Could You Get the £2,500 Pylon Bill Discount? 43 Projects Are Now Named
- Aug 12
- 9 min read
Last checked: 12th of August 2026.
If you live close to a new electricity pylon, power line or major grid upgrade, your electricity bill could be reduced by as much as £2,500 over the next 10 years.
The Government has now named the first 43 electricity transmission projects expected to fall within its new pylon bill discount scheme, covering communities from northern Scotland to North Wales and the south of England. Eligible households are expected to receive up to £250 a year towards their electricity costs.
There are some fairly big qualifications behind that £2,500 headline. You won't receive £2,500 in one go, living near any existing pylon isn't enough, and having one of the 43 projects in your area doesn't yet guarantee that your home qualifies. The project must meet the scheme rules and your property must fall inside the final 500m eligibility zone.
Who qualifies for the new electricity bill discount?
The pylon bill discount is intended for households living within 500m of qualifying new or significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure. That can include overhead transmission lines and pylons, as well as associated infrastructure such as substations, converter stations and switching stations where they meet the scheme conditions.
The 500m measurement isn't something households will be expected to work out with Google Maps and a tape measure. The scheme administrator will create an official eligibility zone using geographical information supplied by the transmission network companies, then match properties using address and electricity supply data. If part of a property's physical boundary falls inside the official zone, the Government's current scheme design says it should be treated as eligible.
There is another condition worth knowing about. Projects need to have received the necessary approvals and started their main construction work before payments can begin, with the current scheme covering eligible projects whose main construction began on or after the 10th of March last year. Some projects announced on the first list are still awaiting consent, so appearing on today's list isn't the same thing as being finally confirmed.
How much will you actually get?
Eligible households are expected to receive up to £250 a year for as many as 10 years, making the maximum pylon bill discount £2,500. The Government says most payments will be made through electricity suppliers every six months, rather than arriving as a separate £2,500 payment.
That distinction matters when working out what the scheme could actually mean for your household budget. A £250 annual reduction is equivalent to just under £21 a month when averaged across the year, although the money isn't expected to be applied monthly. It is still a meaningful saving, but it shouldn't be confused with suddenly having £2,500 available to spend.
The Government's impact assessment previously estimated that between 120,000 and 160,000 households could eventually receive discounts, although the final figure will depend on which projects go ahead and exactly where the completed infrastructure is situated. More projects can also be added as the scheme develops.
Can you apply for the £2,500 pylon bill discount now?
No, there is nothing most households need to apply for at the moment. The new list is intended to give people an early indication that their area could be covered, with eligibility starting to be confirmed once qualifying projects reach the required stage.
Most households with an ordinary domestic electricity account are expected to receive the pylon bill discount automatically. Their electricity supplier will apply the reduction to the account, while Ofgem will administer the wider scheme and identify which properties qualify. Households are expected to receive more information in the first half of next year.
A smaller group of households may need to apply, particularly where the property doesn't have a standard domestic electricity supply arrangement. The Government says an opt-in route is planned for eligible households on alternative arrangements such as some commercial meters, with further details to come before payments start.
Which 43 projects could qualify?
The Government's first list contains 43 transmission projects across England, Scotland and Wales. Scotland accounts for the largest share, with 32 projects on the initial list, compared with 10 in England and one in Wales.
This isn't yet a list of individual homes entitled to the discount. Several projects still need planning consent or other approvals, and only the qualifying elements of each project will count when the final 500m zones are mapped. The official project list is therefore best treated as an early indication that your area may be affected.
England
National Grid Electricity Transmission projects currently listed are:
Bramford to Twinstead, East Anglia
Norwich to Tilbury, East Anglia and the East of England
Eastern Green Link 3 converter station, East of England
Eastern Green Link 4 converter station, East of England
Sea Link converter station, East Anglia
Grimsby to Walpole, Yorkshire and the Humber and East of England
North Humber to High Marnham, Midlands
Brinsworth to High Marnham, Yorkshire and the Humber and Midlands
Chesterfield to Willington, Midlands
North London Reinforcement, London and the South of England
Scotland
Projects from SSEN Transmission currently listed are:
Banniskirk Hub substation and converter station, North Scotland
Cambushinnie substation, North and central Scotland
Fort Augustus Substation upgrade, North Scotland
Spittal to Loch Buidhe to Beauly overhead line, North and North West Scotland
Beauly to Peterhead overhead line, North and North East Scotland
Carnaig substation, North Scotland
Hurlie Substation, North East Scotland
Kintore to Tealing overhead line, North East Scotland
New Fanellan substation and converter station, North Scotland
Creag Dhubh to Dalmally overhead line, West Scotland
Edinbane substation, West Scotland
Broadford substation, West Scotland
Skye overhead line reinforcement, West Scotland
Netherton Hub, North East Scotland
Tealing to Westfield overhead line, central and east Scotland
Bingally Substation, North Scotland
Greens (New Deer 2) substation, North East Scotland
Lewis Hub, West Scotland
Emmock Substation, North East Scotland
Crarae Substation, West Scotland
SP Energy Networks projects currently listed are:
Coalburn Substation, central Scotland
Mark Hill Substation, South West Scotland
Stranoch overhead line and substation, South West Scotland
Chirmorie, South West Scotland
Branxton Substation, South East Scotland
Sanquhar Substation, South Scotland
Denny to Wishaw Reinforcement, central and south Scotland
Eastern Subsea Link from Westfield to South Humber, east Scotland
Kincardine North to Tealing Substation, east Scotland
Kincardine North Substation, east Scotland
Kincardine North to Wishaw Reinforcement, central and east Scotland
Gala North to Harker Area, Scottish Borders
Wales
The first list contains one Welsh project:
Pentir to Trawsfynydd, North Wales
No Northern Ireland projects are included because the Bill Discount Scheme applies to England, Scotland and Wales rather than the whole of the UK. That distinction is easy to miss when the scheme is described as a UK Government announcement.
Do you qualify if there is already a pylon near your home?
Living next to an existing pylon isn't enough on its own to qualify for the pylon bill discount. The scheme is aimed at new transmission infrastructure and certain major upgrades to existing routes, rather than providing a general discount to everybody who already lives near electricity infrastructure.
Some upgrades can qualify, including particular projects where an existing line is significantly increased in capacity or voltage, or where wooden poles are replaced by steel lattice pylons as part of qualifying works. Larger qualifying substation extensions can also fall within the scheme. The Government has set criteria for these upgrades rather than treating every repair or alteration as eligible.
That means spotting an existing pylon outside your window doesn't tell you whether you qualify. Check whether your area appears on the Government's expected project list first, then wait for the official property-level eligibility information. Households shouldn't pay anybody offering to “register” them for the scheme at this stage.
Can renters get the pylon bill discount?
Yes, renters can potentially benefit because the scheme is based primarily on the eligible property rather than requiring the resident to own it. Where the tenant has the electricity account in their own name, the normal automatic payment process should apply if the property qualifies.
The situation becomes more complicated when a landlord, managing agent or another person pays the electricity bill and then charges residents through their rent or an all-inclusive arrangement. The Government's scheme design says eligible residents should still receive the benefit, and it intends to place a legal requirement on the intermediary receiving the discount to pass it on.
That is worth remembering once payments begin. A tenant whose landlord controls the electricity account shouldn't simply assume the £250 belongs to the landlord because their name appears on the supplier account. The scheme administrator is expected to have powers to investigate cases where an intermediary doesn't pass an eligible benefit on to residents.
What about second homes and new-build properties?
Second homes on standard domestic electricity meters are currently expected to be included if the property otherwise qualifies. The Government considered excluding them but concluded that identifying second and vacant homes reliably would add too much complexity at launch, although it plans to keep the position under review.
New-build properties are treated differently because the scheme is intended to compensate properties that were already there when the new infrastructure arrived. A property created after a project's eligibility area has been formally recorded may therefore miss out, while homes already under development and registered before that point may still qualify.
Those details won't affect the majority of households, but they show why simply measuring 500m from a power line won't give you a definite answer. The final decision will depend on the Government's property data and the timing of the infrastructure project.
Who pays for the £2,500 discounts?
The discounts aren't being funded by taking £2,500 from the electricity network company and handing it directly to each nearby household. The Government's detailed scheme response says electricity suppliers will be required to fund the scheme and are expected to recover those costs through a small increase spread across customer electricity bills.
In effect, eligible households receive a much larger local benefit while a smaller cost is spread across the wider electricity customer base. The Government hasn't put a household figure for that wider increase in today's announcement, so it would be wrong to put a number on it at this stage.
The Government argues that getting new transmission infrastructure built more quickly could reduce wider costs in the electricity system, particularly the cost of dealing with grid congestion when electricity can't easily be moved from where it is generated to where it is needed. Whether those wider savings feed through to household bills will matter when judging the scheme over the longer term.
Is the £2,500 guaranteed if your project is on the list?
No. The 43 projects announced today are described by the Government as projects “expected” to be eligible, rather than 43 finally approved payment areas.
Some have not yet received planning consent and others may still be subject to appeals. A project must secure the necessary permissions and reach main construction before payments start, and the final infrastructure route determines which homes fall inside the official 500m boundary.
For now, the useful action is simply to check whether a project near you appears on the list. You don't need to submit an application, give anyone your bank details or pay a company to check your entitlement. Most qualifying households are expected to be contacted and credited automatically once the scheme starts.
How does this compare with other electricity bill help?
For a qualifying household, £250 a year is separate from other energy support rather than replacing schemes such as the £150 Warm Home Discount. If you may qualify for that rebate too, my guide to the £150 Warm Home Discountexplains the current eligibility rules and why having the correct name on your electricity account matters.
There are also ways to reduce what you use rather than relying entirely on support schemes. My guide to cutting household energy costs covers practical changes around the home, while the pylon discount is linked purely to where your property is situated and whether the nearby infrastructure qualifies.
The key point for anyone seeing the £2,500 figure today is not to treat it as an immediate cash giveaway. Check the project list, establish whether there is qualifying infrastructure planned near you, then wait for Ofgem or your electricity supplier to confirm whether your property is inside the official zone. If you qualify, most households shouldn't need to chase the payment themselves.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the pylon bill discount?
Eligible households could receive up to £250 a year off their electricity bills for up to 10 years, giving a maximum discount of £2,500. The discount is not a £2,500 lump-sum payment.
How close do I need to live to a pylon to get the discount?
Eligible properties need to fall within the 500m eligibility zone around qualifying new or significantly upgraded electricity transmission infrastructure. Ofgem will administer the scheme and eligible properties will be identified using official mapping and electricity supply data.
Do I need to apply for the pylon bill discount?
Most eligible households are expected to receive the pylon bill discount automatically through their electricity supplier. Some households with alternative electricity arrangements, including certain commercial meters, may need to apply.
Can renters get the pylon bill discount?
Renters can benefit if they live in an eligible property. Where a landlord or other intermediary pays the electricity bill, the Government intends to require them to pass the scheme benefit on to eligible residents.
Do existing pylons qualify for the £2,500 discount?
Simply living near an existing pylon isn't enough to qualify. The scheme covers qualifying new transmission infrastructure and certain significant upgrades to existing infrastructure.
When will the pylon bill discount start?
The first payments are expected in the first half of next year once the necessary legislation is in place and qualifying projects have started construction. Households do not need to apply at this stage.
