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The UK government has agreed to take control of the National Grid unit tasked with keeping the lights on in a £630m deal that takes effect from next month.
Great Britain’s electricity system operator (ESO) will be transferred into public ownership to create a new national energy system operator (Neso), which will also oversee the gas system.
The government hopes that by bringing together the separate units involved in planning Great Britain’s electricity and gas networks under one publicly owned company, the system operator can adopt a more strategic approach to achieving a net zero energy system by 2030.

Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said Neso would have “a huge role to play in delivering our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower” by providing “impartial, whole-system expertise on building a network that is fit for the future”.
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The decision to remove the ESO from National Grid’s ownership was made under the previous Conservative government because of concerns over a conflict of interest relating to the operator’s role providing strategic advice to government officials. The deal was expected to take place in July this year but it was delayed until 1 October because of the general election.
The FTSE 100 company will continue to own and run most of the transmission cables and electricity distribution grids across the country, and will also continue developing the high-voltage cables linking the nation’s grid to other countries.