The Welsh government has announced plans to ban the use of traditional steel pylons to support electricity lines over which it has control.
Plaid Cymru ministers favour burying cables underground instead.
Plans for a network of pylons in the Towy Valley have faced a fierce local backlash with local Plaid politicians speaking out against the proposals.
The company behind the plans, Green Gen Cymru, has been asked to comment but has previously said that undergrounding cables would be significantly more expensive than running them overhead.
Prohibiting the use of large steel lattice pylons for new lines up 132 kilovolts was a Plaid Cymru manifesto pledge before May’s Senedd election.
Launching a consultation on its policy on Friday, the Welsh government said undergrounding electricity circuits could “reduce the visual impact of electricity infrastructure, helping to protect landscapes and local amenity”.
It also said that burying cables could make them less vulnerable to severe weather and could reduce the potential impact on birds and other wildlife.
However, the consultation document also acknowledges that undergrounding is “generally considered more expensive to install and maintain and could create construction impacts during installation”.
The government’s policy would allow for wooden poles or “equivalent, less intrusive infrastructure” to be used to support overhead cables where certain planning tests are met.
