The government is at serious risk of missing its clean power target unless it drastically ramps up the pace and scale of energy infrastructure delivery, according to a damning new report from the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee.
The report, Power struggle: Delivering Great Britain’s electricity grid infrastructure, published today, warns that the government’s ambition to decarbonise the electricity system by at least 95% by 2030 is slipping out of reach due to slow progress on grid connections, poor planning and weak regulatory direction.
Baroness Taylor of Bolton, Chair of the Committee, delivered a stinging rebuke to ministers and the energy sector:
Time is already running out, and there is no room for complacency. The Government and the sector must ramp up their efforts to have a chance of success.”
She added: “The electricity grid is an essential part of modern life for households, businesses and transport links. Recent outages in Spain, Portugal and Heathrow have shown the devastating disruption that failures can cause.
“Given the scale of changes needed to the planning, regulation and delivery of energy infrastructure – and the UK’s historic record of delivering major infrastructure projects, our report questions the feasibility of meeting the clean power target.”
The Committee welcomed Ofgem’s shift toward prioritising strategic projects – but said far more strategic planning is needed across the board. It warned that current reforms to grid connection queues are overly focused on 2030, potentially sidelining key solar and storage projects needed later.
Zonal pricing, long a controversial issue, is supported in principle—but the Committee says the government must manage the transition carefully to avoid penalising consumers and generators who cannot relocate.
It also called for transitional support where needed.
The Lords are now demanding a clear roadmap from government.
They want key delivery metrics for the clean power target published every six months, ring-fenced planning fees to boost local authority capacity – and clear guidance on how Ofgem should balance affordability, investment and security.
They also called for strategic clarity across sectors and a definitive stance on whether grid connections will be prioritised for critical industries.
This report is a major shot across the bow to the Government’s ambitions.
Labour may talk big on clean power but without faster delivery, better planning and urgent regulatory reform, ambition alone won’t keep the lights on.
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