The Welsh government has announced plans to ban traditional steel pylons from supporting electricity lines under its control, favouring instead the radical concept of burying cables underground - a move that has apparently surprised no one who has ever looked at a pylon and thought, "Could that be less visible? Yes."
Plaid Cymru ministers are behind the proposal, which was a manifesto pledge before May's Senedd election. The party's enthusiasm for undergrounding may or may not be related to the fierce local backlash against a planned pylon network in the Towy Valley, where local Plaid politicians have been loudly speaking out against the proposals. Democracy, it turns out, is largely about where you put the wires.
The company behind those plans, Green Gen Cymru, said it welcomed the consultation and supports using "the right infrastructure in the right place" - a phrase that sounds reasonable until you remember that "the right place" is apparently never anywhere near anyone's view.
Launching the consultation on Friday, the Welsh government said undergrounding electricity circuits could "reduce the visual impact of electricity infrastructure, helping to protect landscapes and local amenity." It also noted that buried cables could be less vulnerable to severe weather and reduce potential impacts on birds and other wildlife. The consultation document did, however, acknowledge the catch: undergrounding is "generally considered more expensive to install and maintain and could create construction impacts during installation." In other words, it's better for everything except the budget and the temporary mess.
The policy would still allow wooden poles or "equivalent, less intrusive infrastructure" to support overhead cables where undergrounding isn't feasible - because a wooden pole is basically a pylon that went to therapy and decided to be less dramatic.
Green Gen has plans for three major power line routes connecting onshore wind farms planned by its sister company Bute Energy to the wider grid network. It has previously said it would invest nearly £1bn by 2030, with proposals affecting parts of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Powys and Shropshire. But it has faced considerable opposition in certain communities, with groups representing hundreds of landowners taking the company to court in 2025 - a legal battle that presumably made everyone feel very energized.
In a bid to address concerns, Green Gen recently unveiled a "slim and compact" 22 metre (72ft) pylon, designed "with the Welsh landscape in mind." The company has consistently said that undergrounding its cables would cost on average 4.5 times more than running them overhead, which would mean an extra £500m for the Towy Usk project between Carmarthenshire and Powys. That's a lot of money to spend on not seeing something.
Welsh Energy Minister Adam Price said: "We know the necessary changes in the way energy is generated and used in Wales will require new grid infrastructure, however, we also know that new infrastructure can impact on the communities and the environment that hosts it. We want to see infrastructure that is sensitively designed to minimise impacts on the environment and the communities that host them, while offering the maximum benefits for Wales." A statement that manages to be both true and completely noncommittal, which is the political equivalent of a shrug.
Andrew Hardcastle, executive director at Green Gen Cymru, said: "We welcome the Welsh government's consultation and its recognition of the importance of delivering the electricity infrastructure Wales needs in a way that is sensitive to our landscapes, environment and communities. Like all grid companies across the UK, we believe there is no one-size-fits-all solution to developing new electricity networks. Our approach is to use the right infrastructure in the right place, drawing on a range of technologies including underground cables, wooden poles and our recently announced lower-profile monopoles." The company added it was "pleased that the consultation recognises the potential role of less visually intrusive overhead infrastructure, including monopoles, and invites evidence on their use." A monopole, for the uninitiated, is a pylon that has been on a diet.
Reform's Senedd spokesperson for rural affairs, Laura Anne Jones, said: "As part of our energy policy, we will continue to push for new power lines to be placed underground wherever possible, protecting our landscapes and rural communities. Reform will always stand up for our countryside and fight against its industrialisation." The Welsh Conservatives also welcomed the consultation. Their environment spokesperson, Andrew RT Davies, said: "We recognise that Wales needs a modern electricity network to support economic growth, but communities should not have to accept eyesores across our beautiful natural landscapes, which must be conserved." So, consensus: everyone hates pylons, nobody wants to pay for burying them, and the consultation will run until 15 January 2027 - giving everyone plenty of time to admire the view while they still can.
Eirian Edwards, a campaigner in the Llandovery Pylon Group, said: "We welcome that they are seriously looking at undergrounding as the preferred option - to protect landscapes and people's livelihoods. If infrastructure has to be planned, then we're not against that process at all. We realise that we need to strengthen our local grid, but certain projects that are planned do not fulfil that at all." Dyfan Walters, a farmer in Llandovery and member of the group, called it "a positive day for us. We're fully supportive and understand that the infrastructure is required. Putting that underground means that there's less impact on agriculture, less impact on tourism. In a world where there's an ever-changing climate, having that resilience - having infrastructure placed underground - is a sensible way forward." A rare moment of agreement in Welsh politics: yes to electricity, no to looking at it.