This paper presents a methodology for the assessment of the impact of existing high voltage lines in urban areas. This methodology is based on the numeric evaluation of several impacts which are combined with weight factors. The novelty is that it opens up the possibility of citizen participation, basically in the way in which impacts and weighting factors are determined., The proposed methodology has been applied first in the municipality of Rubi, a mid-sized town near Barcelona, and later on in several municipalities in the Catalonia region in Spain. The results were used to prioritise mitigation action in the Catalonia Energy Plan. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.