We have a plot of land and are moving to detailed planning permission ready to build early next year (hopefully.

We have applied for a new power supply via the regional infrastructure supplier Western Power Distribution.

Having taken some 3 months to respond to our request for a price they have now come back and told us that we have to pay 12% of a new transformer and 100% of other costs as the supply in the area is insufficient. They are now saying the cost of providing the supply is over £10,000. Surely the infrastructure is their business, they pay for it, manage it etc and then pass on a connection cost to us. Their overhead cost (which seems to be around £9000) seems excessive and a bit of a try-on given they are a monopoly (who only made £250M profit last year!).

Are they within their rights to make us pay for the infrastructure uplift they need to do? It is not like we are building on a mountainside or private island, just along a road front. Existing power lines run within 3 metres of the property.

Thanks

Asked by alexpduk