News Article
House Of Lords Consider Cuts
Lords considers government proposals to cut subsidy
Industry bodies told the Lords that proposed Government cuts will have a “significant negative impact” on solar power generation, a Lords Committee report says today.
The Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee received submissions from the industry about the Government's proposed licence modifications which would cut subsidies available to low carbon electricity generation. The Government wants to cut subsidies available under its Feed-in Tariffs “FITs” scheme, which was introduced last March to encourage small scale low carbon electricity generation.
The scheme is forecast to overspend after demand exceeded expectations and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, which is responsible for the scheme, says that it will overshoot its spending targets unless it reduces FITs funding. The Government also says it wants to cut funding because capital costs associated with solar power generation have fallen by about 30% since the scheme was introduced.
The Committee says the Department “will wish to learn any lessons” about its planning, given that it wants to change a new scheme so soon after introducing it.
