Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Ofgem's readiness criteria for the UK data centre sector on growth in that sector.

The Government has worked closely with Ofgem and NESO on major reforms to the grid connections process. These reforms are expected to deprioritise up to 500GW of excess generation and storage capacity from the connections queue, freeing up capacity for viable connection customers across GB, such as data centres. The ‘readiness’ criteria will ensure that limited grid capacity is allocated fairly, prioritising connection offers for projects, including data centres, that are demonstrably ready to deliver – helping maximise efficient use of the network. The AI Energy Council will also consider grid connections opportunities for growth in the data centre sector.