Data Centres: Rural Areas
(asked on 15th October 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what controls they intend to impose to prevent data centres in rural areas from exhausting the availability of electricity grid connections for other local activities and developments.
Answered by
Baroness Lloyd of Effra
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
At the Budget on 28 October 2026, the Government announced the Data Centre Covenant. The Covenant sets out new tests all data centres are encouraged to meet, and which strategic data centres must meet to qualify for additional government action.
It sets out that data centres should pay their fair share of energy costs and support the electricity system; invest in the communities that host them; meet the highest environmental standards; create British jobs, apprenticeships and support reindustrialisation; and strengthen Britain’s security and resilience.
A Written MInisterial Statement on 28 October 2026 set out further details on our approach to sustainable data centre growth, including energy flexibility. Connections remain decided by network operators under the Ofgem and NESO framework, with reforms prioritising ready projects, with data centres not to be allocated capacity at the expense of other users.