--- title: Brexit: Vote Watch Expected to Drive Spike in Electricity description: Britons staying up late to watch the results of the United Kingdom's Brexit vote will drive a spike in the country's electricity use canonical: https://time.com/4379551/brexit-vote-united-kingdom-electricity/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-23T11:57:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:48:04.403Z article:section: World og:title: Brexit: Vote Watch Expected to Drive Spike in Electricity og:description: Britons staying up late to watch the results of the United Kingdom's Brexit vote will drive a spike in the country's electricity use og:url: https://time.com/4379551/brexit-vote-united-kingdom-electricity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb84086c7e98b5caf/69889919a988caa6a46b8586/brexit-united-kingdom-european-union.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: brexit uk eu electricity og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brexit: Vote Watch Expected to Drive Spike in Electricity twitter:description: Britons staying up late to watch the results of the United Kingdom's Brexit vote will drive a spike in the country's electricity use twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb84086c7e98b5caf/69889919a988caa6a46b8586/brexit-united-kingdom-european-union.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Brexit Vote Result Watch Expected to Drive Spike in U.K. Electricity Use  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 23, 2016 11:57 AM CUT  European Union and British Union Jack flags hang at a meeting for British citizens living in Germany to discuss the implications of Great Britain leaving the European Union, known popularly as Brexit, on May 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. European Union and British Union Jack flags hang at a meeting for British citizens living in Germany to discuss the implications of Great Britain leaving the European Union, known popularly as Brexit, on May 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany.Adam Berry—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 23, 2016 11:57 AM CUT Britons staying up late to watch the [results](http://time.com/4379454/eu-referendum-brexit-polling-day/ "undefined") of the United Kingdom’s [Brexit vote](http://time.com/4379231/brexit-vote-economy/ "undefined") will drive a spike in the country’s electricity use, the operator of the country’s grid said Thursday. National Grid is preparing for an extra 1,200 megawatts in demand, according to a Financial Times [report](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/22b8d1de-32e6-11e6-bda0-04585c31b153.html#axzz4COsiSSEk "undefined"). That’s the approximate equivalent of adding a million people to the grid. “By one o’clock in the morning, this will possibly be the biggest night-time jump we have ever seen,” National Grid official Jeremy Caplin told the FT “It is certainly going to make our lives more interesting.” The vote over whether to stay in the European Union has [sharply divided](http://fortune.com/2016/06/21/brexit-vote-polls/ "undefined") the country and dominated headlines and airwaves. \[[FT](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/22b8d1de-32e6-11e6-bda0-04585c31b153.html#axzz4COsiSSEk "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4379551/brexit-vote-united-kingdom-electricity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4379551/brexit-vote-united-kingdom-electricity/"},"headline":"Brexit Vote Result Watch Expected to Drive Spike in U.K. Electricity Use","datePublished":"2016-06-23T11:57:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:48:04.403Z","description":"'This will possibly be the biggest night-time jump we have ever seen'","url":"https://time.com/4379551/brexit-vote-united-kingdom-electricity/","keywords":["United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb84086c7e98b5caf/69889919a988caa6a46b8586/brexit-united-kingdom-european-union.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb84086c7e98b5caf/69889919a988caa6a46b8586/brexit-united-kingdom-european-union.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"brexit uk eu electricity","caption":"brexit uk eu electricity","creditText":"Adam Berry—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4379551/brexit-vote-united-kingdom-electricity/","name":"Brexit Vote Result Watch Expected to Drive Spike in U.K. Electricity Use"}}]}] ```