The power grid has an office in Warwick in the West Midlands (Pictures: SWNS)
National Grid has clarified why it leaves one of its offices ‘lit up like Blackpool illuminations’ overnight amid an energy crisis.
The UK’s power grid has warned of the possibility of hours-long blackouts this winter to cope with tightening energy supplies amid the invasion of Ukraine.
Yet the company’s multi-million-pound office in Warwick was photographed yesterday evening with the lights in nearly every office left on.
The pictures were snapped between 7.30-8pm, hours after the space publicly shut at 5:30pm.
Peter Kearns, 49, works at an office near National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) headquarters in Warwick Technology Park.
He said: ‘It boiled my blood when I noticed it — it’s rank hypocrisy at its best.
‘The place is lit up like Blackpool illuminations and National Grid of all people should be setting an example to the rest of the country — now more than ever.
The lights stayed on some two hours after the office was set to publically shut (Picture: SWNS)
One worker nearby accused the company of ‘hypocrisy’ for leaving the lights switched on (Picture: SWNS)
Many of the visible officers were empty (Picture: SWNS)
‘Other offices make sure their lights are off when they leave for the day, so they should do the same, especially when they are talking about winter blackouts.
‘They are telling us all how to prevent the National Grid from collapsing — while seemingly doing nothing at all to stop that happening themselves.
‘I just think it’s outrageous that they are failing to heed their own advice and it just feels like a slap in the face for the rest of us when our bills remain obscenely high.’
A National Grid spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘Our Warwick office houses critical national infrastructure (operational control rooms for gas and electricity) where engineers work in shift patterns 24/7 to keep the lights on and gas flowing across the United Kingdom.
‘The building has many energy conserving measures including sensor-controlled lighting which turns itself off automatically if a room is empty.’
National Grid ESO, which transports electricity, issued an unusually early winter outlook report last week urging Brits to brace for three-hour-long blackouts
The office is staffed 24/7, National Grid said (Picture: SWNS)
While the UK produces substantial amounts of its own gas, the grid said: ‘It is clear that the cessation of flows of gas into Europe could have knock-on impacts, including very high prices.’
Gas is one of the main ways the UK produces electricity, with gas-fired power stations generating more than 40% of the nation’s electricity.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘means that overall, this is likely to be a challenging winter for energy supply throughout Europe’ as gas shortages loom.
Though ‘unlikely’, with energy supplies unpredictable and increasingly expensive, National Grid said there might be ‘supply interruptions to customers for short periods’ in the months ahead.
This would be the first time the lights would go out across millions of homes in the UK since the 1970s during the miners’ strikes and the oil crisis.
A government spokesperson added: ‘The UK has a secure and diverse energy system.
‘To strengthen this position further, we have put plans in place to secure supply and National Grid, working alongside energy suppliers and Ofgem, will launch a voluntary service to reward users who reduce demand at peak times.’
Metro.co.uk contacted National Grid ESO for comment.
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‘It’s rank hypocrisy at its best.’