A more useful grid queue needs a link between demand and work

Ofgem is consulting on better connections data, not offering a new connection route or a capacity allocation. Its proposals include a demand capacity register and a distribution works report, improvements to existing connections and network-reinforcement datasets, and work on interoperability, standards, quality, publication and governance. These are proposals on which Ofgem is seeking views; it says policy changes would be shaped before new regulatory requirements are drafted and rolled out in early 2027. Ofgem, L004–L009

The consequential question for a developer is not simply whether more records become public. It is whether records about demand, connection status and network work can be compared without mistaking one for another. That is an analytical test of the proposed datasets, not a claim about fields the consultation has already specified in the excerpt available here. Ofgem’s decision to discuss both new datasets and interoperability makes the test worth applying. Ofgem, L007

Proposed dataset	Decision-useful comparison to test	What publication alone cannot establish
Demand capacity register	Whether demand entries can be read against connection status and a clear update date	That recorded demand can be connected or that network capacity is available
Distribution works report	Whether a work item can be related to a connection and its reported stage	That the work is complete, sufficient, or has a confirmed delivery date

These are tests for the consultation, not fields Ofgem has already committed to. Ofgem, L007

A demand record could help a developer understand competing requests only if its scope and status are clear. A distribution-works record could help them assess a possible dependency only if they can tell which work matters to which connection, and whether the reported work is planned or further along. Those are questions to put to the proposal, not descriptions of fields confirmed by the supplied source. Publishing two datasets that cannot be reconciled might increase the volume of information while leaving the practical decision—whether one project faces a different delivery dependency from another—largely unchanged. Conversely, consistent definitions and a way to relate records could make an apparent queue comparison more meaningful. This is an inference from the combination of datasets and cross-cutting issues Ofgem proposes to examine, not a reported result. Ofgem, L007

That distinction changes how to use the consultation. Rather than asking only for a larger queue list, a developer could ask how each proposed publication would define its population, record changes in status, disclose update timing and permit a connection record to be related to relevant works. They could also ask how conflicting records would be corrected. These are suggested tests for decision-usefulness, not existing Ofgem requirements. The proposal’s explicit attention to data quality, standards and governance makes such questions pertinent. Ofgem, L007

There is a firm limit. Comparable records might expose an uncertainty or dependency; their publication would not itself remove a network constraint, complete reinforcement or guarantee a connection. The supplied consultation-page excerpt does not establish the proposed fields, linkage method, coverage, update frequency, any project’s queue position or the delivery date of any work. Those details cannot be inferred from the dataset names. A developer should therefore treat improved transparency as a way to frame a more precise question about a connection, not as evidence that the answer has already become favourable.

Ofgem invites responses from connecting customers, including project developers, as well as network companies and other data users. The response deadline is the end of 6 November 2026. For a developer, the useful response is a concrete example of a comparison they need to make—and which definitions, links and status information would be necessary to make it safely. Ofgem has invited views on those cross-cutting data issues, but this excerpt does not show whether the eventual datasets will meet that test. Ofgem, L007, L010–L020