Labour has vowed to press ahead with its plans to build more pylons across England and Wales, a subject of local political division, as a new report says underground electricity cables are more than four times more expensive than overhead lines.
Pylons have become one of the key electoral issues in a number of counties including Lincolnshire, which is a local election battleground this week. Reform and the Conservatives have called for electricity cables to be buried underground rather than carried overhead by pylons.
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has drawn a sharp dividing line between his party and the Greens after the latter’s co-leader Adrian Ramsay used his first day in parliament to call for a pause on plans for a route of 520 pylons passing through his constituency.
Miliband has since brought this up multiple times in the Commons, accusing Ramsay of “saying no to new energy infrastructure”.
Labour endorsed the report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), which found underground cables were on average about 4.5 times more expensive than overhead lines.
In some cases, burying the cables is vastly more expensive. For example, a typical 15km-long 5,000MW overhead line was estimated by the report’s authors to have a build cost of nearly £40m, while an equivalent underground cable would cost about £330m or, in a new tunnel, £820m.
Putting the cables underground also generally takes much longer than building pylons, and Labour has to move quickly to build renewable energy infrastructure if it is to meet its 2030 target to almost entirely remove gas from the electricity grid.
But pylons can be unpopular as many people are concerned that they spoil countryside views.
The issue playing a role in local election campaigns. In Lincolnshire, where Reform is surging in popularity, a 87-mile (140km) pylon line is planned.
Andrea Jenkyns, who is running as Reform’s candidate for Greater Lincolnshire mayor, has said: “Only Reform UK has a plan to push back on pylons desecrating our Lincolnshire countryside.”
The government welcomed the IET report. The energy minister, Michael Shanks, said: “We need to get Britain building again so we can deliver on our plan for change to protect billpayers, drive growth and create jobs. Upgrading the grid will help connect more homes and businesses with clean, homegrown power that we control.
“This latest report shows that pylons are the best option for billpayers, as cables underground cost significantly more to install and maintain. At the same time, we want to ensure those hosting this infrastructure benefit, including by offering households near new pylons £2,500 off their energy bills over 10 years.”
Keir Starmer has previously cited pylons as part of the government’s philosophy of hard choices that would lead to better outcomes. In his first Labour conference speech as prime minister, he said: “As we take on those massive challenges the Tories ignored, the time is long overdue for politicians to level with you about the trade-offs this country faces. If we want cheaper electricity, we need new pylons overground, otherwise the burden on taxpayers is too much.”
Pylons have caused issues for Conservatives too. Last year the then energy minister Andrew Bowie was moved from his role overseeing renewable infrastructure including pylons after he was found to have been campaigning against the towers in his local constituency.
