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Governance scenario

DNO Data Sharing Dispute

A DNO refuses to publish detailed LTDS feeder capacity data, citing cybersecurity concerns. Connection applicants cannot assess queue positions. Ofgem must decide whether to mandate publication.

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This is a fictionalised teaching scenario grounded in real institutional roles, published reforms, and current public-source context.

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Work through the decision path below. Each choice changes the route, the institutional trade-offs, and the metrics the scenario tracks.

DNO Data Sharing Dispute

Step 1 of 2

NGED

A refusal lands on your desk

Midlands Power Distribution has paused publication of detailed feeder capacity data in their LTDS. Their statement reads: 'We will not publish substation-level capacity until the National Cyber Security Centre confirms this does not create infrastructure risk.' NESO needs the data for system planning. Generators in the connection queue want visibility. Ofgem has received formal complaints.

What is at stake

  • -If you force publication without security review, you may expose critical infrastructure.
  • -If you allow indefinite refusal, you undermine RIIO-ED2 transparency commitments.
  • -If your response is ambiguous, both sides will escalate.

As Ofgem, what is your immediate response?

Current Metrics

System Security70
Affordability60
Net Zero Progress52
Customer Protection65
Operational Efficiency62
Stakeholder Trust62

Actors Involved

OfgemNGEDNESOGenerators

Regulatory Context

RIIO-ED2 Output 3.2: Network Visibility

Governance relationship map

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Operating loop breadcrumb

Governance→Planning→Operations→Outcomes→Evidence

Current focus: Rules and accountability

Legend

Governance and policy

Rules, remits, and accountability

Planning and investment

Connections, queue progression, and delivery planning

System operations

Real-time balancing and network operation

Market and consumer outcomes

Prices, settlement, reliability, affordability

Evidence and learning

Telemetry, assurance, and continuous improvement

Glossary

  • Dispatch

    Real-time instructions to increase or reduce generation or demand so supply stays in balance.

  • Balancing

    The continuous process of matching electricity supply to demand while maintaining system frequency.

  • Constraint

    A technical limit in the network that restricts how power can flow under current conditions.

  • Industry code

    A formal rulebook that defines obligations and processes for specific market and network activities.

  • Connection agreement

    The formal agreement setting technical and milestone conditions for connecting a project to the network.

  • Settlement

    The process that turns metered and contractual positions into final market cashflow outcomes.

  • Conformance gate

    A quality checkpoint that verifies whether data or implementation meets agreed standards.

  • LTDS

    Long Term Development Statement publication requirements for distribution network data.

Guided tour

Step 1 of 8

Who sets the rules?

Start with governance: policy direction, regulatory oversight, licences, and code obligations.

Why it matters: Newcomers should first understand where authority sits before interpreting operational decisions.

Open Ofgem licence and code guidance

Preparing system graph…

Use this map to keep scenario decisions anchored to policy, coordination, operational delivery, and evidence feedback relationships.

Sources and methodology

How this page was assembled

Scenarios are designed as regulator-safe teaching runs. Institutional roles, programme context, and cited reform pathways stay grounded in current public sources, while event details and numbers inside the run remain fictionalised unless explicitly evidenced elsewhere. This scenario is framed against RIIO-ED2 Output 3.2: Network Visibility.

Last reviewed 18 March 2026

Primary sources

Ransford's Notes