CPRW, The Welsh Countryside Charity, has responded to the UK Government’s announcement of its new Bill Discount Scheme for households living close to new or significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure.
Under the scheme, households living within 500 metres of eligible projects are expected to receive £250 a year off their electricity bills for ten years.
Only one project in Wales is currently included on the Government’s list: the Pentir to Trawsfynydd upgrade in North Wales. CPRW notes that this project will actually involve removing pylons from the Dwyryd estuary, placing cables in a tunnel, and changing the wires on one side of the remaining pylons.
Crucially, the scheme only applies to transmission infrastructure. It therefore does not apply to the three proposed Green GEN Cymru lines in mid Wales.
Dr Jonathan F Dean, CPRW Energy Spokesman, The Welsh Countryside Charity, said: “I don’t know anyone who would be happy to have pylons within 500 m of their home, and don’t think £250 is enough compensation for the years of dust, noise and construction disruption, and of course there is nothing for having to live with the finished project. But with the cost of living, help with bills will be welcomed. The vast majority of people who don’t live in rural areas will never have a pylon near their home, as lines are put underground in towns and cities, and they will probably see this as generous.”
He added: “The annual payment is insulting and only applies to transmission pylons (ca 50 m) not distribution pylons (ca 30 m), so in Wales this doesn’t apply to the three proposed lines by Green Gen Cymru in mid Wales. Given that electricity bills will increase as demand increases, from EVs and heat pumps, the % to the bill payer is small. Labour are giving a quarter what the Conservatives originally promised (it was a Conservative idea originally).”
The Government has announced 43 transmission projects in the first wave of the scheme, with most eligible households expected to receive the discount automatically through their electricity supplier once projects have secured the necessary consents and main construction work has begun.
For CPRW, the announcement highlights a wider question about fairness for rural communities being asked to host major electricity infrastructure, particularly where communities may experience construction disruption, landscape impacts and long-term changes to their surroundings without qualifying for direct household support.