UK to cut energy bills of residents near new pylons
by AFP Staff Writers
London (AFP) Mar 10, 2025

The UK announced Monday that households living near new electricity pylons will benefit from reduced energy bills, amid opposition to infrastructure projects required to connect renewable energy to the grid.

Households within 500 metres of new or upgraded electricity infrastructure will save up to GBP 2,500 ($3,232) over a 10-year period on bills from 2026, the Labour government said in a statement.

Legislation on planning and infrastructure aimed at reducing bureaucracy around development of large-scale projects will be discussed in parliament starting this week.

In addition to bill reductions, developers will also have to fund community projects like sports clubs, educational programmes and leisure facilities, Monday's statement added.

"Under powers in the government's upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, households within 500 metres of new or upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure will get electricity bill discounts of up to GBP 2,500 over 10 years," it said.

Privately-owned National Grid plans to invest GBP 35 billion by 2031 to transform the electricity network it owns in England and Wales -- a project of an unprecedented scale since the 1960s.

"Britain's electricity grid was first designed in the 1930s to connect coal-fired power stations," the government noted Monday.

But "as the UK moves away from fossil fuels and electricity demand rises in the future, an overhaul is needed to connect the right power in the right places", the statement added.

Opposition groups argue that alternatives to pylons have not been seriously considered, with some determined to go to court over the new infrastructure plans.

Rosie Pearson, founder of an action group for local residents in England's East Anglia region, said that the bill-reduction plan amounts to "bribing" local communities "in return for destruction of their local environment and businesses".

"Project developers must not be allowed to pay to destroy nature," she told AFP.

Should projects proceed, "residents and businesses need to be fully compensated for their financial losses", she argued.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to override "blockers" preventing big new infrastructure projects and the reform of Britain's restrictive planning rules -- a key part of his Labour party's agenda since winning a general election last July.

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