Pylons or high energy prices, Keir Starmer to tell voters in pitch for new energy infrastructure

30 September 2024, 00:53

Voters will have to accept new pylons if they want lower energy bills as burying cables underground is too expensive, the Prime Minister has said.

Sir Keir Starmer drew criticism last week after saying pylons were a necessary "trade-off" for clean energy during his speech to the Labour Party conference, with campaigners against new pylons in East Anglia saying he had thrown the region "under a bus".

But the Prime Minister insisted this was not the case, saying the country had "shied away from these trade-offs for too long".

He told reporters: "If you want lower energy bills, we're going to have to have pylons above the ground.

"Yes, there is the option to put them below the ground - it costs much more money, and if there's one consistent theme into and out of the last election, it's that most people feel they're already paying too much tax, and I don't think many would put their hand up to pay more tax in relation to that."

Plans to build new pylons between Norwich and Tilbury, in Essex, have attracted local opposition, with new Suffolk MP and Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay saying there was "huge local concern about the impact on agricultural land, on traffic, on local communities, on the landscape".

The pylons would carry electricity from wind farms off the coast of East Anglia, in line with the new Government's commitment to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030.

National Grid has previously said it has considered alternatives and delaying the project would mean delaying access to cleaner energy in the region.

The Prime Minister said the Government would consult with people on projects, but added: "I do want to be clear: these are serious trade-offs that we're going to have to make and we're going to have to take those decisions."