Just how close did Britain’s electricity grid come to collapse on 23 June? Allegations began circulating soon after that date of a cover-up by the National Energy Systems Operator (NESO). While external observers could see that something abnormal was happening, with the frequency of the grid falling below operational limits for several hours, NESO quickly denied that anything was wrong. They claimed that the grid was ‘not at risk’, an assertion which was repeated by energy minister Michael Shanks in the Commons.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho, meanwhile, said she had been contacted by ‘multiple whistleblowers’ within NESO, claiming that ‘the corporate affairs team had interfered with operational decisions’ and that ‘operational decisions are being recorded in live documents with no audit trail’. In other words, something rotten was happening in the running of the national grid and there was a deliberate attempt to keep it from the public.

NESO itself commissioned a report into the events of 23 June, to be conducted by the legal firm Eversheds Sutherland. The report has now been published. While it does not support some of the whistleblowers’ claims, it does not make comfortable reading for the government, especially regarding its obsessive drive to decarbonise the grid........

© The Spectator