The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has been warned he faces battlegrounds across the country over plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoilt rural areas to deliver a “clean power” revolution.
Council leaders and communities oppose proposals for a vast new network of pylons across large parts of several counties, including Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
There are calls for community compensation of “hundreds of millions of pounds” if the schemes are pushed through.
The proposals are part of a £30bn National Grid overhaul – including the “great grid upgrade” plan announced last year – with connections to proposed vast new solar farms, battery storage facilities and offshore windfarms. A new generation of gas power stations may also be built and plugged into the upgraded grid to back up renewable energy and prevent the risk of blackouts.
“These pylons will desecrate the landscape,…
