The government published its plans for a "new era of clean electricity" in December 2024, following the July 2024 announcement of Great British Energy after that year's general election1. The Clean Power Action Plan, updated in April 2025, sets out the government's ambition to reach a clean power system by 20301. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is the department responsible for this area of policy1.
The gas grid that supplies most homes is a network of pipelines across Great Britain. Transmission networks carry gas at high pressures and speeds across the country, while distribution networks carry it at lower pressures and speeds to individual households1. In the 2021 census, 73% of UK households said mains gas was their only central heating source1.
Gas demand in the UK was 687 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024. Of that, 37% was domestic, 26% was for electricity generation and 19% was for industry1. Demand was 37% lower than in 2010 and at its lowest level since the early 1990s, which the House of Commons Library attributes to lower demand across sectors, particularly gas used in homes, driven by energy efficiency and higher prices leading to lower usage, and gas used for electricity generation, driven by lower overall demand and increased use of renewables1.
Electricity generation in 2024 broke down as follows1:
| Source | Share of generation |
|---|---|
| Renewables (such as solar and wind) | 51% |
| Gas | 30% |
| Nuclear | 14% |
The Library describes the energy trilemma as the need to balance access to affordable energy with both security and sustainability, and states that rising energy prices from gas, coupled with the decision to shift away from the Russian market, mean access to gas is no longer as affordable or as secure as it previously was1.
"The energy trilemma (the need to balance access to affordable energy with both security and sustainability) poses challenges for long-term reliance on gas for domestic energy."
Why it matters for households
Most UK homes heat with mains gas, so the future of the gas grid is a household question as much as an industrial one1. The figures show a grid under gradual change rather than sudden replacement: domestic use still accounted for the largest single share of gas demand in 2024, at 37%, even as total demand fell to its lowest level since the early 1990s1. For a home's energy independence, the practical picture is one of a heating system still tied to a piped fuel whose affordability and security the Library describes as diminished, set against an electricity system in which renewables supplied 51% of generation in 2024 and gas 30%1. Energy and buildings policy is devolved, so the rules that apply to a home depend on where it is; the Welsh Government's controls are one example of a separate settlement.
What happens next
The Clean Power Action Plan, updated in April 2025, sets out the ambition of a clean power system by 20301. No further dated steps for the gas grid itself are given in the briefing.
Sources1 cited
- Debate on the future of the gas grid - House of Commons Library, commonslibrary.parliament.uk