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Stephen Todd says investment in Britain’s electricity network could unlock private energy generation, cut industrial energy costs and give UK manufacturers a stronger platform for growth.
29 September 2026
e2 Energy Partners has welcomed plans for the new Great British Grid, saying investment in Britain’s electricity infrastructure could unlock one of the biggest opportunities in decades to reduce energy costs for UK industry.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to announce the creation of Great British Grid, a publicly owned body within Great British Energy designed to accelerate electricity connections, increase renewable generation and support the Government’s drive for reindustrialisation.
The new organisation will have access to a funding pot of up to £4 billion, while businesses are also expected to be given greater rights to build their own grid connections.
For Stephen Todd, Head of Partnerships at e2 Energy Partners, the significance goes far beyond simply building more cables.
He believes a stronger and more flexible electricity network could dramatically improve the ability of businesses to generate, connect to and consume locally produced renewable energy.
Todd said:
“There is an argument we hear constantly: if renewable electricity is cheaper to generate, why aren’t our energy bills getting cheaper?”
“The answer lies partly in how our electricity market works.”
Wind and solar are generally among the cheapest forms of electricity generation. However, Britain operates a marginal wholesale electricity market, meaning the most expensive generation required to meet demand can set the market price for that trading period.
Because gas-fired generation remains an important part of balancing the electricity system, movements in international gas prices can therefore continue to influence the price businesses ultimately pay for electricity.
Todd continued:
“Renewables themselves are not the fundamental problem. The issue is that we still need gas and other flexible generation to balance the system, and our wholesale market reflects the cost of that marginal generation.”
“There is no magic switch that changes that overnight. We need a secure and balanced electricity system.”
“But there is something we can do much faster for British industry: generate more energy closer to where it is consumed.”
Todd says the expansion of distributed generation, private-wire networks and behind-the-meter renewable infrastructure could provide businesses with a more immediate route to reducing their exposure to wholesale market volatility and certain network and third-party charges.
Private-wire arrangements can allow electricity generated from a nearby renewable asset to be supplied directly to an industrial user rather than travelling through the conventional public network for the entirety of its journey.
But historically, connecting new generation has often been constrained by electricity network capacity and lengthy connection queues.
Todd said:
“Our distribution networks were largely designed around electricity travelling in one direction — from large power stations, through the transmission network, through local distribution networks and finally into businesses and homes.”
“What we are now asking that system to do is very different.”
“We are creating thousands of potential generation points across the country. Solar farms, wind generation, batteries and other technologies increasingly need networks that can both receive and distribute electricity.”
“That requires investment.”
The proposed Great British Grid is intended to accelerate connections for businesses and renewable generation, increase competition and support reindustrialisation.
Burnham is expected to say:
“We have a cost crisis. We all know it. The price of energy is crippling for businesses, and British bill payers pay some of the highest energy costs in Europe.”
He is also expected to tell Labour's conference:
“Within 10 years, I want our energy costs to be in line with other nations in Europe. That means we must reform a broken energy market so it serves the public interest.”
Todd said the infrastructure required to achieve that ambition is just as important as the generation itself.
“If Britain can unlock significantly more distributed renewable generation, two important things happen.”
“First, as more low-cost renewable energy enters the electricity system, our reliance on expensive fossil-fuel generation can reduce over time.”
“But secondly — and for industry this is the big one — businesses gain much greater opportunities to connect directly to local generation through private wire and behind-the-meter infrastructure.”
The Government has already acknowledged the impact electricity prices are having on British competitiveness.
Its British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is designed to reduce electricity costs for eligible manufacturers by exempting them from several policy-related electricity charges. Government guidance says the scheme could reduce costs by around £35–£40 per MWh for qualifying businesses from 2027.
Todd welcomed the intervention but said infrastructure capable of supporting greater private generation could deliver an additional long-term opportunity.
He said:
“The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme is welcome. Britain cannot talk seriously about reindustrialisation without talking seriously about energy.”
“But reducing charges through Government intervention is only part of the answer.”
“Private wire and behind-the-meter generation give businesses the opportunity to structurally change the way they buy and consume electricity.”
“That is why grid investment matters so much.”
e2 Energy Partners develops fully funded private energy solutions for major energy users, including renewable generation and infrastructure designed to reduce businesses’ exposure to volatile wholesale markets without requiring the customer to fund the upfront capital investment.
Todd concluded:
“For years, businesses have been told to accept energy volatility as an unavoidable cost of doing business.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“More network capacity means more generation can connect. More generation means more opportunities for private wire. And more private energy gives British industry another tool to control one of its biggest operating costs.”
“If Britain genuinely wants a new era of industrialisation, we have to give businesses access to the energy infrastructure needed to compete.”
“Today’s announcement is potentially a very important step towards doing exactly that.”
Distributed by Pressat
No media attached. Please contact e2 Energy Partners for more information.