STA Welcomes Claire Perry Pledge On Solar Export To Grid
The STA hailed a significant breakthrough for its
#Fair4Solar campaign during the BEIS Select Committee Oral Questions, in which
Energy Minister Claire Perry stated that “solar power should not be provided to
the grid for free”, representing a shift in government stance on the issue of
fair payments for surplus electricity sold to the grid.
Responding to a question from Kevin Hollinrake MP, she said
“I do completely agree that solar power should not be provided to the grid for
free and that's why I'll shortly be announcing the next steps for small scale
renewables.”
She also added in answer to a question from Richard Graham
MP: “It would be wrong to have power provided to the grid for free,” and in reply
to a question from Alan Whitehead MP, said “People who have gone through the
installation process should not be essentially captive takers should someone
want to buy their energy and I'm looking forward to announcing some further
deliberations on this shortly."
STA Chief Executive, Chris Hewett said “We are delighted
that Clare Perry has now stated clearly that future small solar generators
should receive payment for their exported electricity. STA had sent her a
letter signed by over 350 organisations from across the solar, battery,
electricity supplier industries and civil society seeking just such an
assurance. As ever the devil is in the detail, so we now need to see the
proposals and make sure they are in place from April 2019, but this is a good
day for solar installers and prospective rooftop solar owners.”
The STA has spearheaded a rigorous campaign to bring the
issue to the attention of the Minister since the proposal to end the export
tariff was revealed. The #Fair4Solar campaign is supported by a coalition of
stakeholder organisations including the NFU, Church of England, WWF-UK, 10:10
Climate Action, Community Energy England, the UKYCC and the ECA. [1]
[1] See our #Fair4Solar campaign to retain the export
tariff: https://www.solar-trade.org.uk/campaigns/fair4solar/
