Octopus Energy is reportedly planning to roll out its own pylons in a move which would end National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.)’s 30-year monopoly on England and Wales’ electricity network.
Talks have been held with regulator Ofgem over the plans as the energy firm looks to take issues expanding the UK’s grid into its own hands, according to The Telegraph.
“There’s increasing support for this idea that there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” Octopus chief executive Greg Jackson told the newspaper.
“If we could find ways to build power infrastructure that are faster and cheaper, who wouldn’t want it?”
National Grid is currently working to address a lengthy queue of energy projects waiting to join the UK’s power grid.
However, opposition from local residents against new infrastructure often stands in the way of simply building new pylons.
A growing number of Conservative MPs have also raised concerns about pylons, among them the former home secretary Priti Patel, with proposals for the electric grid to be built in the sea.
Jackson suggested the introduction of competition into the market could encourage innovation to overcome such issues, including through alternatives to pylons.
“In these areas where people are worried about pylons, there can be ways of building infrastructure where there might be less community resistance,” he said.
“There are so many different routes you could use, so many different construction technologies and different ways of solving it. It is ripe for innovation.”
The venture would follow Octopus's 2021 acquisition of Eclipse Power Networks, which currently builds small-scale local power distribution networks.
The proposal is set to be consulted on early this year, according to Ofgem, after the regulator was ordered to assess such competition for the onshore energy transmission market through the 2023 Energy Act.