The Utility Regulator has published a Cost and Performance Report for electricity transmission services in Northern Ireland.
This report, covering the period from October 2020 – September 2024, provides our assessment of SONI, the electricity transmission system operator’s (TSO), performance during the first four years of their current price control, that we refer to as SRP20.
We regulate the revenue that SONI receives through a price control, which identifies their expected levels of expenditure and the service they will provide. The current price control, SRP20, will run for seven years, from October 2020 to September 2027 (this includes a two-year extension).
We use annual information returns and the Cost and Performance Report to account for delivery against the price control. In overall terms, the first four years of SRP20 can be considered relatively successful. Key points from our assessment include:
- SONI has adopted additional responsibilities and developed its governance programme whilst delivering below budget on operating (opex) costs.
- Capital expenditure (capex) is below budget which is to be welcomed. However, this appears largely due to project slippage rather than outperformance.
- The electricity transmission system performance has been strong.
- There have been welcome developments in relation to innovation and the grid project reporting portal.
- SONI is significantly behind where it had expected to be in delivering large transmission infrastructure projects.
- SONI has failed to develop certain useful key performance indicators or undertaken others which it had suggested.
Whilst we welcome certain aspects of SONI’s performance, the scope for improvement still exists. We expect to report further on these issues when the price control ends in September 2027.
Copies of all documents can be made available in large print, Braille, audio cassette and a variety of relevant minority languages if required.