Energy suppliers have warned that tech bosses are scrambling to connect data centres to Britain’s gas network because of long delays getting onto the electricity grid, as operators rush to support Artificial Intelligence workloads. The growing reliance on gas-fired power for these sites, they say, threatens progress toward a 2030 clean electricity goal, setting up a clash between rapid digital infrastructure growth and decarbonisation timelines.
In correspondence cited by the article, Ed Miliband was told by Future Energy Networks that a surge in interest in gas connections is being driven by grid wait times of up to 15 years. The letter underscores industry frustration with connection backlogs and highlights the risk that gas becomes a stopgap for new data centre capacity at precisely the moment policymakers want the system to get cleaner.
The warnings arrive amid a wider acceleration of data centre projects and a push to deploy Artificial Intelligence, which is amplifying near-term power needs. Suppliers argue that energy planning should reflect the strategic importance of Artificial Intelligence to the UK economy while also safeguarding clean power ambitions. The trend toward gas hookups, however, raises concerns about how quickly low-carbon generation and grid capacity can be delivered, and whether the country can reconcile fast data centre expansion with its 2030 clean electricity target.
