The UK government is mulling over plans to provide people with free electricity to help Keir Starmer’s ambition to overhaul the UK energy system by 2030.
Under the proposals currently being considered, those living near sites identified as suitable for the installation of electricity pylons would see their bills wiped out in a bid to reduce bureaucratic planning issues.
Other ideas also being considered include a one-off £1,000 payment to those living near proposed sites.
The plans come as MPs on Labour’s backbenches have become concerned about the fierce resistance being faced in their constituencies towards plans to deliver one of Starmer’s five central “missions” for government.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and his team have devised a range of “community benefits” to sway households in the path of new infrastructure, which includes transmission lines and solar and wind farms as well as electricity pylons.
Those in favour of new infrastructure being built but opposed to it being built in their area are often referred to as “NIMBYs” an acronym meaning “not in my backyard”.
It is the objections of these that Labour have vowed to overcome, with one Starmer-loyalist Josh Simons MP telling Politico: “When the British public and economy are crying out for builders, there’s no time for blockers.”
Starmer and Miliband have set ambitious targets for the UK energy sector, committing to removing fossil fuels from the power sector by as soon as 2030.
The pair want to be the first G7 nation to achieve the feat and have consistently stated that in doing so, they would reduce the reliance on foreign energy, principally Russian gas.
But to do so requires them to install the infrastructure required to allow renewable energy to be carried to where the need is greatest and in doing so, the pair must overcome the minefield of planning legislation that has the power to hamper or even destroy efforts to build.
Chris Stark, the official leading work on the 2030 target with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, is due to publish a “delivery plan” before Christmas, based on technical advice issued last month by the NESO.
Speaking in September, Mr Stark claimed that the proposed “community benefits” form a “key part of the clean power 2030 plan” as he described his excitement at how the government planned to recompense those affected by the new infrastructure.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks told MPs in November: “If communities host infrastructure and generation, they should benefit.”
The “community benefits” scheme is projected to cost between £1.5 billion and £2 billion annually, which would be funded by an increase to energy bills of around £2 to £5 a year according to the Community Benefits consultation.
