By Dr Philip J. Nicholson

Imagine you run a factory and your main industrial furnace is approaching the end of its operational life.

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You have a choice to replace it with another gas-powered model, locking in fossil fuel use for the next twenty years, or invest in a shiny electric alternative that follows the government’s net zero targets and promises lower long-term running costs. Such decisions will determine your site’s viability for an entire generation of assets.

Your business relies on one, maddeningly elusive question – “what will the new electricity connection cost?” So, you pick up the phone to your local Distribution Network Operator, the people who run the grid. They are polite, even helpful, but they cannot give you a straight answer. To get a real number, they explain, you must submit a formal application, committing significant fees and reserving capacity on the grid years in advance, long before you have board approval for the project. You cannot get the information needed to build a........

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