The UK government is pushing ahead with plans to offer households living near new electricity pylons a discount of £2,500 on their energy bills over ten years, in an effort to ease opposition to its clean power infrastructure rollout. Under the scheme, homes within half a kilometre of new or upgraded power lines, pylons, or substations could receive up to £250 off their annual bill from next year, paid as a £125 discount every six months.
The discounts are designed to speed up the construction of grid infrastructure critical to Labour’s promise to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind capacity by 2030. The UK plans to build twice as much new grid infrastructure over the next five years as it has in the past decade, with overhead lines and pylons along the east coast of England to carry power from North Sea wind farms.
The plans have provoked outrage from communities in areas expected to host the new infrastructure, with Reform UK vowing to use “all our local powers” to prevent a new overhead line in Lincolnshire. Energy consumers minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said the payouts would put communities “at the heart of a cleaner, more affordable, homegrown energy system”.
Alongside the discount plan, the government announced new rules to address opposition to smart meter installations. From next year, energy suppliers will face extra obligations to protect households from faulty devices and bungled installations, with improved compensation for long wait times. The £20bn smart meter rollout has been delayed, with about three-quarters of homes having one despite an original 2019 target.
Ofgem director Charlotte Friel said the rules set “clear expectations of suppliers” and would make getting a smart meter “quicker and easier than ever”. Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, welcomed the plan but noted that “far too many smart meters, likely one in five, don’t work as they should”, adding that firms must focus on fixing broken meters as well as installing new ones.
