Solar panel owners celebrating over subsidies
Hundreds of householders in the Midlands are celebrating this week at winning an extra £500 in subsidies from solar panels after the Government lost its bid to appeal against a High Court ruling.
Mr Justice Mitting had declared before Christmas that plans to cut the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) – the amount residents receive for the electricity they put back into the National Grid – from 43.3p per kilowatt hour of solar power to 21 pence from December 12, 2011, rather than the planned date of April 1, 2012, were illegal.
The Supreme Court’s refusal last week to hear the appeal by the then-energy secretary Chris Huhne and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) over the December ruling means an extra £700 million must be handed over to solar panel owners in the UK which will have to be paid for through energy bills at a cost of around of £8 per household.
Whitehall estimates that between 30,000 and 60,000 installations were put in during December 12 and March 3 costing the Government an extra £45 million per year for 25 years.
Energy expert Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd in Stafford, said: “It is excellent news for solar panel owners. This ruling means that anyone who installed panels after December 12 last year and before March 3 this year will now get the higher feed-in tariff rate (FiT) of 43p per kilowatt hour of solar power of energy generated.”
However, he warned that the Government had succeeded in reducing the subsidies permanently from March 2 to 21p per kilowatt hour of solar power and that the rate would fall even further to around 13.6 per kilowatt hour by July.
The lower rate of 21p per kilowatt hour of solar power will now bring the typical annual return for households down from £1,100 to £500.
Environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth (FoE) and two solar companies had claimed the move by the Coalition was unlawful because the reduction was made before the end of a consultation period and Mr Justice Mitting had ruled in their favour.
However, Ron Fox said that an extra bonus for these solar panel owners was that because of an increase in the Retail Price Index those people receiving 43.3p per kilowatt will now be given 45.4p per kilowatt from April 1, according to a new table published by Ofgem on its website.
“An extra incentive,” added Ron, “is if the Retail Price Index rises each year then householders will get another bonus from the Government next April and every succeeding year.”
Last week the Supreme Court refused the Government permission to appeal, saying that the application ‘does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the Supreme Court at this time’.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey, who said they would not pursue the battle in the European courts, added: “We are disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court not to grant permission to hear this case.
“But the court’s decision draws a line under the case. We will now focus all our efforts on ensuring the future stability and cost-effectiveness of solar and other microgeneration technologies for the many, not the few.”
For details about cutting energy costs ring Ron Fox at 01782 756995 or request a call back.
