Ofgem must oversee investment in workforce resilience not just infrastructure

Ofgem has today announced its local electricity networks price controls, designed to encourage investment in the grid so it can cope with future demands.

The announcement however does not make any provision to address the problems workers are facing such as long hours and fatigue.

Sue Ferns, Senior Deputy General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“Ofgem’s recognition of the need for more concerted action by networks to reach Net Zero is welcome. However, there are significant workforce barriers to achieving these goals and no plan to overcome them.

“This sector already has challenges relating to long hours and fatigue, and making the networks more complex to operate will only exacerbate that problem. There is no scope for further workforce efficiencies.

“As well as investment in infrastructure, Ofgem must also oversee a period of investment in workforce resilience or it will find it has a load of new kit but without the human capability to run it.”