National Grid faces Ofgem probe over electricity forecasts

Ofgem said on Tuesday morning that it was investigating National Grid Electricity Transmission’s demand forecasting to determine whether it "breached rules relating to its duty to operate the system in an economic and efficient manner".

"This includes but is not limited to producing and publishing appropriate forecasts of demand. The opening of this investigation does not imply that we have made any findings about non-compliance by NGET," Ofgem said.

Ofgem said the reason it launched the probe was not due any complaint from an energy customer but that it came to the regulator's attention as part of routine monitoring.

NGET, which is owned by National Grid, operates the electricity transmission network in England, Scotland and Wales, ensuring that supply and demand are balanced in real-time and provides demand forecasts to the UK electricity market.

Its forecasts help electricity suppliers to make efficient operational and investment decisions.