Blackouts this winter are “extremely unlikely” and government plans to ensure the UK has enough energy mean people will be able to enjoy Christmas, a senior cabinet minister has said.
Nadhim Zahawi, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said it was “only right that we plan for every scenario,” but confirmed a £14m public information campaign advising people how to conserve energy would not go ahead.
He said details were available on the gov.uk website and that many energy providers were giving customers advice directly.
The worst-case scenario this winter was laid out earlier this week by the National Grid electricity system operator. It said households and businesses might face planned three-hour outages to ensure that the grid did not collapse.
Ministers are keen to avoid any comparisons with the 1970s, when planned blackouts hit the UK in response to miners’ strikes and the oil crisis.
Zahawi said the UK had the second largest liquefied natural gas processing infrastructure in Europe and that domestic production of gas had risen by 26% this year.
Nevertheless, he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: “We have war on our continent, we have interconnectors with our neighbours. In the extremely unlikely event of several things having to align in a bad way, that’s what National Grid was talking about. I don’t believe that will happen.”
Zahawi added it would have to coincide with “a very cold snap” and that he thought it was “extremely unlikely” any blackouts would occur.
He said: “I am confident the [energy] resilience is there, that people can enjoy their Christmas.”
