英国本周生效的新规则赋予国家电力系统运营商(Neso)权力，在电力供应短缺时以仅8小时通知的方式实施大规模轮流停电[1]。这是系统运营商首次可在不需要政府紧急权力的情况下进行大规模停电以稳定电网[1]。
根据新措施，停电可在指定地区断电超五分之一的用量，轮流停电持续三小时并分散全国进行[1]。医院和水处理厂等"保护地点"将豁免计划停电[1]。Neso将这一举措定位为"最后手段"，仅在"极端且不太可能的情况"下使用[1]。
该新规被视为防止电力系统完全崩溃的最后防线，旨在避免出现类似西班牙和葡萄牙去年夏季那样需要5至7天才能完全恢复的情况[1]。
A new regulatory framework has taken effect this week in Great Britain, permitting the National Energy System Operator (Neso) to implement large-scale rolling blackouts with merely eight hours' notice during electricity supply shortages [1]. This marks the first time the system operator can conduct widespread power cuts without requiring emergency powers from the government to stabilize the grid [1].
The emergency measure functions as a last resort to prevent complete collapse of the electricity system, a scenario that could necessitate recovery periods of five to seven days, similar to incidents experienced in Spain and Portugal during the previous summer [1]. Under the new rules, blackouts can reduce supply by more than one-fifth in designated areas, with rolling cuts lasting three hours and distributed across the country [1]. Critical facilities including hospitals and water treatment plants are exempted from the planned outages [1].
Neso has characterized this mechanism as a last resort, stating it would only be activated in "extreme and unlikely circumstances" [1]. The government's own emergency power code, which would require energy secretary approval, has never been deployed and remains available as a separate measure [1].