Blackouts coming soon?

WiserMiser

Three-hour rolling blackouts can be implemented from this week. Too bad if you need to call 999 on your digital landline, it won't work. And relying on your mobile may give you a false sense of security - it may not work if your local mast is knocked out by the same outage and doesn’t have battery backup.

Choose the time of your stroke, heart attack, fire or accident very carefully, especially if you live on your own !

MWT

Just to avoid mass panic, this is not a prediction that they will be doing this from this weekend, merely that the ability to do it has been enabled by a rule change…

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6679348/blackouts-coming-soon

Thanks for this, it has cheered me right up.

QrizB

From the article:

The new rules bridge the gap between the system operator’s existing powers to call for short-term power cuts affecting up to a fifth of electricity demand in each area, not used since the miners’ strikes in the 1970s, and the government’s more wide-reaching emergency powers designed for prolonged electricity disruptions.

So NESO already had the power to impose rolling blackouts, and these haven't been used for ~50 years. The change extends the scope of what NESO can do without further governmental approval.

The_Green_Hornet

The Guardian have been busy today….

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/10/octopus-energy-electricity-solar-eclipse-washing-machines-dishwashers

Robin9

I shall watch with interest the National Grid site - search I am Kate - this Wednesday. In theory there should be no difference on the Grid between the Eclipse and about 2100 when the sun goes down,

EssexHebridean

Wednesday, rather than this evening, I assume?

Robin9

@EssexHebridean Now edited

QrizB

Coming back to this for a minute, I think the source of the articles is GC0176 which modifies the Grid Code to implement the Demand Control Rotation Protocol:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/gc0176-grid-code-and-dcrpmp2506-distribution-code-proposed-changes

You'll find lots of details of the change in the documents at that link.

Notably:

Existing OC6 demand control tools allow for the disconnection of up to 20% of a Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) total demand via pre-determined load blocks, each nominally 5% of demand, at no or very little notice. Demand disconnections beyond this require day-ahead warnings from NESO, or are delivered on a best endeavours basis, via pre-determined load blocks.

So even before this change, load shedding at the DNO level "at no or little notice" was already within the scope of things. The change seems to be to allow better coordination of load shedding across the transmission network, with the 8-hour notice period being introduced due to DNOs having to reconfigure things at their end before it will all work.

On a related topic, the Guardian article also comments:

The government’s electricity supply emergency code, which has never been invoked, can only be enacted by the energy secretary.

You'll find the ESEC online here, together with its annexes:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-supply-emergency-code

The ESEC explains where the the new Demand Control Rotation Protocol (DCRP) fits into things; after large industrial electricity users are told to shut down, and before DESNZ issues directions for rota disconnections.

If you compare the current ESEC to the old one, you'll find the old para 3.1 doesn't include reference to the DCRP.

oldernonethewiser

In response to the headline of this thread, nope doesn't appear to be the case.

GingerTim

Another victory for Betteridge's Law.