Neso agreed to spend £400k of public money on PR after near-blackout

Britain’s national grid operator signed contracts worth £400,000 for PR advice after a near-blackout incident. The National Energy System Operator (Neso) is under investigation over claims it mishandled the incident during a heatwave in June when whistleblowers and experts claim Britain came close to blackouts. Most commented 1 My partner died. Then I found a text: ‘Shall we have an affair?’ Sex & Relationships 238 comments 2 Harvey Elliott was England’s next great hope. Now he’s out of the picture Football 79 comments 3 I sleep with my dogs. A new study proves it’s better for me Pets 137 comments 4 500 arrested as French police use tear gas during student protests Europe 52 comments 5 Oliver Glasner: Premier League’s integrity at risk if Man City case drags on Football 34 comments Neso, which is government-owned, has disclosed that it agreed to spend £250,000 plus VAT with Burson and £85,806 plus VAT with iNHouse Communications to provide “strategic counsel and guidance” and “media support” in the wake of the incident. Top stories 1 Trump Jr’s ex-fiancée ‘asked donor to pay 0k credit card bill’ US politics 2 Trump’s war with Iran doubles the cost of his rides in ‘the Beast’ US politics 3 Starbucks ‘explores takeover’ of Chipotle Mexican Grill US business 4 ‘More lives will be lost’ unless UK takes action on wildfires Environment The agreements were signed after whistleblower allegations and scrutiny of Neso’s management of grid stability during the June heatwave. The Times revealed this year that an internal Neso report on the incident showed that the grid breached five separate safety limits , with control room whistleblowers saying that management was systematically failing to address concerns they were “flying blind” due to lack of data. Advertisement After repeated questions from Claire Coutinho, then shadow energy secretary, Neso and Ofgem convened two separate investigations, one into the grid’s management and another, conducted by the law firm Eversheds Sutherland, into whistleblower allegations that Neso had been dodging freedom of information law by failing to keep adequate records of its actions. Claire Coutinho JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images Coutinho, who obtained details of the PR contracts via a freedom of information request, said: “Our arms-length bodies should not be blowing £400,000 of taxpayers’ money on their own PR. Top stories 1 How Bob Marley became an unlikely beneficiary of the slave trade History 2 Mortgage rates dip after weeks of painful rises Mortgages 3 ‘My husband’s family want us to pay £500 towards his sister’s holiday’ Ask Times Money “Along with the Neso’s ill-advised and highly political support for Ed Miliband’s energy plans, it is clear that Neso needs a significant overhaul to focus on making sure the electricity grid is secure and affordable.” Neso said that it agreed to spend extra money with iNHouse Communications, which was already providing PR services, after the June incident due to an “unprecedented volume of inquiries”. It hired Burson Group after a competitive tender to provide support to its board and executive team. Why Britain pays more for power than almost any other developed nation Advertisement Burson specialises in communications and reputation management. Fintan Slye, Neso’s chief executive, has come under criticism for prejudging the outcome of inquiries by claiming allegations made by whistleblowers to Coutinho were false. Neso also initially denied that Craig Dyke, the director of operations, had said that whistleblowers were “letting the company down”, which was contradicted by a subsequent recording of his statement published by The Telegraph. Slye was paid nearly £1 million in salary and bonuses for the 2024-2025 financial year. Neso had originally planned to conduct the investigations in the June incident itself and to provide regular updates to its executive team. But after further political pressure, Ofgem was forced to take a supervisory role, require a technical investigation and commission a separate inquiry into whistleblower allegations, and Neso agreed that Eversheds would report to an independent panel. Ofgem has said in its terms of reference for the investigation there was “no disruption to customer supply” in June. The Neso initial report on the incident seen by The Times states, however, that Britain was abruptly forced to cease supplying electricity to the Netherlands in order to avoid instability on its own grid. Analysis commissioned by Neso and seen by The Times revealed that the grid is becoming harder and more expensive to manage thanks to the growing volume of weather-dependent power sources such as wind and solar, as well as variable demand created by smart meters and electric cars, and the connection of small-scale solar panels that do not send any data to the grid operator. Advertisement Will Britain miss out on making batteries, the grid’s salvation? To keep the grid stable, engineers must balance power supply and demand second by second. Unpredictability of suppliers and users makes this harder and requires the purchase of more spare capacity. The cost of balancing the grid is ultimately borne by electricity users. Neso has also been criticised in the past for over-optimistic assessments about the feasibility of the government’s 2030 clean power target, which requires 95 per cent of electricity generation to be “carbon-free” in the next four years. Until 2024, the grid operator was privately owned by National Grid. The Tory government announced plans to nationalise it in 2022, a process completed months after Labour won power. Neso said it “has a responsibility to provide accurate and timely information to government, industry, stakeholders, media and the wider public and, following unprecedented levels of enquiries, additional resource was secured to support Neso’s existing communications function and manage those demands”.