Great British Energy Bill

Lord Ashcombe Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 11th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 46 in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Effingham. This seeks to place a duty on Great British Energy to produce an assessment on the impact that the erection of pylons will have on local communities and the environment. Following such an assessment, if the erection of pylons will cause significant harm and damage to the above-listed categories, GB Energy must not continue to build them. The amendment also seeks to include an annual report on the impact of the construction of these pylons that must be laid before Parliament so that the proper accountability measures are in place.

To achieve the Government’s rushed and ideological target for clean energy by 2030, it has been proposed that nearly 1,000 kilometres of new power lines will have to be built. It is the undeniable truth that the infrastructure of the electricity network will need to be built at a far faster rate than it has been in the past decade if the Government are to meet this pledge.

The reality is this: it would be possible to find a way of distributing and transmitting electricity that will not permanently damage the countryside if the Government were to uphold our 2035 target. We understood this; we committed to exploring the use of undergrounding, because the energy system operator said that in the long term that can save costs and it will avoid irreparable damage to our countryside. It is strange that the Government have dismissed this advice, choosing to base their energy policy on ideology. This is particularly true, given that an official report into the East Anglia network has discovered that in the longer term it is cheaper to bury the cables underground. The evidence suggests that, if the Government stick to our original target, they may save £600 million through the use of underground cables rather than pylons.

However, if the Government insist on achieving a decarbonised grid by 2030 at the expense of the British countryside, it is essential that GB Energy assesses and reports on the impact of their use of pylons and ceases activity if it is causing significant environmental damage.

I am minded to test the opinion of the House. I urge all noble Lords to support this amendment.

[Lord Ashcombe (Con)]

My Lords, I understand that transporting electricity will continue to be a challenge; much of it is generated offshore in Scotland, but the need is far greater in the south. Pylons are not loved infrastructures by most but are a necessary evil. There is therefore an absolute need to assess their effect on not only those communities that live nearby but the environment, as pylons march across the countryside, often through much of our most scenic areas, not to mention the flora and fauna.

I suggest that pylons are not the only method of transport; my noble friend Lord Offord mentioned underground cables, and sea cables are also an option. There remain environmental factors, but power still has to come ashore to the areas of demand. The onshore issues therefore still remain.

The spend to achieve this, according to NESO, is some £40 billion a year for six years until 2030. I suggest two items of practicality: can the infrastructure be built on time, and do we actually have the workforce to complete this massive task? Local communities deserve nothing less than an assessment of the potential impact for the years to come.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, we come to the issue of pylons. This is of course an interesting issue; I well understand that pylons are not necessarily popular with the public. They are, I am afraid, just a consequence of what we need to do to expand the grid.

The projects that Great British Energy is involved in may require the erection of pylons, but the assurance I can give is that they will be subject to existing rigorous planning processes and the relevant regulations, as with any similar projects, including environmental impact assessments and statutory stakeholder engagement. We recognise that poorly sited pylon projects can have an impact on the local area, as has been mentioned, such as in relation to wildlife, heritage or sense of place. That is why we are retaining the checks and balances in the planning system and why we want to ensure that all developers continue to engage with communities.

Noble Lords have mentioned offshore solutions. We are already building an extensive offshore network. Indeed, the latest network design from NESO means that, by 2035, three times as much undersea cabling could be laid than pylons across Britain, so we are not ignoring the potential but we will need pylons. We are not reducing the planning regime in any way at all; we want to speed it up, but we will have the protections in place and environmental considerations will come to the fore.

We do not need this amendment. I am quite satisfied that the provisions in statute at the moment are sufficient.