Putting new power lines underground could push up electricity bills, Welsh Labour has warned.
Vikki Howells, Labour MS for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr and the party’s energy spokesperson, said: “Burying cables can cost five times as much as overhead lines, making electric more expensive and decarbonisation more difficult.”
The Welsh Government wants new lines of up to 132kV buried by default, and two other opposition parties are behind it. Still unanswered: whether the rule would cover the two lines planned down the Towy Valley.
Underground cables should stay an option, says Labour, just not the default
Howells is not against buried cables altogether. Going underground should “absolutely remain available” where the landscape, the environment or other circumstances justify it, she said.
Her objection is to making it the default. She warned: “But a blanket presumption risks increasing the cost of delivering clean energy, damaging the very habitats it is intended to protect and placing additional pressure on agricultural land.”
The Welsh Government accepts that buried cables generally cost more to install and maintain. It says the cost of the network is “ultimately met through utility bills”.
On the plus side, the Government says, buried lines are less exposed to some severe weather and can reduce harm to birds and other wildlife.
For Plaid Cymru, the plan keeps an election promise. Adam Price, Plaid MS for Sir Gaerfyrddin and Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, has said the Government is “delivering on our manifesto commitment to end the use of steel lattice pylons”.
Howells saved her sharpest words for the other parties: “This is yet another issue on which Plaid Cymru, Reform and the Tories are united, putting our economy and environment at grave risk.”
Towy Valley power lines: Reform wants to know if the new rules will apply
Reform UK wants new power lines underground “wherever possible”. Its deputy leader in Wales, Laura Anne Jones, MS for Sir Fynwy Torfaen, said: “Welsh Government must make clear whether its undergrounding policy will apply to projects already in the pipeline.”
She said Green GEN Cymru was pushing ahead with plans for “60 miles of overhead lines” in the valley.
She added: “We’ve visited affected farmers and landowners and seen what this would mean for their livelihoods and the picturesque landscape of that valley that heavily relies on tourism.”
Green GEN has already swapped steel towers for single poles around 22 metres tall on both of its routes. It says burying the lines in full is not economically viable.
Andrew RT Davies backs underground cables to keep ‘eyesores’ off Welsh landscapes
The Welsh Conservatives are on the same side as Reform. Andrew RT Davies, Conservative MS for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg and shadow minister for farming and the environment, said: “We welcome this consultation and the move towards making underground cables the default for new electricity lines in Wales.”
Wales needed a modern electricity network, he said, “but communities should not have to accept eyesores across our beautiful natural landscapes, which must be conserved”.
The Welsh Government’s consultation on the plan closes on 15 January 2027.
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