Protect the Feed-in Tariff

Dear Sir,

Plumb Center is urging the government to protect Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs), which give homeowners cash incentives to choose renewable solutions to their energy needs.

Cuts were [recently] announced to the subsidies for large-scale photovoltaic installations. The cuts are designed to make sure that funding isn’t consumed by these large-scale projects, leaving nothing in the bank for householders or small community projects.

The government says initial tariff rates were only intended to last until April 2012. Now it has been confirmed that the rates will come down after that date.

While any changes to the FiT scheme which compromise the commercial feasibility of the product are regrettable, it is encouraging that the domestic programme will remain unaffected under the scope of the fast track review.

However, it is absolutely crucial for the long term success of the industry that we have a period of extended stability to allow for sensible investment decisions to be made. Any compromises in the short term are likely to have very serious implications for an emerging market which has potential to make enormous contributions to lower impact living and working.

Plumb Center is working actively with key supply partners and customers providing quality products which will deliver economic and practical outcomes.

When FiTs were announced in 2010 a fund of £900m was made available. A 10 per cent reduction in the funding for 2014-15 has already been announced as part of last year’s wide-ranging spending review.

Tim Pollard

Head of Sustainability

Plumb Center