- People living closest to new pylons and electricity
substations will receive up to £10,000 off their bills over 10
years under plans expected to be announced by the Chancellor at
his Autumn Statement next week.
- The announcement is expected alongside plans to drastically
reduce the time to approve and build pylons, overhead cables and
other transmission infrastructure – halving the time it takes to
deliver new electricity networks from 14 to seven years.
- Speeding up grid connections is expected to unlock more
domestic green energy and could bring forward £90 billion of
global investment over the next decade.
- The reforms are part of wider plans to get the UK economy
growing and are essential to the UK achieving its Net Zero and
energy security goals.
- The Prime Minister has made economic growth one of his main
priorities and is focused on taking long-term decisions to
deliver the change we need.
- New plans are expected to include a new premium planning
service across England to guarantee faster pre-application
services for major applications in exchange for a fee and refunds
where this is not met - improving on the current patchwork
approach of Planning Performance Agreements.
- Alongside this, he is expected to confirm that nationally
significant low-carbon energy infrastructure will be designated
as a critical national priority and for the planning system to
prioritise the rollout of Electric Vehicle charge points,
empowering industry to accelerate charge point rollout –
including helping petrol station forecourts convert into electric
vehicle charging hubs – and supporting consumers across the
country to charge with confidence.
A Treasury source said:
“Expanding the grid will unlock global investment for Britain and
bring improvements for people across the country, with energy
security that will keep energy costs down. And by speeding
up the planning system – including the rollout of EV chargepoints
- we will be tackling one of the most common issues raised by
businesses who are keen to invest in the UK. This Autumn
Statement will show that it’s the UK Government who are taking
the long-term decisions to deliver the changes we need.”
