Households near new pylons to get £250 taken off annual energy bills

Households living near new power pylons will have £250 a year taken off their energy bills as the UK government prepares to push ahead with more than 40 grid upgrade projects across the country.

The government has promised hundreds of thousands of homes living within 500 metres of new grid infrastructure a saving of up to £2,500 on their energy bills over 10 years in return for “hosting vital infrastructure” which will help the UK transition away from fossil fuels.

One of the biggest grid upgrade drives since the 1960s will mean communities in over 40 locations across the country will be eligible for the payments as the government hopes to prevent a backlash against increased the building of pylons and substations.

Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said the multibillion-pound upgrades, which will be paid for through household energy bills, were “a vital part of how we deliver secure, homegrown energy and unlock economic growth across the country”.

“It is a moment of national renewal – upgrading what was built largely in the 1960s for the modern age and is our route to bringing down electricity bills for households across the country,” he said.

“It’s vital we build again as a country and we are determined those communities which host pylons should benefit which is why we’re bringing down the energy bills of those hosting this vital national infrastructure,” Shanks added.

Grid companies are expected to spend up to £77bn over five years to build the new networks and power lines needed to carry renewable electricity, often generated offshore or in more remote parts of the country, to urban areas with high electricity demand.

The government confirmed the sweetener for local communities near these projects after ruling out proposals to run the new cables underground.

It said that research, commissioned by the department for energy and net zero (DESNZ), found that “building pylons remains the most cost-effective way of upgrading Britain’s outdated electricity networks” and would provide “the best value for bill-payers”.

The eligible households can expect to receive their energy bill discountsautomatically every six months via their energy supplier. The discounts will begin next year.

The government has also called on grid companies including National Grid, SSE and Scottish Power to plough millions into a fund which will be used to support projects which benefit the local communities.

Some of the biggest beneficiaries will be those living close to National Grid’s Bramford-to-Twinstead grid reinforcement project which will receive more than £4m in payments to fund community projects.

In Scotland, communities near Scottish Power’s Chirmorie overhead line project would be eligible for about £2.4m of community benefit funding.

At present, constraints in the country’s ageing grid network mean that wind and solar farms are paid to stop generating electricity if there is not enough demand in the local area to absorb the power.

The electricity system operator also pays gas plants to fire up to meet demand, and buys electricity imported from the continent via high-voltage power cables. These payments are expected to total £3bn by 2030.

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.