On 11 March 2025, the government introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Bill) to Parliament. The Bill has been described by the government as “the next step to fix the foundations of our economy and rebuild Britain.” It therefore covers a wide range of issues and sectors of the economy, although measures relating to the energy sector have particular prominence. We briefly outline three of the key measures: (i) grid connections reform, (ii) long duration energy storage (LDES) and (iii) bill rebates for those living near some power lines below.

1. Grid Connection reform 

The provisions in the Bill do not address directly the substantive changes currently under consideration in the ongoing connections reform process. Instead, they provide powers for the Secretary of State (SoS) and Ofgem to make modifications to various documents including licences, industry codes and agreements. These are time limited powers that can be used for the purpose of improving the process for managing connections to the transmission system or the distribution system.

The procedure is bespoke and, in the case of Ofgem, sits outside of its normal powers and procedures for licence modifications under the Electricity Act 1989 (EA89). In addition to this, specific powers would be given to the SoS or Ofgem instruct the NESO or a distribution network operator to modify a connection agreement. 

The government has indicated that these are intended to be back-stop powers to be used if the existing connections reform processes faces significant delays or fails to deliver intended benefits, including alignment with strategic energy plans. The Explanatory Memorandum published alongside the Bill, uses the following example to illustrate the government’s intended use of them: 

“A reformed connections process will require complex amendments to codes and licences and the existing processes for modifications may not deliver the required amendments in time. In the event of delays to implementation, the government or GEMA could expedite a set of changes outside the standard process.”

The government’s view is that its “willingness to legislate is also intended to provide certainty to all parties on the direction of travel for connections.”

2. Long Duration Energy Storage 

Our previous updates (see Facilitating investment in long duration energy storage and Incentivising Long Duration Electricity Storage – Ofgem’s call for input) provide an overview of the government and Ofgem decisions to date to introduce a cap and floor mechanism to support LDES. The Bill also includes a provision on this area which would amend the EA89 to impose on Ofgem a specific duty to introduce a cap and floor mechanism. It also defines what constitutes LDES for these purposes, referring to the generating capacity and the time period over which electricity can be generated. Government attempts to future proof this definition by giving an ability for the SoS to modify the definition, although 8 hours would – under the current version of the Bill – remain the minimum. 

In parallel, Ofgem and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published their Technical Decision Document on 11 March 2025. This confirms key final details of the scheme and sets out how it will operate, application window timelines, eligibility criteria, the potential LDES capacity needed, among other technical details.

3. Bill Discount Scheme

The Bill also provides the SoS with powers to establish a Bill Discount Scheme (BDS) for households closest to new electricity transmission infrastructure. The details of the BDS would be set out in secondary legislation. Its aim is to “boost community acceptance of new transmission infrastructure by ensuring communities directly benefit from their proximity to the new infrastructure.” 

The government has explained separately that its current minded-to position is that eligible customers would receive bill discounts of up to £250 a year for up to 10 years. Electricity suppliers will be subject to an obligation to fund the scheme.

In addition to the above energy related provisions, the Bill as a whole deserves attention by those with an interest in infrastructure development from a variety of different perspectives. For example, other changes – not explored here – include provisions to amend the scope of judicial review claims in relation to certain planning decisions. This measure follows Lord Banner KC’s independent review (see our comments).

The Bill remains at a very early stage of the process, with (at the time of writing) no date set for its Second Reading in the House of Commons. There remains therefore significant scope for these provisions (and its measures as whole) to develop further.