Strategic energy planning and connections reform in 2026: putting plans into action
Summary
Ofgem's Jack Presley Abbott confirms that the battery pipeline emerging from connections reform may be oversupplied relative to Clean Power 2030 needs, and that many protected 2026 and 2027 projects will miss their original dates. Ofgem is considering intervention to prune the queue, and names demand-connection reform, including a data-centre levy, as the next front.
Why it matters
First direct regulator admission that the Gate 2 queue is still misallocating. Two failures: too much battery capacity emerging from reform, and near-term protected projects slipping. The blog frames this as a process adjustment. It is in fact a live admission that the reform package is not yet delivering the queue composition the Clean Power 2030 plan assumed.
Key facts
- •Ofgem states many more battery projects will receive offers than Clean Power 2030 needs
- •Many protected 2026 and 2027 connection dates will not be honoured
- •Over 100 responses received to demand connections reform Call for Input
- •Data centre levy proposed as part of demand connections reform
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
# Ofgem signals it may prune the battery queue and levy data centres
Ofgem blog by Jack Presley Abbott, Deputy Director System Planning and Connections, 21 April 2026.
## What the blog does
It is a blog, not a decision, but the content is substantive. Three admissions matter.
First, the battery queue may be oversupplied relative to what Clean Power 2030 actually needs. Ofgem is assessing the impacts and may need to take action to ensure the queue consists of projects the system really needs.
Second, protected 2026 and 2027 connection dates will not hold. Near-term projects that were shielded in connections reform to keep Clean Power 2030 on track will miss their original dates. Ofgem is examining the causes.
Third, demand connections is the next reform front. Over 100 responses received on the demand-connections Call for Input. Options under consideration include a levy on data centres.
## What this actually means
On battery oversupply. Connections reform was designed to clear speculative applications and let through projects that meet a needs test, defined against a Clean Power 2030 target mix. If the queue is now throwing up more battery capacity than that mix requires, reform has worked too well on volume and too poorly on composition. A pricing-based allocation would have avoided this by clearing projects at the price the system actually values. The fact that Ofgem is willing to consider further intervention says the regulator no longer trusts the queue it just designed.
On slipped protected dates. This is the more damaging admission. The protections were the safety valve: keep enough 2026 and 2027 projects alive so Clean Power 2030 stays credible. If those are slipping, the programme's front-end delivery curve is weaker than the plan assumes. The blog concedes delays but claims enough offers will still be made overall. That is a revised definition of delivery.
On the demand-connections levy. A data-centre levy is a Pigouvian tax dressed as a queue-management tool. If the concern is that data-centre applications crowd out other connections, pricing the scarce resource is the coherent answer. Ofgem has chosen to apply it selectively to data centres rather than to all demand applicants. That selectivity is industry's first attack surface. If data centres pay and others do not, the levy is a sectoral tax, not a scarcity price.
## Who pays
Battery developers who sank bid and pre-contract costs into a queue that Ofgem may prune carry the loss. Financing secured against protected 2026 and 2027 connection dates becomes harder to service when those dates slip. Data centres face explicit levy exposure on any future demand-connection application.
Consumers pay indirectly. Every year the Clean Power 2030 delivery curve slips, the share of generation exposed to gas-set wholesale prices persists.
## What's next
Ofgem response on demand connections reform expected later in 2026. Battery-queue intervention, if any, will come through Gate 2 criteria tightening rather than a headline paper. For the 2026 and 2027 protected dates, expect a formal update on which projects are slipping and whether the protections themselves get redefined.
The package this blog sits inside is best read as one shift. Structural reform of wholesale prices is off the table. Administrative control over composition, siting, revenues and enforcement is being consolidated instead.
Source text
Strategic energy planning and connections reform in 2026: putting plans into action | Ofgem Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience. BETA This site is currently in BETA. Help us improve by giving us your feedback . Close alert: Strategic energy planning and connections reform in 2026: putting plans into action Jack Presley Abbott Deputy Director – System Planning and Connections Publication type: Blog Publication date: 21 April 2026 Topic: Electricity transmission, Electricity distribution, National Energy System Operator (NESO) Subtopic: Connections Print this page Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Connections reforms and strategic energy planning are both crucial for achieving Clean Power 2030 and wider decarbonisation, and 2026 is an important year of development for both. Decarbonising will mean that there will be more demand for electricity. Transport will continue to electrify, heating will move away from gas, and industry will further reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Meeting this demand through renewables will require a grid and system fit for the 21st Century. As the ongoing situation in the Middle East highlights our energy market's exposure to wholesale gas prices, the need to deliver connections reforms and strategically plan a flexible, resilient grid that can support clean power is clear. These reforms will mean consumers can benefit from lower prices and be better protected from the volatility and price shocks of the global gas market. Connections queue reform NESO published a new timeline for connections reform in mid-February. While delays are frustrating, actual offers are more important than timelines. The good news is that offers are now being made, and NESO and network companies are providing regular public data so people can see evidence of real progress. Because this is such a big change, we will need to adjust the process as we learn more. We now know from NESO’s data that many more battery projects will receive connections offers relative to what Clean Power 2030 actually needs. We are assessing the impacts of this relative oversupply , and may need to take action to ensure the queue consists of projects that the system really needs. We also now understand that many projects that were meant to be protected (with 2026 and 2027 connections dates) will not receive their original dates. These protections were intended to help keep near-term delivery on track. We are looking closely at the causes before we decide what to do next. We do however still expect enough offers to be made overall to meet Clean Power 2030. Wider connections reforms We think of improving the connections process in two parts. We need to: reform the process and the queue so it focuses on viable and needed projects (“connections reform”) improve the rules and data so the overall process is higher quality and more ambitious (“the end to end review”) We had numerous responses to our second end-to-end review consultation, which seeks to improve standards of service for connecting customers within the new process. Early indications suggest stakeholders broadly support our policy positions across all seven themes. We’re using the Connections Delivery Board to hold ourselves and others to account against actions we’ve committed to. We have commenced workshops with stakeholders to flesh out our policy positions and expect to respond with next steps later this year, including making quick wins where we can. But now there’s a third challenge: demand connections. There’s been a surge in applications, so we need a process that removes speculation and connects the projects the economy needs faster. We ran a demand connections reform call for input , with over 100 responses to proposals such as a levy on data centres to ensure we focus on viable projects, plus near-term regulatory clarifications to speed up connections. We expect this to be a multi-stage programme, with changes made in 2026. In parallel, we are supporting the government’s proposals to better plan and prioritise the demand connections of most importance . Strategic Planning In January, NESO published Great Britain's transitional Regional Energy Strategic Plan (RESP) , focused on electricity. This is a direction-setting plan for Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) as they prepare for the next electricity distribution price control, ED3. Published at a similar time as the government’s Warm Homes Plan, it shows the benefits and trade-offs of how strategic planning can give clearer direction while still allowing flexibility for investment decisions. The full RESP is expected in 2028. We have published the new RESP licence obligations for NESO to produce it, and for network companies to fully participate in the process. We also published our regulatory approval decision for the NESO’s Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP) Methodology , along with an update on timings . These plans will set out the network build needs up to 2050 to move power, gas and hydrogen around Great Britain. The final plans are due by the end of 2028, and the next Transitional-CSNP is due to be published by NESO in June 2026. What we are doing next Starting with connections, the priorities are firstly getting offers out as part of connections reform, and secondly continuing to consider whether action is needed to encourage oversupplied battery projects to exit early. On the end-to-end review, we will set out steps for implementation later this year, including consulting on licence changes to enact new policy. Finally, on demand connections, we plan to consult in early summer on changes to reduce data centre speculation and measures to enable greater self-build. On strategic planning, together with Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, we will make a late-summer 2026 decision on NESO’s enduring RESP methodology. Moving to Strategic Spatial Energy Planning (SSEP) , we expect government to lay out the next steps of its Reformed National Pricing work soon. This has clear, direct links with strategic planning and connections, so we’ll align Ofgem work programmes and explain in due course how everything fits together. Print this page Share the page Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Close