Ofgem proposes fee to clear speculative data centres from grid queue

Ofgem has opened a consultation to clear speculative data centre projects out of the grid connections queue, freeing up capacity that fleets electrifying vans and trucks are also queuing for. Demand connection applications rocketed from 41GW to 125GW in under a year, with data centres accounting for at least 80GW of that surge, and every gigawatt tied up by a project that never gets built is a gigawatt not available for depot charging infrastructure.

The headline proposal is a Data Centre Commitment Fee, payable when a developer accepts a connection offer and refunded at energisation but forfeited if the project pulls out early - priced at £237,500 to £712,500 per megawatt, roughly 2.5% to 7.5% of average project costs. Ofgem is also consulting on new queue milestones forcing developers to show financial capability and procurement activity before they can keep their place, targeting around 73GW of data centre demand. Wider reform efforts have already accelerated 7.8GW of projects by an average of six years, Ofgem says, and this is the next tranche. The consultation runs until 16 September 2026.

Why this matters: if the queue genuinely thins out, grid connection timelines for depot chargers should shorten and pricing pressure eases - but that only materialises if the fee actually deters phantom bids rather than just becoming a cost of doing business for well-funded hyperscalers. Fleets with connection applications stuck behind data centre projects should watch the September deadline and flag delays to their DNO now.