LONDON, January 4, 2026, 14:45 ET<\/p>\n
BBC \u201cCountryfile\u201d presenter John Craven wrote on Friday that Britain faces \u201c1000s\u201d more electricity pylons as grid operators race to connect renewable power, stoking an increasingly public fight over new lines. The column said protests are growing around routes tied to the country\u2019s push to expand electricity transmission. Countryfile<\/a><\/p>\n The debate matters now because Britain is trying to move more electricity from offshore wind, solar and other low-carbon generation to homes and industry, while demand rises as heating and transport electrify.<\/p>\n It also lands as government and grid operators look for quicker approvals for large infrastructure, even as local groups argue new pylons will scar landscapes and hurt rural economies. The alternative \u2014 moving cables offshore or putting them underground \u2014 can be slower and significantly more expensive.<\/p>\n Craven\u2019s column cited proposals for around 1,300 additional pylons in England and Wales and hundreds more across the Scottish Highlands. He highlighted opposition in places such as East Anglia and north-east Scotland, including petitions calling for routes to be moved offshore or buried.<\/p>\n National Grid, which runs the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, has branded its pipeline of major projects the \u201cGreat Grid Upgrade.\u201d In a September press release on the Norwich-to-Tilbury scheme, the company said the project would use a mix of overhead lines and underground cables after the Planning Inspectorate accepted its application. Nationalgrid<\/a><\/p>\n In Scotland, SSE\u2019s SSEN Transmission has pursued consent under Section 37 of the Electricity Act \u2014 the approval route for major overhead power lines \u2014 for a 400-kilovolt connection between Kintore and Tealing. \u201cSubmitting our consent application for the Kintore\u2013Tealing 400kV overhead line marks a major milestone in supporting UK and Scottish energy goals,\u201d Alison Hall, SSEN Transmission\u2019s director of development, said. Ssen Transmission<\/a><\/p>\n Cost sits at the centre of the argument. An April report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology said buried underground cables are, on average, around 4.5 times more expensive than overhead lines. Theiet<\/a><\/p>\n