London, May 9, 2026, 19:04 (BST)
- National Grid’s distribution arm has published its latest Network Development Plan, a 10-year view of how it expects local electricity networks to handle demand growth and new power connections.
- The plan sits inside a digital map showing available network “headroom,” constraints and possible fixes, including flexibility services, conventional reinforcement and operational changes. National Grid
- National Grid shares closed 0.33% higher on Friday, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, leaving investors focused on the company’s full-year results due on May 14.
National Grid plc’s distribution business has put a new 2026 network plan into public view, sharpening attention on one of the UK power market’s biggest constraints: where new demand, renewables and battery projects can actually connect.
That matters now because National Grid is trying to turn grid bottlenecks into a regulated growth story. Its shares rose only slightly on Friday, and the update comes days before full-year results that will test how far investors are willing to look past near-term costs in the U.S. business.
The Network Development Plan, or NDP, is National Grid Electricity Distribution’s 10-year plan for how it will develop the local power network. Distribution means the lower-voltage wires that carry electricity from the national transmission system to homes, businesses and local projects. National Grid says the plans are required under its electricity distribution licence and must be published every two years.
The new map gives users a single view of existing and contracted capacity, known in the industry as headroom, across bulk supply, primary and distribution substations. It also shows constraints and possible solutions over the next decade. Flexibility services, in plain terms, mean paying users or operators to shift demand or supply so the grid can avoid or delay heavier construction.
National Grid said the move brings planning outputs that were once in static reports into a “fully interactive digital experience.” Oliver Spink, head of system planning at National Grid DSO, said the plan supports “unlocking economic growth” through more transparent and responsive network planning. Enlit World
The operating update lands against a bigger capital-spending push. In March, National Grid said it would invest at least 70 billion pounds through fiscal 2031 and accepted the RIIO-T3 framework, the UK price-control regime that sets allowed revenue and returns for electricity transmission from 2026 to 2031. The company said the plan would lift group asset growth to around 10% a year and support underlying earnings-per-share growth of 8% to 10% from a fiscal 2026 base.
There is a nearer-term snag. National Grid said in April that performance for the year ended March 31 was in line with expectations, but it flagged about a 1 pence-per-share hit to underlying earnings from customer refund charges tied to a U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission judgment on New England Transmission and slightly higher U.S. storm costs.
Morningstar analyst Tancrede Fulop wrote that those one-off items would cut fiscal 2026 earnings per share by about 1.3%, while the rest of the company’s performance remained consistent with prior guidance. He kept a 1,440 pence fair-value estimate and described the shares as moderately undervalued.
The competitive backdrop is mixed. SSE and Centrica are also exposed to the UK energy shift, but National Grid’s case is more tied to regulated wires than power generation or retail supply. David Harrison, fund manager and head of sustainability at Rathbones Asset Management, said National Grid was in a strong position to make long-term capital spending decisions and that its assets looked attractive.
But the trade is not risk-free. Grid investment is capital-heavy, so higher borrowing costs, inflation, construction delays, regulatory resets or weaker-than-expected connection demand could alter returns. Fulop warned in a recent Morningstar report that investors should remember “it’s not a simple one-way trade.” Morningstar
The next hard checkpoint is May 14, when Chief Executive Zoë Yujnovich and Chief Financial Officer Andy Agg are due to brief investors after the results. The numbers will matter, but so will the tone: National Grid has to show that public grid data, faster planning and bigger regulated spending can translate into earnings without pushing customer bills or balance-sheet strain too far.
