Home / Environment / £288m Bill to Erase Snowdonia's Pylons
£288m Bill to Erase Snowdonia's Pylons
17 Jan
Summary
- £288m cost to remove 10 pylons in Snowdonia National Park.
- Funds for removal come from customer and business bills.
- Removal aims to protect landscapes from 1950s-era infrastructure.
A substantial £288m cost will be borne by households and businesses for the removal of ten electricity pylons spanning the Dwyryd Estuary within Snowdonia National Park. National Grid's project aims to eliminate these structures, criticized as detrimental to the area's natural beauty. This expenditure, which surpasses the combined budgets of the UK's national park authorities, is financed through customer bills.
The initiative has also drawn criticism from anti-pylon groups protesting National Grid's concurrent plans to install 6,000 new pylons nationwide. Campaigners argue the Snowdonia removal proves pylons are visually disruptive. National Grid explained that the pylons, erected in the 1950s and 1960s under different planning policies, are being replaced by underground cables to align with current national policy for protected landscapes.
This Snowdonia scheme is the most expensive of five similar projects across England and Wales, collectively costing £1bn. Two projects have concluded in Dorset and the Peak District, while two others are ongoing in North Wessex Downs and the Cotswolds. A tunneling machine is expected to finish work under the estuary this year, paving the way for the pylons' removal.
