Reform UK Threatens Legal Challenges to National Grid Projects

Reform UK threatened to use the nation’s courts to delay major electricity grid projects, opening a new political front against Britain’s plans to rapidly expand offshore wind power and modernize the energy system.

After gaining ground in the local elections earlier this month, the party could seek judicial reviews to delay new transmission projects, including along a key route in eastern England, Richard Tice, energy spokesman and deputy leader, said in an interview in Birmingham. If the party was elected nationally, it could force National Grid Plc to bury cables underground instead of using overhead pylons, with shareholders footing the bill, he said.