The Iberian Peninsula blackout in April 2025 left millions without heat, light and power. What began as a localised disruption in Spain, soon kicked off a cascade of failures which saw a system-wide power outage that reached Portugal in a matter of minutes.

The two countries were effectively disconnected from the European energy grid, leaving public transport paralysed, hospitals having to switch to emergency generators and telecom networks out of action.

Communication was poor – vulnerable consumers relying on medical equipment or anyone who couldn’t travel or reach friends and family, had no idea when power would be restored or what had caused it.

After nearly 16 hours, the return of power revealed the extent of the crisis: public authorities unprepared, emergency response centres overwhelmed and communication strategies not enacted.

But this was more than just an inconvenient disruption. The blackout eroded trust in the reliability of essential services and the institutions responsible for them, and made the risks from well documented, systemic vulnerabilities in Europe’s energy grid system all too real.

Euroconsumers and its members OCU in Spain and DECOPROteste in Portugal are making sure that the human impact of failing to tackle these systemic issues is understood by decision-makers in Europe. 

As the Energy Grid Package is presented, this blog recaps our actions to date and makes the case for putting consumers at the centre of plans to strengthen the energy system.   

Euroconsumers, OCU and DECOPROteste action for blackout recovery and energy grid resilience

In the immediate aftermath of the blackout, Euroconsumers and its members were quick to offer immediate assistance and to speak up for consumers. On April 29th, the day power came back on, we issued an urgent request to the European Commission and the Spanish and Portuguese Prime Ministers for information and reassurance on the major problems caused by the energy grid failure. 

The Spanish government released a report identifying a chain of shortcomings in grid planning and operation, together with inadequate performance by several generation facilities that failed to provide sufficient voltage support, which collectively triggered and amplified the system collapse. These findings are broadly consistent with the technical sequence of events later described in ENTSO‑E’s factual report, although ENTSO‑E itself does not assign responsibility at this stage.

In early May, ahead of an emergency plenary debate on the blackout at the European Parliament, we outlined ten key questions that needed addressing including on: the root causes of the disruption; why preventative and mitigation measures failed; what immediate action was in place to strengthen the resilience and interconnectivity of local energy infrastructure; and how consumer harm and compensation would be assessed?   

With a direct line to consumers through our member organisations in Spain and Portugal we were able to reflect their concerns. But as a European consumer group, we knew that the resilience and reliability of the European energy system as a whole needed urgent attention so that this blackout was not repeated.  

This raised a bigger question: How can the European Commission ensure that lessons from this incident translate into systemic reforms across the EU energy framework?  

And Euroconsumers has some suggestions of its own to answer this:

Grid modernisation cannot wait: three essential systemic reforms

1. Smart grids and flexibility with consumer safeguards

Europe has a grid that is not yet ready for the green and digital transitions. Climate objectives to electrify heating, transport and industry and introduce a variety of renewables to the system are putting Europe’s electricity grids under strain. At the same time, increasingly frequent extreme weather events can physically damage infrastructure and disrupt electricity demand for cooling technologies.  

A future-ready electricity grid infrastructure needs to be: digitally enabled with real-time monitoring and smart metering; flexible through integrating storage, demand response and distributed generation and above all resilient enough to withstand and recover from external shocks. This means: 

• • Investing in digital grid infrastructure (smart meters, automated load management) with privacy by design.
• • Expanding access to demand-side response and energy communities, ensuring interoperability and affordability.
• • Incentivising local flexibility markets that allow households and SMEs to support grid stability

2. Prioritise interconnection and resilience

Interconnection means access to energy capacity and affordable, cleaner power from neighbouring markets. But currently, poor interconnection is undermining resilience. For example, the Iberian Peninsula remains one of the least interconnected regions in the EU, falling well below the 15% interconnection target. 

Development has been slow on key projects such as the Bay of Biscay interconnector and without swift progress, systemic risk and co-ordinated responses to problems will be limited. It’s time to:

• • Mandate the accelerated delivery of key cross-border interconnectors, especially for under-connected regions like the Iberian Peninsula.

3. Consumer rights and crisis preparedness

When major grid failures happen, the consequences for consumers include lost services, economic harm and a dearth of information, accountability and redress.

In the Iberian case, consumers continued paying the price during the recovery period as regulators and providers tried to steady the grid through cross-border energy restrictions and the curtailment of cheap solar power. 

Consumers on variable-rate contracts saw their bills surge as costly emergency balancing mechanisms were used to maintain grid stability. Those on fixed-rate contracts encountered steep price increases when renewing agreements, with some providers introducing clauses to permit price rises during “extraordinary events”.

 These all tell a story of consumers being sidelined in infrastructure decisions and processes. Resilience is not only about infrastructure, but also about the processes that recognise energy consumers as active participants, empowered through transparency, safeguarded by rights and strengthened by digital tools. This can change through: 

• • Introducing minimum EU-wide standards for blackout communication, redress, and continuity of service.
• • Requiring national crisis plans that include protocols for vulnerable groups.
• • Ensuring consumer representation in infrastructure planning and national energy dialogues.

The Grid is a consumer issue  

The blackout showed that grids are no longer just technical infrastructure; they are critical enablers of Europe’s competitiveness, decarbonisation and an affordable, essential service.  April’s blackout sounded an alarm that Europe’s energy grids must be modernised and consumer interests prioritised. 

The Grids Package, out today is a crucial opportunity to address the shortcomings in grid planning, coordination, and consumer protection exposed by the large-scale disruption of the Iberian blackout. 

The Iberian blackout also exposed a gap in execution. EU initiatives such as TEN-E and REPowerEU provide a strategic vision for modernising electricity infrastructure, but on-the-ground progress remains patchy and slow. It’s now time to speed up implementation to deliver outcomes for consumers.

Without decisive action, the risks of disruption, escalating costs and deepening inequality will intensify. Strategic investment in smart, flexible, and interconnected networks is critical to safeguard system reliability, maintain affordability and uphold public trust.