Electricity Priority User Arrangements: Proposals to update the priority user arrangements for use during an electricity supply emergency
The Energy White Paper set out the Government’s strategy for securing safe, reliable and clean energy supplies. The UK has a very reliable energy infrastructure and where there are disruptions they are usually local and caused by storms, technical malfunction or accidental damage, for example a cable being cut by a digger. Because such disruptions do happen, it is important that businesses and organisations of all sizes have plans in place to cope with them.
Although disruption to electricity supplies on a regional or national level now and in the future remains extremely unlikely, Government and industry must nevertheless ensure that there are effective systems in place to deal with electricity supply emergencies, as part of prudent and ongoing contingency planning.
In the event of such an emergency lasting over a period of days or longer, the main way to deal with it is by rationing supplies using ‘rota disconnections’. Power would be cut to different areas on a rota basis, usually for three hours at a time, in order to minimise the time that individual and business users are without electricity. The frequency of the disconnection periods would depend on the gap between the amount of electricity needed and that available.
The electricity priority user arrangements are designed to allow certain consumers to be exempt from such disconnections. As part of our ongoing work to ensure that all such arrangements are up to date and as effective as possible, this consultation considers the purpose and operation of the current arrangements’ priority lists and seeks views on our proposals to simplify them and make them more effective.
(360KB)