Wanted: creative sparks to redesign electricity pylons

By Rupert Steiner for the Daily Mail
Updated: 17:57 EDT, 19 May 2011

National Grid has asked the public to come up with quirky designs for electricity pylons, as it powers up for a £19billion four-year investment programme.

The energy firm issued its rallying cry as it surged past expectations to deliver annual pre-tax earnings up 25 per cent from £1.97billion last year to £2.47billion, helped by improved profit margins in its US business.

Hunting: New designs for the pylon of the future

Investors were rewarded with an 8 per cent increase in their full-year dividend to 36.37p despite the firm having spent a record £3.6billion on infrastructure during the year. 

The UK is estimated to need more than £200billion of investment to update the country’s ageing energy network and National Grid said it would spend around £19billion itself by the end of March 2015.

But it could save a fortune on paying design consultants if its call for innovative pylon designs pays off. 

The firm launched its hunt for the pylon of the future in partnership with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

In a joint statement, they called for a design that ‘has the potential to deliver for future generations, whilst balancing the needs of local communities and preserving the beauty of the countryside’.

DECC secretary Chris Huhne, who has been in the driving seat of the initiative, said it was ‘crucial that we seek the most acceptable ways of accommodating infrastructure in our natural and urban landscapes’. National Grid’s shares rose 8p to 622.5p).