💥 Wasted Energy, Wasted Billions: How Grid Chaos Is Ripping Off the British Public 🇬🇧⚡

While politicians boast about the UK’s “green energy leadership,” the truth is more shocking: our grid is broken, our bills are rising, and you’re paying for power that never gets used.

Welcome to the hidden world of curtailment – where energy is generated, then dumped… and you still foot the bill.

❌ What Is Curtailment – and Why Should You Care?

Curtailment is when wind or solar farms are paid NOT to generate electricity because the grid can’t handle the power.

And guess who pays the bill? You do.

📈 The Shocking Numbers

💸 £800 million wasted in 2023 on curtailment alone

🔥 Estimated £1.15 billion wasted in 2025 (ChatGPT calculation based on 20% CAGR)

⚡ The UK has over 400 GW of projects stuck in the grid queue — more than 3x our peak demand

🏗️ Some areas (like Drakelow and Norton) can’t export power until 2030 or later – yet projects are still being approved!


> Source: National Grid ESO Appendix G (2025), Ofgem Gate 2 Methodology, Parliament Energy Committee Report 2024

😠 How You’re Being Ripped Off

You’re paying for:

🧾 Electricity that’s never used

📉 Standing charges that have increased over 500% since 2020

💡 Grid upgrades that take a decade and cost billions

🪙 Compensation to developers for power they never delivered

🧮 Where Does the Money Go?

💰 Cost 📤 Who Pays 📥 Who Profits

£1.15bn curtailment (2025 est.) You, via your energy bill Wind & solar developers
£5bn grid upgrade backlog You, via taxes and levies National Grid contractors
CfD top-ups You, via market price protection Generators and investors
Planning + queue abuse You, via lost efficiency Speculators holding grid slots

🧟‍♂️ The “Zombie Queue” Problem

There are hundreds of gigawatts of so-called green projects holding connection agreements—but many are:

❌ Not built

❌ Not consented

❌ Not deliverable


These “zombie” projects block the queue and prevent real, shovel-ready schemes from connecting.

> Ofgem says only 20–30% of current queue projects will ever be delivered.
(Ofgem Gate 2 Consultation, 2024)

🚨 NESO’s Gate 2 Reform: Too Little, Too Late?

The new Gate 2 system is meant to fix the queue—but it’s:

🛑 Bureaucratic

🕳️ Loophole-filled

🧩 Ignores real infrastructure constraints


Even with Gate 2, there’s still no guarantee your money won’t be wasted.

🔥 Britain’s Green Grid Failure: The Cost to You

💷 Your bills rise because the system is broken

🧑‍🏭 Businesses shut down due to high industrial energy costs

🚫 Viable power is dumped, while blackout risk increases

🛑 You’re subsidising energy that never reaches your home

🧭 What Needs to Happen Now

✅ Link planning approvals to real grid availability
✅ Ban speculative holding of connection agreements
✅ Make curtailment costs fall on developers, not bill payers
✅ Create a Strategic Grid Authority that delivers, not delays
✅ Publish transparent data on curtailment, delays, and queue status

🗣️ Speak Out. You’re Paying for Failure.

The UK’s energy system is no longer about keeping the lights on — it’s become a profit machine for developers, investors, and quangos, while working families and small businesses foot the bill.

🔌 Stop the waste. Fix the grid. Demand accountability.

📚 References:

1. Ofgem, Gate 2 Methodology Final Decision, 2025


2. National Grid ESO, Connections Reform – TMO4+, 2024


3. Appendix G, Future Energy Scenarios – Transmission Constraints, 2025


4. Parliament Select Committee on Energy Security, Grid Reform Report, 2024


5. Standing Charge data – Ofgem price cap methodology


6. Curtailment cost projections calculated based on 20% CAGR from £800m baseline (2023)