Great British Energy (GBE) published its five-year strategic plan on 4 December 2025, setting out three core priorities that will shape its work through to 20301. The plan names them as GBE Local, Onshore Energy and Offshore Energy1.
GBE Local is described as supporting community-owned and local energy projects so that residents and public services directly benefit from the infrastructure they host1. Onshore Energy covers unlocking the potential of public land and investing to support system flexibility and grid stability1. Offshore Energy is aimed at growth in Scotland and the Celtic Sea through deeper-water offshore wind projects1. The strategy also sets a focus on strengthening UK supply chains, relieving constraints, supporting industrial growth and contributing to a clean-power manufacturing base, summarised in the plan as "Energy, engineered in the UK."1
The same announcement covered a separate decision by Ofgem, which confirmed a £28 billion investment package to upgrade and expand the energy networks1. Of that, £17.8 billion is allocated to reinforcing the gas network and £10.3 billion to electricity transmission upgrades1. The programme will fund 80 transmission projects over the next five years, including new power lines, substations and advanced technologies1.
On costs, the announcement states the investment will add around £108 to household bills by 2031, with anticipated system savings of £80 reducing the net impact to approximately £301. No breakdown of how those figures were calculated, or how they would fall across nations or customer groups, is given in the announcement1.
"We have had excellent dialogue with GBE, and they understand the need to work with the UK supply chain to help create clean-power jobs and a circular clean-energy economy."
Jason Howlett also said that energy storage projects, both short and long duration, must be a focus alongside grid investment to take pressure off the network1. The Energy Storage Association describes itself as independent1.
Why it matters for households
The two announcements sit on different sides of the meter. The Ofgem package is money spent on wires and pipes, and the announcement puts a figure on what that is expected to cost households: around £108 added to bills by 2031, reduced to roughly £30 net once anticipated system savings of £80 are counted1. Those are projections, not billed amounts, and the announcement does not set out how they would be spread over years or across regions.
For a home's energy independence, the GBE priorities point at where public money and support are intended to go: local and community-owned projects, public land for onshore generation and flexibility, and offshore wind in Scotland and the Celtic Sea1. Community-owned schemes are the part of the plan most directly connected to households hosting infrastructure, since GBE Local is framed around residents and public services benefiting from what they host1. The supply-chain element concerns where equipment and components are made rather than what a household pays or generates1.
The plan does not set out household-level grants, tariffs or eligibility rules, and none are reported in the announcement1. For context on the bodies that publish UK home energy data, see Who Publishes UK Home Energy Data: Bodies, Trade Associations and Trackers, and for the wider policy background, the regulation and policy hub. Figures on generation, prices and consumption sit in the official energy statistics publications, with local breakdowns in regional and local authority energy consumption statistics. Background on the company itself is in Great British Energy: What It Is and What It Has Funded.
What happens next
The GBE plan covers work through to 20301. The Ofgem programme is described as funding 80 transmission projects over the next five years1. No further dated milestones, delivery dates or review points are given in the announcement1.