Simon Harrison, group head of strategy, Mott MacDonald

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

An up to date perspective from the clean power commission on progress across all areas, with a particular focus on flexibility and the connections queue

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

A view from the industry on how the reforms are playing out for them, remaining and new challenges, and new opportunities

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

Moving forward at pace and scale, and managing the increased risk this implies.
Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

It’s the acknowledged place where industry players come together to compare experiences, and hence to build understanding of what needs to happen to unlock further progress

Dr Russell Fowler, grid connection and strategy manager - Rapid Charging Fund, National Highways

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

Understand the current state of EV charging on the strategic road network and impact of the current grid connection process had on delivery of EV charging. Finally, what our experience across this sector would recommend for further reforming of gird connections.

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

Understand the latest position on connections reform, next steps and where there is opportunity to shape the discussion for demand connections (EV charging in particular) + good quality networking

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

Planning through uncertainty – political and economic
Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

As noted above, to understand the latest developments and how they impact EV charging + good quality networking  

Arjan Geveke, director, Energy Intensive Users Group

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

To provide a perspective from large demand users on grid connection reforms.

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

New insights.

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

Relative high industrial energy prices making it challenging for energy intensive industries to manufacture products.

Matt Vickers, director of connections reform, NESO

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

You’ll hear how NESO are making progress on implementation with a process overview, how we are keeping the process moving fast and a clear overview of what comes next.

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

Building on the collaboration we led during the design phase. It’s an opportunity to talk to industry about how we can work together to get the offers out quickly and effectively.

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

Ensuring we meet our ambitious timelines for implementing reform.

Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

It’s a great opportunity to get out and speak directly to the industry and our customers.

Nicola Pitts, executive director, INA

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

Understand the growing role in IDNOs in connecting projects at all voltage levels.

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

We have a great shared agenda to meet the Government's growth and decarbonisation targets. I am looking for shared insights and common actions that industry and Government need to take forward.

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

Planning and land and consents, as well as connections reform.  

Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

It's a great opportunity to learn from each other, reconnect and make new contacts. This is a shared issue that we all need to work together on.

Jamie Bright, data science and development manager, UK Power Networks

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

I will be talking about some of the latest digitalisation expertise the DSO is bringing to the sector that make a massive impact on how developers consider connections on our network! Specifically The Connections Lab, a ground breaking new web-application letting anyone trial a connection.

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

Largely, I’m interested in the pain points of developers to see if I can ultimately alleviate! I’m also looking to learn what other utilities do to try address these challenges to make sure I’m not missing anything.

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

The rate of change of policy and digitalisation in a sector not so familiar with it. Connections reform has happened so quickly and now demands a whole host of new innovations to deliver.

Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

It’s a chance to learn what it is the DSO should be focussing on now and next. As time is of the essence, it’s imperative to be working on the right solutions right now.

Stephen Barrett, director of membership and strategic engagement, Energy and Utility Skills

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

I hope to bring to the conference some valuable insights to some of the workforce challenges and action required to ensure that we have a safe, skilled and sustainable workforce to enable the transition to net-zero and beyond. 

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

The technical and political challenges associated with reforming grid connections. 

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

We simply don't have enough skilled people in the UK to deliver the transition to net-zero. To address this challenge will require collaboration from all quarters, including industry, government, regulators, technology developers and the skills ecosystem.

Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

By bringing key stakeholders together from across industry to ensure that we build a collaborative environment to share best practice and focus on bold, rapid action we can ensure the best outcome for society through a sustainable, low carbon energy mix.

Chris Greenfield, Project Manager for BiTraDER, Electricity North West

What can we expect from your contribution at the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025? 

Market based constraint management solutions will play a key role in deferring reinforcement and improving the business case to get more low carbon technologies connected to the networks. BiTraDER is an example of one of these solutions and could be of interest not only to prospective customers looking to connect in congested areas, but also existing connected customer looking for additional revenue sources.

What are you most looking forward to hearing about at the conference?

Innovative ways to manage the grid more effectively including new up and coming constraint management solutions.

What are the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment, in your opinion?

The level of investment necessary to enable clean power 2030 and wider net zero goals. Along with investment, how will network operators utilise the large number of resources necessary to ensure new assets are installed efficiently prior to constraints materialising.

Why is the Utility Week Reforming Grid Connections Conference 2025 important to the industry and to you?

The event is an important opportunity for key stakeholders to come together and share updates that are happening throughout the industry. The pace of change is unprecedented so gaining insight from policy makers, network operators and renewable energy providers ensures that decisions going forward are better informed and common goals can be aligned.