing networks to target upgrades ahead of need.
In short, LAEPs improve forecasting, sharpen investment decisions and reduce risk.
We’re already seeing this play out across the UK. Dozens of councils have completed or commissioned LAEPs, and many more are using them to support local planning, funding bids, and engagement with their DNOs. Where they exist, investment conversations become more productive. Network planners can test assumptions with solid local data; local authorities can evidence why upgrades are needed.
From local plans to regional strategy
This local insight can now also add value through the new Regional Energy Strategic Plan (RESPs) process, led by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). RESP brings together data from local authorities, network operators and regional stakeholders to produce a shared picture of energy needs across each region.
Through the Ready for RESP 2025 programme, Energy Systems Catapult is helping local authorities feed their LAEP data into this regional process. The aim is a consistent, transparent basis for future network investment – one that aligns with local priorities, supports housing and industrial growth, and maximises use of local opportunities such as for renewable energy deployment.
If LAEPs and RESPs work hand-in-hand, we get a virtuous circle: local plans inform regional forecasts, which shape network investment. That’s how we move from a reactive to a strategic system.
Unlocking growth across housing, solar and data centres
The impact of better alignment between energy planning and infrastructure investment is far-reaching.
- Housing: Developers need confidence that network capacity will be available where new homes are planned. With LAEPs identifying future demand hotspots, DNOs can invest earlier, enabling housing growth to proceed on schedule and supporting integrated low-carbon heating and EV charging infrastructure.
- Solar and renewables: Local spatial mapping helps identify where solar generation can be deployed efficiently – avoiding constrained areas and making best use of existing headroom. This reduces curtailment, unlocks viable projects and makes planning more predictable.
- Data centres and high-demand users: These are essential for the digital economy but require guaranteed power and grid resilience. LAEPs and RESP data can show where capacity exists or where investment will unlock strategic locations – making regions more attractive for high-tech investment.
- Regional priorities: Ultimately, energy planning done well supports the wider growth agenda – targeting investment in regions that need it most, stimulating local jobs and supply chains, and building more resilient, inclusive economies.
Delivering ahead of need
To make this work at scale, a few shifts are essential. Local authorities need resourcing and skills to produce high-quality LAEPs. Data sharing between councils, network operators, regional planners and the RESP must be effective and standardised. And regulators must give networks the confidence to invest ahead of demand when robust local evidence shows it will be needed.
Because the cost of waiting – stalled connections, lost growth, and missed decarbonisation targets – is far greater.
A local-first energy transition
The UK’s energy transition will be won or lost at local level. The combination of Local Area Energy Plans and Regional Energy Strategic Plans offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rewire how we plan and invest in infrastructure.
By aligning network investment with real local needs, we can unlock faster deployment of clean technologies, accelerate housing delivery, and attract new industries.
Local voices, local data, and local plans are not just inputs to the energy transition – they are the key to making it deliverable.
Want to find out more? Visit our interactive LAEP map to see if your area has a plan and how it relates to the assets you manage: https://es.catapult.org.uk/tools-and-labs/local-area-energy-plans/
This article appeared in the Nov/Dec 2025 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.