The Clean Power Action Plan, updated in April 2025, sets out the government's ambitions to reach a clean power system by 20301. The plan follows the government's announcement of Great British Energy in July 2024, after the 2024 general election, and its plans for a "new era of clean electricity" in December 20241. The update is recorded in a House of Commons Library briefing pack on the future of the gas grid1.
"The Clean Power Action Plan (updated April 2025) sets out the government's ambitions to reach a clean power system by 2030"
The briefing sets out how homes are supplied today. The gas grid 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, most households in the UK (73%) said mains gas was their only central heating source1.
Gas demand in the UK was 687 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024, of which 37% was domestic, 26% was for electricity generation and 19% was for industry1. That was 37% lower than demand in 2010 and the lowest level since the early 1990s, driven by lower demand across sectors, in particular gas used in homes, which the briefing attributes to energy efficiency and higher prices leading to lower usage, and gas used for electricity generation, due to lower overall demand and increased use of renewables1.
| Gas demand in the UK, 2024 | Share |
|---|---|
| Domestic | 37% |
| Electricity generation | 26% |
| Industry | 19% |
| Total demand | 687 TWh |
In 2024, 30% of electricity was generated from gas, 51% from renewable sources such as solar power and wind power, and 14% from nuclear energy1. The briefing frames long-term reliance on gas for domestic energy around the energy trilemma, described as the need to balance access to affordable energy with both security and sustainability1. It 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 nor as secure as it previously was, and that as a fossil fuel it is not as sustainable as renewable alternatives1.
Why it matters for households
Mains gas remains the only central heating source for most UK households, at 73% in the 2021 census, so the future of the gas grid is the future of most homes' heating1. Homes accounted for 37% of the 687 TWh of gas demand in 2024, the largest single share reported1. The briefing links the fall in domestic gas use to energy efficiency and higher prices rather than to a change in heating source, so the reduction in demand does not by itself show homes have moved off gas1. For a household, the practical questions raised by a 2030 clean power ambition concern how a home is heated and how it is supplied with electricity, and whether the gas network serving it continues in its present form. The briefing sets out the government's ambition and the trilemma of affordability, security and sustainability, but does not state what will happen to individual connections1.
What happens next
The briefing records the Clean Power Action Plan as updated in April 2025, with the ambition of a clean power system by 20301. It also records Great British Energy, announced in July 2024, and the December 2024 plans for a "new era of clean electricity"1. No further dated steps for the gas grid, or for household connections to it, are set out in the briefing1.
Sources1 cited
- Debate on the future of the gas grid - House of Commons Library, commonslibrary.parliament.uk