“Pay To Stay”: Ofgem’s Plan To Cull The Data Centre Connection Queue

On 29 July 2026, Ofgem finally set out its plans to curate the data centre connection queue in the Curate – Demand Connections Reform Consultation (the Consultation). Ofgem’s stated goal is to disincentivise non-viable and speculative data centre projects from joining or remaining in the demand connections queue, while at the same time seeking to ensure viable projects are not unduly impacted. With its two main proposals being the introduction of a very substantial upfront commitment fee and stringent new queue management milestones for data centres, it is likely that Ofgem’s curation will succeed – and become an outright cull. It remains to be seen, however, whether viable data centre projects will be able to survive this test.