Households near new pylons to save hundreds on energy bills

Government delivers commitment to ensure households near new or upgraded pylons will save up to £250 a year for 10 years, as part of the Plan for Change.

• Legal requirements for communities to directly benefit from hosting grid infrastructure to be introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill
• Huge boost for rural communities, who will see hundreds of pounds in their pockets for hosting infrastructure, alongside substantial benefits  
• Community benefits will help the whole country by connecting more clean homegrown power to the grid, unlocking growth, jobs and investment across the country as part of the Clean Power Action Plan

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.

John Pettigrew, CEO, National Grid, said: 

It is right that communities see enduring, tangible benefits for hosting transmission infrastructure on behalf of the country. We are pleased to see this guidance issued today and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with communities to deliver long-lasting, meaningful benefits alongside critical infrastructure.  

James Robottom, RenewableUK's Head of Policy, said:   

We welcome the government's latest steps to help get Britain building the infrastructure it so desperately needs. It's right that local communities should benefit from hosting new and upgraded pylons, so this guarantee that they will have significantly lower electricity bills is a positive step forward. We recognise the need to bring communities with us as we build the clean energy system of the future by ensuring that they have a tangible stake in it. 

This will help to enable the roll-out of much-needed new grid infrastructure at a faster pace, so that we can make the most of the vast amounts of clean power we're producing, by transporting it more efficiently from where it's generated to where it's needed in homes and businesses all over the country. Our switch to an energy system dominated by renewables will also strengthen the UK's energy security by reducing our exposure to volatile international gas markets which caused the recent spike in energy bills, so it's a win-win all round.

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 and Infrastructure Bill will include a number of other measures to unblock vital new energy infrastructure to deliver the government's clean power mission.  

Dhara Vyas, Energy UK's chief executive, said:

Much of the country's energy infrastructure was built several decades ago and designed for a system very different from the one we have today - and the one we will have in future. Expanding and upgrading how we transport energy to homes and businesses across the country is long overdue and urgently needed if we are not to choke economic growth with extra costs to customers and delays to new projects and developments that result from outdated infrastructure.

Ensuring we get the maximum benefit from our own sources of clean energy will benefit everyone in the country through more stable and affordable bills and increased energy security. However it's also right to recognise those areas and customers that will be particular affected by developments and to work closely with them so that they and their wider communities are rewarded for helping support a national endeavour.

Claire Mack, Chief Executive at Scottish Renewables, said:

As our energy transition gathers pace it is important to ensure lasting benefits are secured for the country. Delivering home-grown renewable energy at scale will strengthen our economy and energy security, protecting households and creating high-value jobs.

Scotland's renewable energy industry is proud of our positive record to date on transformational community benefit funds and we want to ensure they continue to deliver for local communities. In that effort, we welcome these bold new proposals which will offer a tangible benefit to those living near vital new transmission infrastructure.

A spokesperson from Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents the UK's energy network operators, said:

Network operators are committed to working with local communities and providing community benefits to help ensure infrastructure development leaves a positive legacy within the communities that host it.

Today's announcement is another step in engaging and supporting communities in seeing tangible benefits to hosting infrastructure. Electricity networks are continuing to bring in private investment of more than £100 billion between 2021 and 2031, investing in our grid to promote growth in our economy. We look forward to working with government as more details emerge.

Notes  to editors

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is expected to have its First Reading in the House of Commons this week.    

The bill discount scheme is expected to apply to new onshore, above ground transmission cables and associated infrastructure (such as substations) and some major upgrades of existing projects in Great Britain.   

Bill discounts are expected to be in place from 2026 and the community funds guidance will come into force as soon as it is published on Monday.

The government is continuing to look at how benefits can be offered to communities near onshore wind farms and other energy technologies. 

In social research commissioned by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, published in 2024, 78% of people identified bill discounts as the type of community benefit that would increase acceptance of new transmission infrastructure, making money off bills the measure that the most people felt would make new infrastructure acceptable.