National Grid boss given £1 million pay rise, despite biggest blackout in a decade This pay packet is an increase from the year before when he was paid £3.65m

The chief executive of National Grid had been given a £1m pay rise, less than two weeks after Britain experienced its biggest blackout in a decade.

John Pettigrew was paid £4.56m for the last financial year to reward his “strong performance”, according to the company’s annual report.

This pay packet is an increase from the year before when he was paid £3.65m.

The i newsletter latest news and analysis Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

According to The Guardian, National Grid’s remuneration committee praised Pettigrew, 50, for delivering “a strong performance in his third year in the role” and delivering value to investors and shareholders.

Major energy blackout

Read More Series of avoidable failures led to worst blackout in a decade, National Grid tells regulator

The blackout which which took place on 9 August caused nearly a million homes to be without electricity and left hundreds of thousands of people stranded as transport networks collapsed.The power outage amounted a five per cent reduction in Britain’s overall electricity supply, however the country was sent into meltdown with one million homes sent into darkness and chaos on the railways at the height of rush hour.

Local distribution centres severed power for train signalling stations, grinding Britain’s railway to a halt and causing Govia Thameslink trains to shut themselves down, with more than 20 unable to be restarted by drivers.

While experts say the outage was “extremely rare”, some suggested that if National Grid had spent £170 million more a year on back-up systems, it could have mitigated the sudden drop in electricity frequency that escalated the crisis.

Government probe

National Grid gave its interim report on the blackout to energy watchdog Ofgem last Friday. The findings are expected to be published on Tuesday.

A full report on the incident is expected by early September.

National Grid is also facing a separate government probe by the energy emergencies executive committee, the findings of which within the next 12 weeks.

Following the outage National Grid said the “unexpected and unusual event” had been caused by the loss of two generators which led to a steep drop in the grid’s overall frequency.