Proposed FiT Cuts...

[Gavin A]

if the question's rubbish then it won't get debated even if it get's 100,000 signatures, and it will certainly only get a cursory response from decc. It also stands no chance of getting 100k signatures with that level of question.

"DECC to urgently review the current approach to the solar feed in tariff"

DECC can and will answer that by simply stating that they are reviewing their current approach, and have launched a consultation on it.

Mark my words, that is the only answer this question will get if it hits 10k signatures, and it won't get a debate in parliament.

 

[whlphil]

Response to the petition for reaching 10,000 signatures - Its reached 20,000 now -

The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “DECC to urgently review the current approach to the solar feed in tariff”.
Government responded:

The Government is committed to a low carbon and affordable future for energy while also ensuring bill payers are getting the best possible deal.
​

It is a condition of our State Aid approval from the European Commission that we review the performance of the Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs) every three years and ensure that generators receiving FITs are not overcompensated.
We are currently consulting on new generation tariffs based on fresh evidence collected by independent consultants which suggests that, amongst other issues, the costs of buying and installing solar technology has fallen significantly since our last review in 2012.
The proposed new tariffs are designed to bring forward more renewables deployment and still give investors a return on their investment of between 4-9%. Proposing appropriate tariffs is part of the consultation process and we welcome further evidence from stakeholders on our assumptions.
The generation tariff is not the whole picture for those benefitting from generating their own electricity. FIT recipients also benefit from significant savings on their electricity bills as well as payments for exporting electricity to the grid. Factoring these benefits into the overall lifetime revenue for small-scale solar investors results in an overall reduction in revenue of 40%, rather than 87%, and this still provides an appropriate return on investment.
FITs has been successful in meeting its renewable energy deployment projections. We have already met or exceeded our 2020 projections for wind, hydro, and anaerobic digestion and, even if we implement the cost control measures of the FIT Review, we will be within the 2020 deployment range for solar PV.

Since 2010 we have seen an average of £7 billion a year of investment in renewables and last year we reached a record high of almost £8 billion. However, figures released by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility in July 2015 project that we are likely to exceed the budget set for renewable energy subsidies (the ‘Levy Control Framework’) by £1.5bn a year in 2020/21. Public expenditure on renewables has therefore exceeded all our expectations.
This expenditure is helping to meet our target to generate at least 30% of our electricity from renewables by 2020. Even with the actions proposed in the FIT Review we are on track to deliver at least 30% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020. At the end of 2013, our share of electricity generation from renewable energy was 14.9%. In 2014 this figure rose to 19.2%, and a record of 22.3% was recorded in the first quarter of 2015.
Department of Energy and Climate Change
​

 

[Energetic]

As expected, "We're right, you're wrong, its happening."

 

[marc8]

Hi All
not really a surprise is it from day one this was never going to last forever, Also does this mean we may loose the MCS process as if there is no one fitting that much solar then there will not be as much happening on that front probably won't be that profitable to operate at that point either. I suppose a good thing from the work that we undertake is that we did not jump in with both feet & are still primarily electrical contractors & just bolt on the solar as & when needed.
not mentioning any names but have a **** buster of an MCS agent for a few years & it would be great if we could loose him.
just hope i can install my own solar before the cut in tariff or they get rid of it.

 

[Worcester]

MCS not going away, they are trying to re-invent themselves as a building control "controller" for all renewables, and even if you're not interested in FiT then the ONLY people able to sign off a PV installation will be an MCS certified company - long thread about this in the Green Lounge

 

[bxman]

Would someone like to provide a summary of of that thread for those of us not able to access
the Sun lounge or Green lounge

thanks .

BTW is there any way to retrieve text placed into a reply box .

I was logged in lunch time and left the post as unfinished . This evening I added and corrected several auto saves later

went to preview post when it required a log in having done so successfully there was nothing there.

the restored Auto-save was a very early text .

Anyway

At least this looks as though some pressure is being placed in the right place at last .

DECC officials under fire as political opposition to FiT proposals mounts | Solar Power Portal

 

[Worcester]

Would someone like to provide a summary of of that thread for those of us not able to access
the Sun lounge or Green lounge

My comment above is the summary - it was back at the beginning of August and at the same time I predicted the imminent demise of FiT

 

[7029 dave]

Hope the green tax on my energy bill decreases then.?

 

[Worcester]

Hope the green tax on my energy bill decreases then.?

About as much chance of that happening as the lib seems winning the next election, or labour gaining power in Scotland ...

the energy companies Will use every opportunity they have to bundle extra costs (aka profit) into that box ,
shame they do t show the fossil fuel and nuclear fuel support / levy seperately that would cause a nice bit of public uproar

 

[Gavin A]

Hope the green tax on my energy bill decreases then.?

only a temporary respite if that happens, long term renewables will be (would have been?) cheaper than fossil fuel generation, and certainly cheaper than the new nuclear strike price. These support schemes now are needed to get the industry to that point, beyond which renewables will become a net drag on energy price rises, acting to limit how high the bills eventually go in years and decades to come. So if the cuts to result in a million less solar installations by 2020 as DECC predict, then in the long term this will lead to higher bills.

Only a small proportion of the increases in energy bills over the last few years has been anything to do with support for renewables, that majority has been down to rises in the costs of fossil fuel generation (albeit with a brief recent hiatus).

Much of what the figures label as green and social measures are nothing to do with renewable support, those figures include the winter cold weather payments, the carbon tax osbourne applied to power generation (that is just a stealth tax, nothing to do with renewables support), and the climate change levy, which used to be a tax on fossil fuel generation, but is now a tax on all generation as the government has now also included renewables in it, which makes as mush sense as applying a health tax to apples as well as chocolate.

The social support side of things got partly moved to taxation, but ultimately those schemes were only needed because the government removed the previous scheme whereby those in fuel poverty were able to get a reduced rate that basically meant that they got their power at the cost minus the companies profits. Now everyone pays towards the companies profits, the tax payer picks up the tab for the social costs..... so effectively the tax payer is now subsidising the the poorest in society so that they too can contribute to the energy companies profits.