This is the second in a series of posts about one of the key issues in current GB energy and climate policy: the problems associated with connecting to the electricity grid. The first post, setting out the background to the crisis, is here.

Connections reform took centre stage in a string of government announcements about energy and infrastructure topics in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement of 22 November 2023. We will cover the connections-related announcements made by the government and Ofgem alongside the Autumn Statement (see further here, here and here) later in this series. In this post, we focus on some key steps that National Grid ESO (NG ESO) took during 2023 to remedy the connections crisis.

Ofgem’s open letter

No single entity can solve the problem of grid connections, but Ofgem has a key role to play. It regulates NG ESO, the owners of the transmission networks, and the distribution network operators (DNOs); it controls in large measure what they can invest through its regulation of network charges; and in most cases it determines whether proposed modifications to industry codes are made. The crisis in connections has featured prominently in recent speeches by Ofgem’s CEO, Jonathan Brearley (such as here).

On 16 May 2023, Ofgem published an open letter on future reform to the electricity connections process. It provides a good starting point for considering the ways in which the systemic problem of grid connection is being addressed. Figure 2 of that letter, reproduced below, gives a useful overview.