Out-Law News 2 min. read
07 Nov 2011, 4:20 pm
Friends of the Earth (FoE) has written to Climate Change Minister Greg Barker saying that unless the Government amends the timescale for its proposed 50% cut to feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for smaller-scale solar projects it will begin court proceedings at the end of this week.
The campaigning organisation says that the 12 December cut-off point for projects to which the new rates will apply, two weeks before the consultation ends, is unlawful and will lead to unfinished or planned projects being abandoned.
"Significant time and money has been invested planning solar schemes for homes, schools and libraries – giving them just six weeks to install is completely unacceptable, and schemes have already been scrapped," said FoE policy and campaigns director Craig Bennett.
The FiTs scheme was introduced on 1 April 2010 to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to generate their own electricity through renewable methods. It allows people to earn money for any surplus electricity generated, which is transferred back to the national grid.
Homeowners and businesses can install photovoltaic (PV) equipment, such as solar cells, to generate electricity for their own use.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published a consultation at the end of last month proposing cutting FiTs by more than 50% from April 2012. The tariff for schemes which generate up to 4 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity will be reduced from 43.3p/kWh to 21p/kWh. Reduced rates are also proposed for schemes between 4kWh and 250kWh, and for scheme owners who receive payments for multiple installations at different sites.
Rates for larger installations over 50kW capacity were already cut to new entrants from 1 August 2011 after the Government's fast-track review of the FiTs scheme.
The proposed reduction would apply to all new solar PV installations in working order and licensed on or after 12 December 2011. Schemes will be eligible for the current rates before the lower tariffs come into force on 1 April 2012.
In its letter, seen by Out-Law.com, FoE said that the consultation was "fundamentally flawed" in suggesting a 12 December cut-off, which is before the consultation closes on 23 December 2011.
The letter said that when the Government first announced it was reviewing the payments for small-scale solar schemes it said that any change would not apply "retrospectively" unless the review uncovered a need for greater urgency.
In addition, the wording used in the proposals "demonstrates that this consultation is being carried out with a closed mind", despite the Government being legal obliged to keep an open mind about applications made while the consultation period is ongoing, the letter said.
The letter calls for the Government to maintain existing payments to all qualifying solar schemes completed by 1 April 2012. It also asks that the consultation period be extended, as the Government's Code of Practice states that consultations should normally last for at least 12 weeks.
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said previously that the Government had "no option" to cut the tariffs in order to keep the scheme within budget.
"We're consulting on proposed new tariffs for a reason – to protect consumers from footing the bill for excessive subsidies," a DECC spokesperson said.
"This is a live consultation and it will be open for people to comment until 23 December. We can confirm that we have received two letters indicating an intention to start legal proceedings against the department on certain aspects of the current consultation and we will be responding to those letters in due course."
Last week two Parliamentary select committees put out a call for evidence towards their own enquiry into changes to solar PV tariffs and the management of the ongoing consultation.
The Environmental Audit Committee and Energy and Climate Change Committee intend to hear oral evidence on "factors government should consider when setting the rate of feed-in tariffs in future" later this month, it said.
