Britain's power system is running on data infrastructure built for the age of coal
Oct 22, 2026
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Britain's power system is running on data infrastructure built for the age of coal.
Investment is flowing into wind, solar, batteries and grid infrastructure. But the data needed to run a modern, flexible and decentralised energy system has not kept pace. Network operators, generators, suppliers and service providers each hold their own piece of the picture, with too much data locked behind private systems or published in unusable formats.
When the system cannot see where power is being generated, where demand is rising, or where the grid is under pressure, it has to plan around uncertainty - and uncertainty is expensive. It drives up balancing costs, slows renewable integration, delays connections, blocks AI-enabled optimisation and ultimately costs consumers money.
Government and Ofgem's Energy Digitalisation Framework sets a welcome direction for coordination, but coordination alone will not fix this. DESNZ’s Vision for an AI-enabled clean energy system names access to data as the first of six barriers to adoption. The diagnosis is now shared. What is missing is clear top-down direction, without it, this valuable data will continue to go unused.
We believe Britain needs a new approach to energy data: one that treats priority datasets as essential infrastructure, makes data with public value open and accessible, and ensures it is usable in practice.
We support urgent action to unlock the priority data needed to deliver a smarter, cheaper and more secure energy system, and call on government, regulators, system bodies and data holders to:
1. Set clear top-down direction on energy data: Government should make unlocking priority energy data an explicit part of the clean power mission - giving regulators, code bodies, network companies and energy market participants a clear mandate to enable access. The AI for Clean Energy Strategy, expected next year, is the natural vehicle for that mandate.
2. Prioritise and lead on the opening up of key datasets: The highest-value datasets and use cases are already well understood. DESNZ should urgently expedite the publication of priority datasets, including network, consumption, rooftop solar, weather, flexibility and industrial energy use data, at a level of granularity that makes them genuinely usable. This should sit alongside the longer-term work to develop the frameworks and safeguards needed for wider access.
3. Regulate for usability, not just publication: Ofgem should judge data obligations by whether data can be used, not whether it is published. Priority datasets need to be timely, machine-readable, standardised and accompanied by clear metadata and licensing terms.
Better energy data is one of the fastest, lowest-cost ways to cut waste, unlock grid capacity, support innovation and reduce costs for consumers. Britain does not need to wait for every new power plant, substation or cable before making the system smarter. It can start by making better use of the data it already has.
We urge Ministers and regulators to work with industry to unlock the data Britain needs for homegrown, cheap and secure power.
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