Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has written to the newly appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Miatta Fahnbulleh, urging her to investigate allegations made by whistleblowers about the operation of Britain's electricity grid.
Publishing her letter on X, Mrs Coutinho said she had first raised concerns from electricity grid control room operators earlier this month and accused National Energy System Operator (NESO) management of failing to properly address the issues.
She wrote:
"I first raised the concerns that our electricity grid control room operators had put to me on 7th July.
Since then we have seen denials, dismissals, and downright lies from NESO management.
As the sole shareholder of NESO, the new Energy Secretary must hold them to account."
In her letter to Ms Fahnbulleh, Mrs Coutinho said several whistleblowers had contacted her with concerns about the operation of the electricity grid during periods of high demand in June.
According to Mrs Coutinho, the whistleblowers alleged that operational security standards were breached on 23 June, that corporate management influenced operational decisions, and that inappropriate record-keeping practices were used.
Mrs Coutinho said she had previously raised the matter in Parliament before writing directly to NESO's Chief Executive.
She further claimed that, following initial public denials, NESO later confirmed to The Times that an initial internal assessment had concluded that constraint and reserve standards had been breached and that system security had been compromised.
In her letter, Mrs Coutinho questioned whether the regulator, Ofgem, and the Government had been notified as required if such breaches had occurred.
The Shadow Energy Secretary also criticised the way internal investigations have been established, arguing that they lack sufficient independence because they were commissioned by senior NESO management.
She called for all electricity control room engineers to be interviewed anonymously as part of any investigation and urged the Energy Secretary to ensure that concerns about grid security are examined independently.
Summarising her concerns, Mrs Coutinho wrote:
"Someone in the Department needs to be on their side. I very much hope that person is you."
She added that, as the Government is the sole shareholder of NESO, Ms Fahnbulleh is in a unique position to ensure the organisation is properly held to account.
At the time of publication, neither the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero nor NESO had publicly responded to Mrs Coutinho's latest letter.
The allegations remain disputed and no independent investigation has yet published findings into the claims made by the whistleblowers.
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