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SSE PLC and National Grid PLC on Thursday reported they will review the full details of a £28 billion funding package announced by the UK energy watchdog, though the duo for now said they ‘welcome’ the framework. SSE is a Perth, Scotland-based electricity generator. National Grid is a London-based electricity and gas utility. Ofgem announced a £28 billion investment which it said will go towards a ‘safe, secure and resilient energy grid’. ‘Energy network companies have been given the green light for multi-billion-pound funding to strengthen the stability security and resilience of our energy networks. This investment will upgrade power and gas grids, creating a future-ready system that better shields customers from volatile energy bills,’ Ofgem said. It explained £17.8 billion of the funds will go towards the maintenance of Britain’s gas networks. ‘This essential investment ensures a safe and reliable energy system for years to come,’ it added. Ofgem said £10.3 billion will ‘strengthen our electricity transmission network, improve reliability and expand capacity’. ‘Together this £28 billion commitment will rise to an estimated £90 billion by 2031 across both gas and electricity networks,’ the regulator said. SSE’s SSEN Transmission arm said that based on an initial assessment, it welcomed ‘improvements to baseline total expenditure’. ‘However, a detailed assessment is required to determine the overall investability of the package,’ it added. ‘With more material to be released by Ofgem over the next few days, SSEN Transmission will review and assess the price control package in its entirety over the coming weeks, including the proposed licence changes due to be consulted upon shortly.’ SSEN said the investment will help reduce reliance on energy imported from overseas. It will also remove bottlenecks in the grid and could serve as a ‘major catalyst for economic growth’, SSEN added. National Grid, meanwhile, said it welcomed Ofgem recognising the need for ‘significant investment into the electricity transmission sector’. ‘We will now review in detail the full package contained within the final determination, to assess how Ofgem have addressed the critical points we raised in our draft determination response, and therefore whether it delivers an overall framework that is both investable and workable,’ the firm added. Ofgem said the measures add £108 to household bills by 2031, £48 for gas and £60 for electricity. However, it said the bumper investment programme will better protect consumers from ‘gas price/shocks/like the one/seen/in 2022’. ‘Alongside maintaining grid resilience this investment will deliver significant savings of around £80 compared to not expanding the grid,’ Ofgem said. ‘Electricity/grid expansion/alone is expected/to/reduce/bills/by/£50/by 2031, thanks/to/lower reliance/on imported gas and/the/halting of constraint costs ensuring power/flows efficiently/from where it’s/generated/to where/it’s needed, even at peak demand. In short,/investing now is cheaper for consumers than/delaying,/and electricity grid investment more than pays for itself.’ It continued: ‘Overall/the net increase in bills to cover all costs by 2031 will be around/£30/or less than £3 per month/with costs expected to/fall/further over time.’ National Grid shares were down 0.7% at 1,135.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. SSE was down 2.2% at 2,178.00p. SSE shares have gone ex-dividend on Thursday, meaning new buyers will not qualify for the most recent payout. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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