Ed Miliband is weighing a major overhaul of the electricity market to cut the number of pylons across rural Britain by introducing regional pricing. The Telegraph has more.
The Energy Secretary has ordered electricity grid planners to examine whether fewer overhead wires would be required throughout the countryside if the power market were broken up, the Telegraph understands.
Sir Keir Starmer previously argued that building new pylons in rural areas was a necessary step to bring down the cost of electricity as part of the drive to reach net zero emissions by 2050. …
The decision to commission a Government study comes as Labour faces pressure in rural areas from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which has accused the Government of spoiling swathes of countryside with a “spider’s web” of pylons and cables.
In Lincolnshire, where Reform has seized control of the local mayoralty and the county council in May’s local elections, Mr Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, have vowed to wage legal warfare against planned green energy projects. …
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) has estimated that £60 billion worth of upgrades are needed across the electricity network under Labour’s plan for a clean power system, including 4,000 miles of new undersea cables and another 1,000 miles of overland power lines.