Call for evidence on the electricity transmission, gas transmission and gas distribution business plans for RIIO-3
Summary
Ofgem call for evidence on network company Business Plans for RIIO-3, covering electricity transmission, gas transmission and gas distribution. Inputs feed into the RIIO-3 Final Determinations published December 2025.
Why it matters
Stakeholder input window between business-plan submission and Draft Determinations. Investors, consumer groups, and other regulators get a formal channel to push back on company asks before the regulator's assessment is finalised. The breadth of stakeholders invited (including credit rating agencies) signals the financeability sensitivity of the RIIO-3 settlement.
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
What this is about
Ofgem is collecting stakeholder evidence on the Business Plans that the gas and electricity network monopolies have submitted for RIIO-3, the price control that will run from April 2026 to March 2031. The Business Plans set out what National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), Scottish Power Transmission (SPT), Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHET), National Gas Transmission (NGT), and the four gas distribution network owners propose to spend over the five-year period, what they want to deliver, and what return they expect to earn. Ofgem will use the responses to inform its Draft Determinations in summer 2025 and Final Determinations in December 2025.
The call for evidence sits in the middle of the price control timetable. Companies have submitted their asks. Ofgem has not yet published its view on whether those asks are reasonable. This is the window in which investors, consumer groups, generators, suppliers, large industrial users, other regulators, and credit rating agencies can put on the record what they think of the company submissions before Ofgem's assessment hardens. Network charges make up around 20% of a consumer's bill, so the size of the allowed revenue settles a material chunk of what households and businesses will pay through to 2031. The explicit invitation to credit rating agencies signals that financeability, the question of whether the regulated companies can raise the capital they need on acceptable terms given the allowed return, is on the table as a live constraint rather than a settled parameter.
How to respond
Responses were due by 10 February 2025 (the page also shows 11 February 2025 as the closed date). Submissions went to RIIO3@ofgem.gov.uk, structured against the questions in the Call for Evidence document. The consultation is now closed: Ofgem received around 530 responses, including a significant volume from households and community groups affected by NGET's overground pylon proposals, and has begun publishing those responses where consent was given.
For anyone tracking RIIO-3 from here, the next formal input points are the Draft Determinations consultation in summer 2025 and the Final Determinations publication in December 2025. The substantive content of the company asks, the WACC debate, the totex allowances, and the output incentives all become live again at Draft Determinations stage.
Source text
Call for evidence on the electricity transmission, gas transmission and gas distribution business plans for RIIO-3 | Ofgem Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience. BETA This site is currently in BETA. Help us improve by giving us your feedback . Close alert: Call for evidence on the electricity transmission, gas transmission and gas distribution business plans for RIIO-3 Publication type: Call for input Publication date: 18 December 2024 Closed date: 11 February 2025 Status: Closed Topic: Energy network price controls Subtopic: RIIO-3 Print this page Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn We are seeking views and evidence from stakeholders on any aspect of the network companies’ Business Plans (BPs) for potential consideration in the RIIO-3 Final Determinations. Who should respond We would like to hear the views of individuals and organisations with an interest in the electricity and gas transmission networks and gas distribution networks, those with an interest in providing services and supporting the development of the networks, as well as consumers and consumer groups. We also welcome responses from government, other regulators, investors, credit rating agencies, and any other stakeholders. Background Ofgem sets the price controls to ensure that monopoly network companies, who run Great Britain’s gas and electricity networks, continue to act in the best interests of energy consumers. Since 2013 we have used the RIIO (Revenue = Incentives + Innovation + Outputs) framework to set price controls. In order to set the next price control (RIIO-3), we need information from the network companies on the activities that they intend to undertake over the period 2026 to 2031 and their associated forecast costs and outputs. The network companies provide this information to us in the form of a BP. We expect companies’ BPs to appropriately reflect stakeholder views and needs and ensure they are at the heart of their plans. We will assess the BPs during 2025, considering the needs of existing and future consumers and other relevant factors such as the transition to a low carbon economy. The network companies are then set an allowed revenue by us for the RIIO-3 period (2026-2031), which is recovered through network charges that make up around 20% of consumers’ energy bills. Our assessment during 2025 will include further ongoing stakeholder engagement, such as a formal consultation (Draft Determinations) by summer 2025, working groups on key policy areas and close working with network companies and their Independent Stakeholder Groups (ISGs). We will conclude RIIO-3 by setting our Final Determinations in the winter of 2025. Why your views matter We want to hear your views on any aspect of the network companies’ Business Plans. Your responses to this consultation will help to inform our Final Determinations. How to respond This consultation closes on 10 February 2025. Please send your response to RIIO3@ofgem.gov.uk, clearly setting out your feedback as requested in the Call for Evidence document. Update 21 March 2025 We received c530 responses to the RIIO-3 Call for Evidence consultation which ran from the 18 December 2024 to 10 February 2025. Included in these were a number of responses from households and community groups impacted by National Grid’s (NGET) overground pylon projects. A summary of these responses are being made available today, with the full responses that we have been given permission to publish being made available on our website in the near future. Main document RIIO-3 Call for Evidence [PDF, 120.47KB] Response documents RIIO-3 Call for Evidence responses [ZIP, 43.56MB] RIIO-3 Call for Evidence collated email responses: part 1 [PDF, 540.90KB] RIIO-3 Call for Evidence collated email responses: part 2 [PDF, 1.03MB] Print this page Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Close