National Energy System Operator: Blackout Risk

Lord Moynihan Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2026 Lords Chamber

My department will continue to work with NESO and Ofgem to identify any lessons from these events, and to work to ensure that our electricity system remains resilient. Ofgem, as the independent regulator, is also working with NESO to initiate a formal review of events during the June heatwave. I welcome this important transparency and look forward to working with NESO and Ofgem on taking forward the lessons learned”.

[Lord Moynihan (Con)]

I declare my interests as chair of Amey, Acteon and Buckthorn Partners. Can the Minister confirm the comments of whistleblowers that on 23 June

“constraints were breached and system security was compromised”—

and, I might add, five safety limits were breached as well? Can he confirm that such events can directly contribute to potential nationwide blackouts? Why was this not reported to Ofgem within 72 hours, as legally required? Does he agree with Octopus Energy, which told Parliament on 8 July that the cost of balancing the grid, net-work constraints and capacity payments under this Government’s high-cost wind and solar-driven energy policy is to go up from £1.5 billion this year to £10 billion a year by 2030, which will further deindustrialise the country and add higher costs to already unacceptably high domestic and industrial energy bills in the United Kingdom?

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Whitehead) (Lab)]

The Government take the allegations that the whistleblowers have made recently concerning the operation of NESO very seriously. An external legal firm has been appointed to investigate, reporting to a panel independent of senior management; indeed, there is the opportunity for anybody independent of senior management to make representations to that inquiry. It would be wrong to prejudge the outcome at this stage.

As for the wider issue of constraint payments, this is substantially an issue of grid management and grid development, which the noble Lord will know were grievously neglected under the previous Conservative Government. The present Government have very ambitious plans to make sure that the grid is expanded, repaired and updated so that constraints can be managed much more effectively as part of the overall grid process.