A post shared on Facebook claims millions of households in the UK have been asked to switch off their power in order to conserve energy in order to hit the target of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband.  

Verdict: False

Although the article by The Telegraph is genuine, it does not provide evidence to corroborate its headline.

Fact Check: 

Miliband recently stated that the shift to renewable energy is “unstoppable” and cannot be thwarted by any government or country, according to The Guardian. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement once he takes office in January, the outlet reported.

A Facebook post claims millions of UK households have been asked to shut off power. The Facebook post shows an image of an article from The Telegraph that features an image of Miliband.

The headline reads, “Millions more households to be asked to switch off to hit Ed Miliband’s net zero targets.” Underneath this is a sub headline that reads, “Energy Secretary’s decarbonisation plans will require ‘Herculean effort’ on every front.”

The claim is inaccurate, however. The post’s caption reads, “Rolling blackouts are part of the Net Zero plan. That’s progress. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

The claim was originally posted by The Telegraph. It misinterprets a report from the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which does not mention power cuts. On page 46, it says its main two pathways to clean energy involve “increased electrification of heat, transport and industry – a reductionist approach that slows down electrification to lessen the challenge of clean power would undermine the core objectives of cutting energy costs and supporting net zero.” 

The body of the article from The Telegraph does not provide evidence that Miliband or NESO has advocated for switching off power entirely. The third paragraph elaborates saying, “Advice published by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) said a quadrupling of so-called flexibility is needed in order to ensure the grid can operate without the use of fossil fuels.”

Reuters also debunked this claim. (RELATED: Did Ed Miliband Write That Great British Energy Will Be ‘The Envy Of The World’?)

Check Your Fact reached out to spokespeople for NESO, The Telegraph and Miliband for comment.