Energy firm accused of ‘obstructing public right to know’ after watchdog ruling

Bosses at an energy firm have been accused of “obstructing the public’s right to information” after the Information Commissioner ruled it had breached regulations.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said that Scottish Power Energy Networks (Spen) appeared to be seeking to “obfuscate” concerns about a major power project.

It came after a member of the campaign group Action Against Pylons had made a request for information relating to the proposed, new, 58-mile, overhead power line known as the Cross Border Connection.

While Spen responded to the request, the ICO ruled the public authority had breached its duty to make environmental information available.

In addition, the ICO said Spen had breached a regulation concerning the refusal to disclose information.

The firm, a subsidiary of Scottish Power which owns and operates the electricity transmission and distribution network in central and southern Scotland, as well as some parts of England and Wales – has been ordered to do the whole request again, this time complying with the relevant regulations.

It comes after Spen was asked to give details of environmental experts it said it had consulted in drawing up options for the new overhead power line, along with details of dealings with local residents.

The Cross Border Connection proposes a new power line, which will run from a new substation to the north of Galashiels, to a point at the Scotland-England border, south of Newcastleton.

With electricity demand set to double in Britain by 2050, Spen says projects like it are needed to expand capacity on the grid, supporting new homes, businesses, clean heat and transport.

However, ICO said that Spen’s response to a request for information on the project was “insufficient”, and “against the spirit” of regulations which provide public access to environmental information.

The ICO ruling added that not only did Spen “fail to confirm or deny whether any relevant information is held”, the public authority also “appear to be trying to obfuscate the issue”.

It has now given the company 30 days from September 25 to make a fresh response to the request.

But Edward Kellow, chair of Action Against Pylons, said Spen’s response was “indicative of a systematic policy of obstructing the public’s right to information”.

Insisting the matter was “not down to single human error”, he stated: “If Spen is not transparent and does not act lawfully in the formal setting of these EIRs (Environmental Information Regulations), the public can have no confidence that they are acting lawfully in their wider engagements.”

Meanwhile, Rory Steel, chair of Lauderdale Preservation Group, added: “Spen hopes to transform the Scottish Borders from an ancient, rural landscape to one of sprawling, light industry with powerlines, substations, giant battery farms, windfarms and solar installations.”

But he added: “Following this damning judgement by the ICO, we hope that Spen will now be honest and transparent in their dealings with the communities potentially affected.”

Spen has already said it has received almost 2,000 submissions from “the local community and beyond”, which it says will help shape its proposals for the new route as part of its first round of consultation on the Cross Border Connection.

Marlene Marimbe, environmental planner at SP Energy Networks, said: “The Cross Border Connection is part of the biggest rewiring of the electricity grid since it was first built.

“Delivering this project will strengthen energy security and help increase the resilience of the electricity network all across the country as we move towards an all-electric future.

“The next step for us is to carry out extensive and detailed investigation, including a full environmental impact assessment.

“This will enable us to evolve the proposals and move from a preferred route to a specific alignment with exact information on tower positions, access routes and how we will go about constructing the scheme, if consented.

“We are on-track to share the detailed proposals with the community at a further round of community consultation in late 2026.”

An SP Energy Networks spokesperson said: “We note the findings of the ICO, and we will fully address the requirements of the decision letter.

“The Cross Border Connection is part of the biggest rewiring of the electricity grid since it was first built. Delivering this project will strengthen energy security and help increase the resilience of the electricity network across the country as we move towards an all-electric future.

“Spen take its legal and licence obligations extremely seriously and have had significant engagement with local communities under one of the most extensive public consultation programmes ever undertaken, both in autumn 2024 and spring 2025, with further sessions planned both by us and our project partner, National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), for 2026.

“We published our pre-application consultation (PAC) report just last week which details the significant level of engagement with the local community including 700 people attending local community drop-in sessions, and hundreds more at community council meetings right across the Scottish Borders.

“Almost 2,000 submissions have helped shape our proposals for the route which has already been revised to take it further away from key heritage and tourist sites and other sensitive areas.

“We would be happy to meet with any local groups to address any further concerns they may have as our plans are developed.”