Millions of households could face THREE hour rolling blackouts with little notice under new grid rules

MILLIONS of households could reportedly be hit with power cuts at short notice under new grid rules. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) will now be able to call for rotating blackouts much more easily and quickly if power supplies are running low, according to The Guardian. The system operator had raised the alarm twice over electricity supplies in the last week of June because of the heatwave. The new rules were rolled out quietly by Neso and come into effect this week. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! It’s hoped the measures will help prevent a total power system collapse if Britain’s supplies are too low. Under the changes, the system operator could call for homes and businesses within a certain area to be disconnected with just eight hours’ notice. The blackouts would last for up to three hours and rotate across the country to limit the impact on homes and businesses. ‘Protected sites’ including hospitals, water treatment works and sites of national security interests would be exempt from any planned power cuts. The measure would help cut each block’s electricity use by more than a fifth. A spokesperson for Neso told The Guardian it was a “last-resort contingency measure” that would be used only in “the most extreme and unlikely circumstances”. Most read in Money It said it would only happen “after all other available options have been exhausted, helping protect the wider electricity system”. Last year, an unprecedented electricity blackout left Spain and Portugal without power for several hours. It caused widespread chaos, cutting internet and telephone connections and halting transport links. Some areas were left without power for 16 hours. Neso will be hoping to avoid a similar situation in the UK. The Government does have emergency powers to deal with prolonged electricity disruptions, but Neso said its new rules would provide a quicker response. The system operator does have other measures it can use first before resorting to widespread blackouts. For example, it can disconnect large industrial users or lower the voltage of regional power grids. Lowering the voltage means kettles might take much longer to boil and phones take longer to charge. Comment now