19/03/2026
Ed Milliband's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has launched a consultation on how to deal with what it calls a surge in speculative applications for connections to the electricity grid. They say the queue for demand connections to the transmission network has grown by 460% in just six months to June 2025, and that this is delaying strategically important projects — including new AI Growth Zones — from getting connected.
The Government now wants new powers to prioritise certain projects and push others to the back of the queue.
But let’s be honest: they should hardly be surprised this situation has arisen. By tearing up national housing targets overnight, with no transition period whatsoever, ministers created a wild west where developers could put in applications on virtually any site they fancied — because the planning system was left wide open.
If you create a free‑for‑all, you get a free‑for‑all.
Developers have responded exactly as anyone would expect: flooding the system with speculative bids, whether for housing or for grid capacity, because the Government removed the guardrails without putting anything sensible in their place.
This consultation may tidy up part of the mess, but it doesn’t change the underlying issue: you can’t run a planning system — or an energy system — on wishful thinking and sudden policy lurches. Stability and clear rules matter. 🙄
You can access the consultation here:
We're seeking views on proposals to amend the connections process to address speculation and prioritise future capacity for strategic demand, including data centres.
