More than 60 Labour MPs have formed a bloc to push back against anti-pylon lobbying by Conservative and Green MPs, saying they back plans to build the pylons despite local opposition in several areas.
MPs, particularly in rural areas, have come under mounting pressure from anti-pylon activists to oppose the infrastructure. The Tories found themselves forced to commit to hold a “rapid review” of overhead pylons in their July manifesto.
The Green MP Adrian Ramsay has also campaigned in his Waveney Valley constituency against pylons, drawing criticism from the prime minister, since the pylons carry electricity from offshore wind.
There are already planning battles against overground lines in places including East Anglia and Lincolnshire, with some Labour candidates at the general election saying they opposed pylon schemes.
The 61 Labour MPs have written a strident letter backing plans for the “pylon presumption” – a counter to a letter sent earlier this month by 16 Conservatives plus Ramsay last month. Signatories to that first letter included the former minister James Cartlidge and other high-profile names including Priti Patel and Bernard Jenkin.
Those MPs had urged the government and the National Energy System Operator (Neso) to carry out an “urgent review” into the pylon presumption and explore the “potential cost competitiveness” of underground cables instead – a key ask of anti-pylon campaigners.
But the Labour MPs have now hit back in a letter to the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, and the chief executive of Neso, Fintan Slye, saying they were “concerned by recent representations by Conservative and Green MPs”.
The letter said: “The cheapest and most pragmatic way to meet our energy needs is to reject the Conservative and Green MPs’ ideological and expensive presumption in favour of undergrounding of cables.”
It said the MPs’ letter citing the price comparison on the East Anglia Network pylon rollout from Norwich to Tilbury with underground cabling “cherrypicks details”, and the delay to delivering the grid infrastructure would cost consumers £1bn – according to Neso’s own report. “We cannot afford a delay to 2034 and increased costs for bill payers,” the letter said.
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“Britain has suffered the worst cost of living crisis in generations, driven by Conservative government failure to reduce our vulnerability to volatile fossil fuel markets. In the second half of 2023, domestic electricity prices were higher than in any EU country.
“When clean power is produced here, transmitted here, and consumed here, we will be far safer and have more control over our bills. We urge you to put the needs of British bill payers, our industry, and our economy and retain the pylon presumption in the centralised strategic network plan.”
Those who have signed the letter are new MPs – many of whom could face constituency pressures over the building of new pylons.
The letter was coordinated by the Bournemouth East MP, Tom Hayes, and its signatories include several MPs on the Treasury select committee – Jeevun Sandher, Lola McEvoy and Yuan Yang – and on the energy select committee: Luke Murphy, Josh MacAlister and Polly Billington.
Keir Starmer has previously cited pylons as part of the government’s philosophy of hard choices which would lead to better outcomes. In his first Labour conference speech, 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.”
