Haltwhistle homeowners face £80k bill to get electric supply
Jul 30 2010 by Paul Tully, The Journal
OWNERS of two 300-year-old stone cottages face an £80,000 electric shock after being short-circuited by a little-known piece of Government legislation.
The bolt from the blue hit businessman Lee Dodd and his partner Fiona, plus landlord and neighbour Barry Norman, who live at Howburn Cottages, near Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
Neither of the buildings has mains electricity and they hoped to have a supply line installed via a planned nearby rail power link for as little as £1,500.
But now they have learned that Parliamentary legislation means they have to wait five years – or fork out up to £40,000 each now.
“It’s blown us out of the water,” said Lee, 46, who runs his own vehicle finance and supply business. “We haven’t got £40,000 and this means we will have to remain without electricity.
“We use generators which are noisy and polluting, but we cannot have a cheap, clean electricity supply.
“The ‘clawback’ law, as it is known, is there to protect third parties from having their supplies used by others.
“But in our case it means we cannot have electricity.” Lee hoped to be able to access electricity through a planned new supply on the nearby Newcastle-Carlisle railway line.
