Burnham to Unveil Public Grid Company to Cut Connection Delays
Andy Burnham is expected to announce a new publicly owned company to invest in Britain's electricity grid on Tuesday afternoon in Liverpool. It will be his first party conference speech as Labour leader.
Labour said the company will be called Great British Grid, or GB Grid. It will compete for new connection projects alongside the three private firms that own and run the grid in Britain BBC. Ministers said added competition should speed up hook-ups.
Labour said GB Grid would also support firms that want to fund their own connection, including through joint investment. Burnham is expected to say it will work with private business and the network companies Yahoo News.
Ministers said funding will come from the existing budget of GB Energy. That is the public green investment company Labour set up last year and based in Aberdeen. The money is not new.
Ofgem, the energy regulator, said £70bn of investment is needed in the grid between 2025 and 2031. Labour said a public competitor can help deliver the work and shorten waits for connections.
Burnham is also expected to promise to bring UK energy costs into line with other nations in Europe within ten years. The next general election must legally be held by August 2029 at the latest.
The speech comes two months after Burnham became prime minister Reuters. He was mayor of Manchester before that. His government said it will cut taxes on electricity bills at a cost of £1.8 billion, with the household cut from 1 October saving around £45 on the average bill Reuters.
That followed earlier action to take £150 on average off bills from April 2026 and to expand the £150 Warm Home Discount. On 26 September, Burnham said it was crucial to have stability in the public finances Reuters.
Ministers said the grid plan sits alongside Labour's community energy offer. Great British Energy has started a first wave of public community investment, which the government described as the biggest in UK history, to help local areas cut bills GOV.UK. Ministers have promised up to £1 billion for local projects to own and run their own energy, including £10 million for local government announced last year.
The broader context here will be familiar to Westminster watchers. Paying for a new body from an existing pot avoids a fresh spending pledge, which fits ministers' recent language on the finances. It also puts government in the dual role of player and referee. For grid owners, developers waiting for a connection and investors who follow Ofgem's price controls, the practical questions are how contracts are let, how much the new body can spend and how planning consent is won. A ten year pledge on European prices gives Labour a yardstick. It also gives its opponents one.
