Connections Reform
SPT continues to fully support the development of Connections Reform, otherwise known as TM04+, and wants to support our customers in receiving the latest information on the changes coming to industry.
As a part of Connections Reform, customers who wish to apply for Gate 2 offers must meet a new ‘readiness criteria’. NESO have launched their Evidence Submission Handbook which is a self-serving guide for customers. This is a comprehensive guide on how to submit evidence and complete the Readiness Declaration form. We strongly urge our customers to read the NESOs handbook. It is important to note, that we as the TO, do not accept any evidence.
NESO is hosting several in-person and online events focusing on evidence submission and the Readiness Declaration Form, the details of these webinars can also be found on the Connections Reform Help Centre and Event Calendar. SPT recommends all customers attend these to gain a better understanding of the requirements of this process. Further information on preparing for evidence submission can be found on NESOs Readiness Declaration page.
We would like to highlight to our customers that to provide a fair and equal service to all, NESO will only be accepting queries and complaints regarding Connections Reform exclusively through their two dedicated channels. NESO will not be responding to any queries sent through any other sources (including any existing or older NESO contacts) besides the two new channels.
You can access the two channels on NESO’s Contact Connections Reform webpage.
Additionally,
As of 10th June 2025, NESO has published an Interactive Connections Reform Timeline, which gives a sight of all the important dates and milestones in for Connections Reform.
On the 15th of April 2025, Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain approved some of the NESO’s connections reform proposals. Read NESOs press release, highlighting the reforms and the next steps.
Furthermore, on the 15th of January 2025, NESO published its open letter to industry providing information on the applications pause that began on the 29th of January 2025 for all generation applications and 21st of March 2025 for all new directly connected demand applications. We would encourage all our customers to read this.
Details of the open letter can be found here.
With regards to the Pause. NESO and the TOs requested an extension to the pause to cover off a short period between the backstop date included in the letter from 15/01/25 and the Connections Reform implementation date. This is hot off the press, but Ofgem have agreed to extend this to midnight on 9th June, when the new Connections Reform criteria takes over from the old BAU process. You can see the letter sent to Ofgem and their response on NESO’s updated webpages:
Decision on extension to transition to Connections Reform | Ofgem
Transition to Connections Reform | National Energy System Operator
We would also encourage our customers to keep up to date with all Connection Reform updates using the NESO’s website, details of which can be found here.