Proactive Investors - UK residents living in the path of newly installed electricity pylons should receive cash in return, a research report commissioned by the government found.
As Britain speeds up its development of renewable energy sources, plans are currently in place aiming to halve the 12 to 14 years it currently takes to build new projects and the latest proposals are expected to turn this into a reality.
Grant Shapps, the secretary of state for energy security and NetZero, welcomed the report and said it's an “important step” in an attempt to “drive down bills, grow the economy and ensure tyrants like Putin can never again use energy as a weapon of war.”
Veteran of the energy industry Nick Winser produced the report and claimed the decarbonisation push was being slowed by a failure to introduce new pylon paths quickly.
Recommending the process should be streamlined to take seven years, through aligning planning rules in Scotland, Wales and England, Winser said those living near transmission pylons should receive a lump sum from energy operators.
Suggestions that communities where “visible infrastructure” is being built should receive payment to support the development of energy efficiency schemes or EV charging points were also put forward by the former National Grid PLC (LON:NG) UK boss.
Winser’s advice will now need to be approved by energy watchdog Ofgem, which called the programme “ambitious” and “highly detailed”.
Rebecca Barnett, Ofgem’s director of networks, said the report “builds on work to establish strategic national and regional planning; unlock and accelerate infrastructure investment; and end delays in grid connections to homes, businesses and public services.”