Britain’s Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is set to announce a new publicly owned company, Great British Grid, aimed at accelerating electricity-grid connections and increasing competition in the country’s energy sector.
Burnham is expected to make the announcement during his first Labour Party conference speech as leader on Tuesday in Liverpool, where he will place the new body at the centre of his plans to increase public control over utilities.
The proposed GB Grid will invest in and compete for electricity transmission connection projects alongside the three private companies currently responsible for owning and managing the country’s grid.
Labour said the initiative would also help businesses waiting to connect to the grid finance the infrastructure required for their projects.
The new body could support or co-invest in such projects alongside the firms involved.
The party said funding for the initiative would come from the existing budget of GB Energy, the publicly owned green investment company established by Labour last year and headquartered in Aberdeen.
Burnham is expected to make lower energy costs a key part of his plans, with a target of bringing UK energy costs closer to those of other European countries within 10 years.
He is also expected to tell Labour members that faster electricity-grid connections could help tackle what he describes as a “cost crisis” that has proved “crippling for businesses”.
In his speech, Burnham is expected to say GB Grid will “work with the private sector and network companies” to “reform a broken energy market”.
He will add, “It will increase competition to drive down costs and speed up delivery so businesses can connect faster and grow quicker.
“This is what more public control can do.”
Energy UK chief executive, Dhara Vyas, welcomed the investment but said, “the bulk of this will be private investment”.
She added, “In the next five years the transmission owners, the ones doing that highway of pylons, getting the electricity from source to homes to businesses, they are spending £90bn in the next five years.”
The UK’s electricity transmission network is expected to undergo major expansion as power generation shifts from large fossil-fuel stations to renewable energy sources, including offshore wind farms.
Energy regulator Ofgem has estimated that £70bn will be required for investment in the grid between 2025 and 2031, representing a fourfold increase in the current rate of investment.
The National Audit Office also warned earlier this month that the number of projects waiting for grid connections had risen significantly, while delays had continued to increase.
Burnham is expected to use his conference speech to promise “bold and honest” leadership and outline policies he says will give people greater control over their lives.
The announcement comes ahead of the UK Budget expected at the end of next month, amid concerns over the government’s limited room for additional spending following recent increases in borrowing costs.
Burnham has also pledged to provide details of how he plans to fund free social care services for everyone in England.
He has said he wants to present the proposal to voters at the next general election before seeking to introduce the system from 2030.
There has also been speculation over the future of the state pension triple lock, which increases payments annually by the highest of 2.5 per cent, inflation or average wage growth.
The government has maintained that its manifesto commitment to retain the triple lock for the current parliamentary term remains in place, although Chancellor John Healey declined to say whether it would feature in Labour’s next election manifesto.
