Energy bills to rise after £28bn grid upgrades get green light

Households face higher bills after network companies were given the green light to spend £28bn on Great Britain's gas and electricity grids.

- Jillian Ambrose Alex Lawson

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.