Ofgem has proposed measured to tackle speculative data centre projects clogging up the UK’s electricity connections queue. The main proposal involves slapping developers with an upfront “data centre commitment fee” worth up to tens of millions for some of the largest ones. Ofgem said the charge would be payable by large data centre developments when accepting a connection offer. The proposals follow a sharp increase in demand connection applications – largely from data centre projects – with contracted demand offers increasing from 41GW to 125GW between November 2024 and June 2025, Ofgem said. The consultation forms a key part of Ofgem, Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Network Energy System Operator (NESO’s) wider demand connections reform programme.