The leader of Carmarthenshire Council has rejected a conflict of interest claim about a pension fund investment in an energy company whose subsidiary would need council planning permission for an electricity substation.
Cllr Darren Price was asked at a cabinet meeting what steps he was taking to avoid such a potential conflict given what resident Havard Hughes claimed was “Carmarthenshire’s pension fund investment” in Bute Energy, whose subsidiary Green GEN Cymru wants to link a planned wind farm near Llandrindod Wells to a new substation south of Carmarthen via 60 miles of new pylons.
Cllr Price said there was no such thing as a Carmarthenshire pension fund, but councillors and officers were members of the ‘separate and autonomous’ Dyfed Pension Fund, which was a member of the Wales Pension Partnership umbrella.
He said the partnership was committed to investing in Bute Energy wind farms, and that Dyfed Pension Fund money was not being invested in the proposed Towy Usk project.
Cllr Price added the decision to invest in the wind farms pre-dated the proposed scheme – which he felt was insensitive and inappropriate and said a decision would be guided by planning policy.
Green GEN Cymru says undergrounding the entire route could make the project unviable.