Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s recent changes to legislation blocking the development of onshore windfarms could kick-start a wave of new developments across the country.
Following the announcement, Octopus Energy CEO, Greg Jackson, said people living near wind farms should pay less for their electricity. He said nearby windfarms may result in price cuts of up to 20 per cent when wind, and 50 per cent for his customers during “very windy” conditions. He added that his firm has been flooded with requests from customers to build new windfarms in their areas.
Onshore wind farms were effectively banned in 2015 after the Conservative government introduced stringent planning rules.
Though there are relatively few concrete plans to build windfarms following Labour’s move, areas like North Yorkshire, Cumberland and Buckinghamshire are some of the areas pipped for new developments while Lancaster, the Cotswolds, Stroud and Worthing are also said to have strong local support for new windfarms according to an analysis by UK100.
Experts, however, have told i that the timeline towards actual price cuts for consumers may be complex and hard to predict.
Will energy firms actually slash bills for those living near windfarms?
Lorenzo Sani, an analyst from the UK environmental think-tank Carbon Tracker, told i that he expects the other major energy providers to follow Octopus in discounting bills for those who live near windfarms in order to win over local support for projects.
Mr Sani argues the promise of cheaper energy bills in some regions will likely be used as a bargaining chip between local communities and developers, who might otherwise object to new projects in the area.
Despite possible concerns from local residents and communities, onshore wind would be ideally suited to the UK due to the weather conditions and once online, it would it also provide a much cheaper source of energy in the long-term, Mr Sani said.
“A very high majority of people are in favour of wind energy if it will lead to cheaper energy bills for their own community,” he added.
“But developers do need to provide extra benefits to local residents and then stick to what they promise.”
However, Professor Rob Gross director of the UK Energy Research Centre, points out that regional price cuts may be “politically complicated” for a left-wing government.
“People may ask why wealthy landowners in the South may be paying minimal amounts for their energy, yet little old ladies in big cities are still paying huge energy bills during winter,” he told i.
Professor Gross says it “makes sense” for local people to benefit from cheaper power, if they live near a wind farm, but highlights that “full blown locational pricing” opens up a can of worms.
“Is it fair to push prices up in towns and cities where wind farms can’t be built?,” he said. “How close to wind farms do you have to be to benefit?”
He suggests that it might be fairer to split the savings more equally between regions, adding that in most countries, including the UK, energy prices don’t reflect the cost of supplying a specific region.
When could we see price cuts?
It’s “practically impossible” to put an exact date on when energy price cuts could come in, Mr Sani said.
Construction and investment can take significant amounts of time, but the biggest elephant in the room in building new wind farms is planning permission and dealing with local communities, and community Nimbyism.
“The other steps in the process can be finalised relatively quickly if it’s really necessary, but actually getting approval from locals and permission to build can drag on for years. It is something there is no way of effectively predicting,” he added.
Professor Gross points out that even if new wind farms become more common, in their present state, the UK’s power grid lacks the infrastructure to carry this new electricity between regions effectively. This means any benefits of the new farms could fall short of their ultimate potential to improve the lives of consumers.
“Upgrading the grid to get wind power by wire from Scotland, the North Sea and other windy locations is essential,” he said.