Pledge on power line economics

National Grid transmission director Nick Winser has promised Parliament "complete openness" about the economics and technical feasibility of undergrounding power lines when he was quizzed by MPs about current plans for new overhead power lines in East Anglia and South West England.

Winser's pledge came when he appeared in front of the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee on 20 January. The committee is considering the suite of draft energy National Policy Statements (NPSs).

He was responding to a question from Charles Hendry MP, the Conservative shadow energy minister, who highlighted concern in Essex, Suffolk and Somerset over proposed new overhead power line routes under consideration by National Grid.

The previous night Conservative MPs lined up during a Commons adjournment debate to criticise National Grid over its plans for a new 400 kV power line intended to link a third nuclear station at Hinckley Point with Avonmouth.

Dr Liam Fox MP said the Grid had failed to provide adequate information on the economics and technical feasibility of undergrounding the power line or building a sub-sea link.

He complained of "environmental vandalism" and claimed the communities across North Somerset had been offered the choice between two different land corridors with overhead cables.

Dr Fox, the MP for Woodspring, told MPs: "It is not much of a consultation - the choice between being hanged and being beheaded does not boil down to much of a choice at all."

He added: “We want to see a genuine consultation that compares the wider costs and benefits of overhead cables with undersea and underground cables."

Access the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee website

Roger Milne
21 January 2010