People living near new pylons across Great Britain will get money off their energy bills, as the government delivers on a landmark commitment as part of its Plan for Change for clean power by 2030.
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 £2,500 over 10 years. This will see rural communities receiving hundreds of pounds in their pockets for hosting vital infrastructure.
Alongside money off bills, separate new guidance will set out how developers should ensure communities hosting transmission infrastructure can benefit, by funding projects like sports clubs, educational programmes, or leisure facilities.
Where communities host this vital infrastructure, the government’s position on principle is that it is right these communities directly benefit from supporting this nationally critical mission. In turn, this will benefit every household in the country by getting the UK off dependency on fossil fuel markets and protecting billpayers with clean homegrown power. Ensuring community benefits is vital in speeding up the building of clean power infrastructure.
Around twice as much new transmission network infrastructure will be needed by 2030 as has been built in the past decade, with new legislation removing barriers and getting Britain building. Community benefits can be an important part of new infrastructure plans, potentially reducing opposition and planning delays. At the moment, too many projects have been bogged down in the pre-planning stage for many years trying to win local support. Vital projects in the pipeline which have faced opposition include transmission lines between Norwich to Tilbury, Grimsby to Walpole and the Sealink connection between Suffolk and Kent.
Building new transmission infrastructure is critical to unleashing growth with £40 billion a year of mainly private investment, creating good jobs across the country, protecting households from the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets and helping make Britain energy secure.
Every family and business in the country has paid the price of Britain’s dependence on foreign fossil fuel markets, which was starkly exposed when Putin invaded Ukraine and British energy customers were among the hardest hit in Western Europe, with bills reaching record heights.
The government’s clean power mission is the solution to this crisis; by sprinting to clean, homegrown energy, including renewables and nuclear, the UK can take back control of its energy and protect both family and national finances from fossil fuel price spikes with cleaner, affordable power.
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said:
“We owe it to the people of this country to get Britain building again. It is no longer a question of whether we build the new infrastructure we need but a question of how and this must be done in lockstep with local communities.
“This government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill will slash energy bills for local people living near new projects, so they benefit as we drive forward in our mission to achieve a more prosperous and energy secure future for the next generation.
“This is delivering on our Plan for Change to accelerate growth in every region across the country, raising living standards and putting more money back into the pockets of working people and families.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“The only way to make Britain energy secure and bring down bills for good is to get Britain off dependence on fossil fuel markets and replace it with clean, homegrown power that we control.
“To do this, we need to get Britain building right now. And as part of that, we are delivering on our landmark commitment to ensure that people who live near infrastructure meaningfully benefit.
“This will benefit the whole country by ensuring we build the clean power system we need.”
The new community funds guidance means communities could get £200,000 worth of funding per km of overhead electricity cable in their area, and £530,000 per substation. This would mean an upcoming project like SSEN Transmission’s power line between Tealing and Aberdeenshire could see local communities benefitting from funding worth over £23 million. Developers will closely consult with eligible communities on the funds and how best to spend them, to ensure a fair and consistent approach across Great Britain.
Britain’s electricity grid was first designed in the 1930s to connect coal-fired power stations. 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. This will reduce constraint costs, where wind farms are paid to turn off because of a lack of capacity on the grid to transport renewable power to where it’s needed, with taxpayers ultimately footing the bill.
Community benefits aim to deliver an overall benefit for billpayers due to savings from avoided network constraint costs and the connection of cheaper renewable power. By cleaning up the grid queue, the whole country will benefit from cheaper, cleaner homegrown power.
The plans will provide particular benefit to rural communities, who will host a large amount of grid infrastructure. This ensures that communities who are closest to the roll out of new energy infrastructure will benefit from clean power and energy security, whilst also receiving a direct discount on their bills.
The upcoming Planning & Infrastructure Bill will include a number of other measures to unblock vital new energy infrastructure to deliver the government’s clean power mission.
