UK officials fight for the right to cut solar subsidies
British officials are taking their fight for the right to reduce solar-energy incentives all the way to the country’s Supreme Court.
The battle centers on the government’s attempt late last year to cut in half the feed-in tariff (FIT) rates it originally set to encourage people to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on their homes. This wasn’t because the FIT didn’t work, but because it worked too well: so many homeowners began putting up solar panels that the government said its funds would run out far more quickly than it had banked on.
But the announced plan to cut FIT rates in half ahead of schedule set off a tempest in the nascent UK solar-energy industry. Protesting that the cuts would create huge uncertainty, stifle a promising green industry and throw many people out of work, solar-power executives and Friends of the Earth took their complaints to court.
Late last month, a three-judge appeals panel sided with the solar industry, finding that the government’s attempt to cut incentives earlier than planned “offends the legality principle.”
Following that ruling, Friends of the Earth urged the government to drop any further challenges. This week, however, the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) responded with a, “We respectfully disagree.”
“We want to see the available funding spread as far and wide as possible making FITs a scheme for the many not a scheme for the few, supporting sustainable jobs in solar and in a whole range of small scale renewables,” said an agency spokesperson.
In response, Friends of the Earth executive director Andy Atkins warned, “A successful appeal will allow ministers to slash renewable energy subsidies at any time — even for solar panels and wind turbines that have been operating for years.
“If ministers want to protect families from soaring fuel bills they must get the nation off its fossil fuel hook — and restore business confidence in the government’s commitment to a clean energy future,” Atkins said.
