National Grid slams energy regulator
National Grid, Britain’s biggest energy distributor, said proposals by the UK regulator Ofgem to fund the upgrade of the country’s gas and electricity network were flawed.
National Grid said that Ofgem’s £22bn initial plan to make Britain’s transmission networks more sustainable differed substantially from its own business plan.
“We believe that these initial proposals will not appropriately incentivise the essential investments necessary to provide safe, reliable networks for the UK consumer and avoid delays to the achievement of the UK’s environmental targets,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
Ofgem will present full details of its proposals later in July but disclosing initial plans on Monday said that it would reduce the companies’ requested funding from earlier discussions on the project by 20 per cent.
National Grid had said last August it needed to spend £31bn on updating the country’s networks over eight years from April 2013.
The company said it will highlight its areas and present further support for its position in response to the proposals.