Coniston investment

We're committed to maintaining and improving the power network through our capital network investment programme

SP Electricity North West will deliver a significant programme of work to increase the resilience and reliability of the electricity supply to Coniston and surrounding areas.

With an estimated investment of £16m, this project will provide a significant improvement to the area’s electricity network by increasing resilience, reducing the occurrence and duration of power cuts and supporting the additional demand to help Cumbria achieve its low carbon ambitions and enable the take up of low carbon technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels and heat pumps as well as supporting the region’s economic growth, transport and future electricity infrastructure needs.

The extensive engineering work will take place across a 39km stretch of electrical assets and once complete, Coniston and the surrounding areas will benefit from a more reliable and resilient network which will also support local economic growth, transport, future development and tourism.

These projects support undergrounding for visual amenity (including a Site of Special Scientific Interest), the worst served customer programme and the Storm Arwen fund.

In November 2021 amid Storm Arwen, supplies were lost to Coniston for a considerable period of time. The work we are progressing will increase the resilience of the supply to Coniston primary power network to protect the network during future weather events.

The work includes:

• A new 11,000-volt circuit installed between Coniston & Ambleside to provide additional interconnection in case of a power outage to the 33,000-volt supply.
• Replacing 10 kilometres of 33,000-volt overhead line between Ulverston and Coniston and moving it underground, making the network more resiliant.
• A further 10 kilometres of 33,000-volt overhead line and poles replaced and refurbished between Ulverston and Coniston with modern materials.
• Removing the 11,000-volt overhead line and poles which runs across Blawith Fell and moving it underground to improve the visual impact of the stunning scenery as well as improving the resilience of the network.

Thousands of homes, businesses and visitors will benefit from the new electricity infrastructure across Coniston and also help Cumbria achieve its net zero targets and support economic growth to connect to low carbon technologies such as electric vehicle chargers, solar panels and heat pumps.

We’re strengthening business resilience to ensure continuity for local enterprises, especially those dependent on consistent energy. 

Work is due to commence on Thursday 2nd July 2026 at Bog Lane, Barngates, Ambleside.

We understand there’s never a good time for this kind of work and that it can be disruptive.

Following the award from the regulator of time-limited funding, detailed design, environmental surveys, land access agreements and traffic approvals, work can now start in July 2026. We will be working all year round. This investment means we can carry out essential improvements now to protect supplies and reduce the risk of power interruptions for local residents, businesses and visitors.

To minimise disruption, the work has been carefully phased, with the first 12 weeks taking place on quieter roads before moving onto more sensitive routes later in the programme.