Communities

Why do we engage with communities?

Through open and constructive dialogue with communities, we are able to consider and adapt our plans and strategies to minimise adverse impacts and maximise benefits. We strive to achieve mutually acceptable outcomes while balancing technical and environmental constraints by building trust, and understanding of the local, social, environmental and economic impacts from our projects.

…Which also unlocks wider societal benefits: By understanding what matters most to local communities, we can deliver tangible benefits that improve socio-economic goals for generations to come. For example, our projects will support over 20,000 jobs by 2029, almost half of which will be in Scotland, in addition to our Community Benefit Funds which are expected to deliver more than £100m in funding.

Our Commitments

We proactively collect feedback from impacted communities to inform our projects and are clear about how it is used:

We engage in both early and mandatory consultation activities to collect regular feedback from the community to help shape our projects, which helps us to respond

to evolving needs. We are proactive and transparent in sharing where and how we have acted upon feedback.

We strive to foster an inclusive environment for communities, especially those that are hardest to reach:

Through our engagement we ensure that impacted communities are represented and heard.

We ensure that our engagement and communications are accessible and tailored to community interests and concerns:

We will meet accessibility standards across our communications, making information understandable, engaging and accommodating to diverse accessibility needs.

We will co-design socio-economic benefit delivery models with stakeholders:

Local benefit funds will be designed with the local community, for the benefit of the local community. We are committed to leaving a positive benefit in the north of Scotland. We have already consulted widely on the best approach to community benefit funding and have also identified local jobs and housing as priorities.

We intend to make our commitments real, through our:

Communications and knowledge sharing:

We provide relevant, localised and tailored information about our projects, news, and upcoming events, using a variety of communication methods like our website, newsletters, direct email, physical leaflets or letters, and on our social media.

Consultations and events:

We will hold virtual and in-person events with interactive displays, 3D models and ‘explainer’ materials/ leaflets. We have a dedicated community liaison manager for each of our projects at our events, to answer questions and present information in a personal and engaging way.

Feedback loops:

We have processes in place to capture feedback, queries and complaints through forms on our website, at our events, over the telephone or via email. We also provide regular updates on how the feedback is used.

Community Benefit Fund:

Following an extensive stakeholder consultation exercise in 2023 with local communities, local authorities and third sector organisations, we have launched our first Community Benefit Fund. More than £100m is expected to be distributed across local and regional projects with a focus on supporting projects that make a lasting positive impact in our communities, subject to government and regulatory approval.

What success looks like

We would like Communities to:	Our ask of communities is to:
Feel informed, represented and heard in our activities. Have knowledge and understanding of the projects and changes happening in their community and the role we, as SSEN Transmission, play in energy security and the local and national clean energy transition.	Help shape benefits in their local area, read relevant project information, take part in the community benefit fund if applicable, attend events, and actively participate through feedback, voicing their views and concerns.