Exclusive: Backlash grows over Cameron's green sell-out

David Cameron today faces a revolt of business leaders, councils, environment campaigners and unions furious at his decision to cut funding for household solar energy, severely undermining his claim that the coalition would be the "greenest government ever".

Click HERE to read the letter in full

In a letter to the Prime Minister seen by The Independent on Sunday, a coalition of 55 individuals and groups warns he will "strangle at birth" Britain's booming solar panel industry – threatening 25,000 jobs – by halving the state subsidy for the popular "feed-in tariff" scheme.

The funding for households who feed excess electricity generated by their solar panels into the national grid is to be cut from 43p to 21p per kilowatt hour (kwh) from next month, doubling the length of time people would have to wait before their solar panels became economically viable.

The feed-in tariff scheme is one of the most popular environmental measures introduced by any government. It has already been adopted by 100,000 private and housing association homes, and was championed by David Cameron within weeks of him becoming Conservative leader.

Yet last month ministers announced that, from 12 December, the subsidies would be cut in half, despite claims they were consulting on the plan.

A letter by a broad alliance – from the Federation of Small Businesses and house-building organisations to council leaders from all three political parties, as well as the Town and Country Planning Association – has been organised by Friends of the Earth and the Cut Don't Kill campaign, which is pressing for the Government to temper the reforms. Mr Cameron and Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, are also under pressure from the Confederation of British Industry, whose chief, John Cridland, said the measure was an "own goal". Mr Huhne has also been warned that 20 Liberal Democrat MPs – more than a third of the parliamentary party – are fighting the proposals.

In scathing language, the letter tells Mr Cameron: "This could only knock confidence in the UK's determination to build a low-carbon economy and hugely undermine your determination to lead the 'greenest Government ever'."

In his first week as Prime Minister, Mr Cameron told civil servants at the Department for Energy and Climate Change: "I want us to be the greenest government ever – a very simple ambition and one that I'm absolutely committed to achieving." Yet the solar electricity cut is just the latest in a series of U-turns and retreats on environmental policies by the coalition government.

The boom in solar energy has not been confined to middle-class families: 100,000 properties belonging to housing associations have applied for panels on their roofs.

The feed-in tariff scheme's popularity has led to its downfall, as ministers claim they must scale back the subsidies to keep funds within the £867m budget.

Howard Johns, of the Cut Don't Kill campaign, said: "This is poorly thought out, counterproductive and absurdly rushed. David Cameron can set this right and prove his commitment to green growth by stepping in to prevent such a deep cut. We can accept a cut, but the current proposal is devastating."

Caroline Flint, Labour's climate change spokesperson, said: "Until consumers are offered a simple, fair tariff, and all energy producers are forced to sell their energy to any supplier, the public will not be given a fair choice; people power alone will be unable to force down prices."

But Greg Barker, Climate Change minister, said: "My priority is to put the solar industry on a firm footing so that it can remain a successful and prosperous part of the green economy, and so that it doesn't fall victim to boom and bust."

A typical solar panel installation costs around £12,000, meaning homeowners have to wait eight years under the feed-in-tariff rate of 43p per kwh to earn the money back. This would double to 16 years' payback time under the new 21p rate.

Environmental u-turns: How PM has failed to make his government 'greenest ever'

Planning New rules will strip away protection of the countryside from development – the Government has so far resisted a continuing, widespread campaign against the plans.

Motorway speeds To the horror of environmental campaigners, the Government is raising the limit to 80mph, adding more than two million tons a year to carbon emissions.

Forests Ministers announced last year a mass sell-off, despite no reference in the Conservative manifesto or coalition agreement, but a public campaign forced a U-turn.

Green investment bank A flagship environmental policy has been severely undermined by a Treasury block on it providing loans. It will not be allowed to borrow until 2015.

Eco-homes Another legacy of Labour, but any new homes built with "zero carbon" credentials will not have carbon emissions from electrical appliances counted, undermining the definition.

Quangos The Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Environment Agency have all been prevented from policy-making, while the Sustainable Development Commission and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution have been axed.

Illegal tropical timber Ministers have scrapped a Conservative manifesto pledge to criminalise the possession of illegal tropical timber.

Aggregates The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, which diverted £20m in taxes raised from the sand and gravel industry to 200 green projects, has been scrapped.

Dave Andrews

K.E.N.T.
+ 44 (0) 755 265 9166

+ 31 (0) 631 926 885
+ 44 (0) 1225 837978

Roy Tindle

unread,

Nov 13, 2011, 2:06:53 PM11/13/11

to claverton-politics-econo...@googlegroups.com

A different story but entirely relevant to discussions on the price of renewables:

Ofgem study 'undermines' case for nuclear

Plans being considered by the industry regulator could undermine the prospect of new UK nuclear power plants.

The cost of feeding the north of Scotland's renewable energy into the national power grid could fall by 80% under the proposals.

A study carried out for Ofgem suggested the change would boost the case for building wind and marine turbines in and around Scotland.

The costs were estimated in a draft pricing and investment model.

It suggested the access charge for wind and marine power from the north of Scotland would fall from £24 per kilowatt to less than £5.

Sharing the costs equally across the UK would remove the financial incentives to build any new nuclear power stations, and shift a projected £17bn of nuclear investment to other technologies.

Ofgem asked energy consultancy Redpoint to assess the impact on the energy mix if it removed the high costs for the north of Scotland and the subsidies for the south of England.

These currently create incentives for generating companies to build further south.

Price regulation

Until now, Ofgem has been required to regulate prices in a way that keeps consumer costs down, meaning it encourages power plants close to population centres.

But it has come under pressure to re-shape the market to help encourage renewable power.

Last year, it announced the Project TransmiT review, saying it would be "open, comprehensive and objective".

At present, those feeding power into the grid pay a charge of £24 per kilowatt if they are in the north of Scotland, western Highlands and Skye. It is slightly lower for those around Peterhead. A sliding scale charges those in the south of Scotland about £12.

But in much of the south of England, there is a subsidy of more than £6 per kilowatt.

The differences have been highlighted by the SNP government at Holyrood, and by the renewable energy industry in Scotland, as they have campaigned to remove the higher charges for Scotland.

Grid upgrades

The Redpoint draft report shows how charging might change over the next ten years to pay for upgrades of the national grid - with the grid access charge for power from the north of Scotland being more than doubled to nearly £60 per kilowatt, while central London power stations would have a £12 subsidy.

The report goes on to show how the cost per kilowatt in the north and north-west of Scotland would fall from £24 to less than £5, if the cost of accessing the grid were equally spread.

If it were equalised not to support renewable power but new build gas-powered electricity generation, the unit cost would be £12 throughout Britain.

That would mean shifting from subsidy to the same level of charge for generation in the south of England, with increased costs for the Midlands and Wales.

The projection points to major changes in the location for investment.

Incentive changes

Under the current plans, £6.4bn would be spent on gas plants in the south of England by 2020.

But if access charges are equalised, they would change the incentives to build further north, £4.8bn of it in the north of England.

The projection for nuclear investment under the current charging regime would see £13.2bn of spending in the south of England, with a further £4.2bn in the north of England and Wales - the figures increasing sharply after 2020.

However, under Redpoint's draft modelling, a flat-rate charge would shift incentives so all of that nuclear spend would be cancelled.

According to a minute of the Project TransmiT review group last month, Redpoint was asked to re-work its initial findings on that.

'Fairer proposals'

While Ofgem is scheduled to conclude Project TransmiT by the end of the year, the chief executive of industry body Scottish Renewables, Niall Stuart, said the draft proposals being considered by the regulator would be fairer and reflect cost better.

"They are in line with Ofgem's objective of promoting investment in renewables to support the transition to a low carbon economy," he said.

"The proposed reforms will reduce a significant barrier to investment in clean electricity generation in Scotland, and can only help secure progress towards both the UK's and Scotland's renewable energy and climate change targets."

He said the changes under consideration did not include access to the grid for generators on Scottish islands, and "crippling fees" to access the grid were holding back investment in "the fantastic wind, wave and tidal resources".

A spokesman for Ofgem said: "We are going to publish a consultation in December and we are sharing our consultant's report ahead of that consultation."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-15711200

On 13 November 2011 18:31, dave andrews <tynin...@gmail.com> wrote:

Exclusive: Backlash grows over Cameron's green sell-out

Business leaders and environmental campaigners unite in plea to halt the cut in funding for solar panel schemes.

--

Roy Tindle
Mobile: 079 8884 7003
royt...@gmail.com

dave andrews

unread,

Nov 13, 2011, 2:14:28 PM11/13/11

to claverton-politics-econo...@googlegroups.com, Claverton AB MAIN GROUP, LEON DI MARCO, Nick Balmer

Interesting.

Someone in the group is thinking about preparing release pointing out the subtle campaign, apparently by those opposed to renewables.....

Reply all

Reply to author

Forward

0 new messages