ACCESS and Regen submit joint response to DESNZ consultation on bill discounts for transmission network infrastructure
Published on 9 October 2025
ACCESS Director Professor Patrick Devine-Wright (University of Exeter) and Dr Rebecca Windemer, Planning Lead at Regen and ACCESS Leadership College Fellow recently submitted a joint response to the DESNZ consultation on bill discounts for transmission network infrastructure.
The joint response draws on research and lessons from international case studies, including Irish grid operator EirGrid’s pilot community fund.
The authors welcome the government’s proposal to provide those affected by new transmission network infrastructure with a range of community benefits, including direct bill discounts and community funds.
In order to help ensure the scheme achieves its intended benefits while keeping fairness at its core, they also make the following key recommendations:
- Define spatial boundaries for community benefits based on visual impacts and topography to ensure all affected properties can participate.
- Ensure the opt-in process is widely accessible, supported by capacity-building and awareness-raising, monitored for fairness, and extended to all directly affected stakeholders, including hard-to-reach communities and impacted businesses.
- Clearly publicise, in an accessible format, the rationale for the 10-year scheme duration, the proposed discount amount, and the 500m distance threshold.