Energy supply fears as British Gas owner issues warning over ‘concerningly low’ levels due to extreme cold & high prices

BRITISH Gas owners have reveled energy fears amid "concerningly low levels" of supplies.

Brits have been warned over the "perfect storm" after sub-zero figures, high gas prices and increased demand have left gas storage dwindling.

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It comes as unseasonably cold conditions hit at the same time as Russian gas pipeline supplies ceased through Ukraine on December 31 last year

This has seen UK storage sites 26 per cent lower, as of January 9 2025, than last year at the same time.

These statistics mean the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.

Chris O’Shea, Group CEO at Centrica said: "The UK’s gas storage levels are concerningly low.

"We are an outlier from the rest of Europe when it comes to the role of storage in our energy system and we are now seeing the implications of that.”

He added: "Energy storage is what keeps the lights on and homes warm when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, so investing in our storage capacity makes perfect economic sense.

"We need to think of storage as a very valuable insurance policy."

Centrica revealed gas storage was already lower than usual due to temperature plummeting quicker than average this December.

Other Europe-based companies are reportedly feeling the same squeeze heading into the new year.

By January 7 last year, European storage was only reaching 69 percent capacity, as opposed to 84 per cent the previous year.

Meanwhile, Rough, the country’s largest gas storage site is 20 per cent lower than at the same time last year.

Rough has supplied almost 420 million cubic meters (mcm) through the winter which is equivalent to heating three million homes every day. 

The UK’s total gas storage capacity is around 10 per cent or less than in France, Germany, or the Netherlands, according to Centrica.

A No10 spokesperson said: "We are confident we will have a sufficient gas supply and electricity capacity to meet demand this winter due to our diverse and resilient energy system.

"We speak regularly with the national energy system operator to monitor our energy security and ensure they have all tools at their disposal if needed to secure our supply.

"Our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 will replace our dependency on unstable fossil fuel markets with clean homegrown power controlled in Britain, which is the best way to protect bill per payers and boost our energy independence."

Chris O’Shea further explained how Centrica are ready to invest an eye-watering £2billion into boosting their Rough storage facility.

The Group CEO said the company need the cap and floor model announced for long duration energy storage for Rough.

"With that, we can create thousands of new jobs in construction and safeguard a vital national asset," he continued.

"Without that, UK consumers will continue to have higher energy bills than is necessary.”

Research carried out by Centrica and FTI suggest Rough could have saved consumers up to £5.2bn over the past two winters.

And, it could save consumers £1billion a year or more by 2050 if converted to hydrogen storage.