§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
In view of the sudden power cuts in London in August, what contingency measures will be taken to prevent more power cuts this winter. [HL4915]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleFollowing the power cuts in London and the Midlands the Department of Trade and Industry, with the industry regulator, Ofgem, have launched investigations into the cause of the failures. The Government believe it would be inappropriate to comment further whilst these investigations are still under way.
NGT's Group Chief Executive, Roger Urwin, assured the Energy Minister, Stephen Timms, in a letter of 15 September, that National Grid had put in hand appropriate steps to avoid a recurrence.
More generally government is working with Ofgem, through the Joint Energy Security of Supply working group (JESS) to monitor energy security, specifically taking a forward look and making the conclusions publicly available—allowing market participants to react in good time.