The Gibraltar issue crops up every now and then for instance so having control over an electrical connection gives the Spanish government more leverage.
Same with France and the dispute over fishing waters. Only recently France were threatening to cut off power to Jersey.
Just want to add that it was a bit different than that. More exactly, an English newspaper asked a French official if cutting electricity off was a possibility and that official answered nothing more than "the treaty that was agreed upon does include this as a possibility".
It was never an actual threat or in any plan at the time.
[Europe Minister] Clément Beaune, who is a close ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said action would be decided on within days and discussions were already in motion .... [Beaune] added, "We defend our interests. We do it nicely, and diplomatically, but when that doesn’t work we take measures. The Channel Islands, the UK, are dependent on us for their energy supply. They think they can live on their own and badmouth Europe as well. And because it doesn’t work, they indulge in one-upmanship, and in an aggressive way"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/05/france-uk-jers...
"Reducing supplies (of electricity to Jersey) is possible, but cutting the power to every Jersey resident this winter is something that will not happen and something that I do not want," Europe Minister Clement Beaune told BFM-TV in an interview.
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/france-could-reduce-...
France could cut electricity supply to UK Channel Island Jersey unless a post-Brexit fishing agreement is respected, Maritime Minister Annick Girardin told the French parliament May 4.
https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insight...
French fishermen are struggling to obtain fishing licenses allowing them to keep working in U.K. waters, including in Jersey. They must show they have been fishing in these waters from 2012 to 2016 using GPS data, which some don't have. "As you know, the [Brexit] agreement contains retaliatory measures ... So as far as Jersey is concerned, I would remind you, for example, of the transport of electricity via submarine cables. So we have the means, and even though I'm sorry it has come to this, we will do so if we have to," she told the French parliament.
https://www.politico.eu/article/fishing-brexit-eu-uk-jersey/
Has your "Z" bumper sticker arrived in the mail yet?
(referendums in both were >99% remain in the UK)
What’s next? Claim Ireland maybe?
