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Energy bills to rise after £28bn grid upgrades get green light
The Guardian
|December 05, 2025
Households face higher bills after network companies were given the green light to spend £28bn on Great Britain's gas and electricity grids.
The energy watchdog, Ofgem, approved more than £17.8bn of spending plans to upgrade gas transmission and distribution networks in the five years from April 2026.
A further £10.3bn will be used to rewire the high-voltage electricity network - the biggest expansion of the grid since the 1960s.
The plans are higher than the £24bn budget proposed by the regulator in the summer and are part of a wider "investment pipeline" into new projects and upgrades over the next five years, which could cost an estimated £90bn if approved.
This will fund more than 80 projects, including new high-voltage power cables, and upgrades to overhead wires, ahead of the government's plan to become a green energy superpower by the end of the decade.
Ofgem approved investment proposals from energy companies including National Grid, SSE and Scottish Power.
This story is from the December 05, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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