Energy Team of the Year – Power Cut Preventers
Innovation and teamwork which have made outstanding contributions to the energy industry, led to three trophies for UK Power Networks this week.
At the national Energy Awards, which celebrate the best innovations, campaigns and service developments across the energy sector, the company was named Data Centre Development of the Year for its SHIELD initiative and won two Energy Team of the Year awards for its Consumer Vulnerability Team and Power Cut Preventers.
Data Centre Development of the Year – SHIELD
SHIELD, a project to trial mini data centres to help heat people’s homes, was recognised for innovative work integrating solar power, battery storage and waste heat, to deliver low-cost, low-carbon heating solutions to those most in need.
Judges said:
“This is a highly original and socially impactful project that reframes the role of data centre infrastructure by utilising its waste heat for low-income households, as well as integrating solar PV and battery storage. Its community focused funding model removes upfront cost barriers; while the approach brings carbon, cost and thermal comfort benefits. It offers potential for positive environmental and social benefits at scale.”
The Power Cut Preventers team, consisting of electricity engineers, cable jointers, and control engineers, were commended for their proactive work to detect low voltage faults and using data-driven technology to enhance network reliability and customer service.
Judges commented:
“This team clearly demonstrated grid transformation, measurable operational benefit and practical innovation delivered at scale. They are actively changing how faults are identified, prevented and resolved before they escalate into outages, demonstrating improvements to system-level efficiency and resilience. Strong teamwork has been key, backed by digital monitoring and targeted interventions.”
Energy Team of the Year – Consumer Vulnerability Team
UK Power Networks’ Consumer Vulnerability Team combine data, partnerships and customer feedback to make a tangible difference to the lives of thousands of vulnerable customers.
Judges added:
“An outstanding, small but highly specialist team, who deliver exceptional customer and industry support, with clear, measurable impact. The team demonstrated superb strategy, clarity, operational maturity and deep community engagement. Their achievements are impressive, and their broader influence shows great leadership.”
In addition to three wins, UK Power Networks was shortlisted twice in Digital Development of the Year categories for its Spotlight project, and its preventative work on power cuts with Volt Guard.