LONDON, March 12, 2026, 20:07 GMT
- National Grid shares closed at 1,368 pence, up about 2.5%, while the FTSE 100 fell roughly 0.4%. 1
- Ofgem said National Grid Electricity Transmission agreed to pay £20 million into a voluntary redress scheme over historic failures at the Harker substation in Cumbria. 2
- The company last week set out at least £70 billion of capital spending to FY31 and lifted its FY27 underlying earnings-per-share growth view to 13%-15%. 3
National Grid plc shares rose 2.5% to 1,368 pence on Thursday, beating a falling FTSE 100, as investors looked past a fresh UK regulatory hit and kept buying utility stocks. The move came a day after Ofgem said National Grid Electricity Transmission would pay £20 million into a redress scheme over historic failings at the Harker substation in Cumbria. 1
That resilience matters now because the market appears to view the Ofgem payment as small next to National Grid’s bigger growth reset. In a March 2 filing, the company extended its five-year financial framework to FY31, set out at least £70 billion of capital investment and said it expected underlying earnings per share, or EPS, to grow 13%-15% in FY27 as it moves into RIIO-T3, Ofgem’s new five-year regime for setting transmission returns and spending. 3
Thursday’s rise also tracked a wider shift into utilities. UK stocks fell for a second straight day as oil surged back toward $100 a barrel, inflation fears hardened and traders cut back bets on Bank of England rate cuts, while banks were hit hard. 4
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said the longer the disruption in energy markets lasted, the bigger the knock-on effect on energy prices, inflation and interest rates. That helped explain why regulated network names found buyers even as the broader market weakened. 4
Ofgem said National Grid’s transmission unit accepted failures between November 2016 and November 2021 to properly monitor, maintain and repair some civil assets at Harker and to plan remediation work, lapses that delayed some local generation connections. Cathryn Scott, Ofgem’s regulatory director for market oversight and enforcement, said “Delays and asset failures risk reliability issues.” 2
National Grid, though, has spent the past 10 days trying to pull investors back to scale. In its March 2 filing, Chief Executive Zoë Yujnovich said the group would pursue “disciplined execution, at scale” as it lifted planned spending to at least £70 billion by FY31, with roughly £31 billion earmarked for UK electricity transmission and £9 billion for UK distribution. 3
That plan lands just as Britain is trying to unclog its electricity connection queue. The government said on Wednesday it would consult on powers to curb speculative requests and move strategically important projects such as AI data centres, EV charging hubs and industrial sites further up the line, a shift that could sharpen focus on National Grid’s build-out. 5
National Grid was not alone. SSE rose 3.2% on Thursday, Severn Trent gained 2.7% and United Utilities added 2.3%, pointing to sector buying rather than a company-specific burst of risk appetite. 6
Even after the move, National Grid remained about 4% below its 52-week high of 1,429 pence, and turnover of about 6.7 million shares was lighter than its 50-day average. That peak was set on March 2, when the company unveiled the upgraded framework. 1
The risk is that the investment case can still turn quickly. Goldman Sachs on Thursday pushed back its Bank of England rate-cut call again because higher energy prices could keep inflation sticky, while Ofgem’s latest enforcement action underlined that regulatory and operational slips can still bruise a utility asking investors to back years of heavy spending. 7
