Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to develop a strategy to ensure future continuity on network charging in relation to electricity storage; and if so, how.

The charging regime is the responsibility of Ofgem as the independent regulator. In the joint BEIS/Ofgem Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan released on 24 July 2017 it was recognised that at present network charges can put storage at a relative disadvantage to other network users, preventing a level playing field.

The Government is keen to see fair changes to the charging regime that create a level playing field for storage. Ofgem indicated that changes to storage charging would be best and most rapidly brought forward by industry, and two modifications have now been raised to address this issue. Ofgem also expects industry to provide guidance on the treatment of storage as intermittent or non-intermittent in the distribution charging methodologies by the end of 2017.