DECC loses appeal at High Court for Solar PV FiTs
The court of appeal has left us in limbo for weeks now, however clarity was given to the Solar PV industry today. This morning, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) lost their appeal against the High Court decision on Solar PV feed-in-tariffs. This means the feed-in tariff will now go back to 43.3p for Solar PV systems up to 4kWp installed until March 3, 2012.
This means that potentially all installs since December 12th and all systems installed and commissioned before 3rd March 20012 will now receive the higher rate of 43.3p – guaranteed for 25 years!
Customers who register on or after March 3 will qualify for the current higher rate until April 1, when the rates will drop to the lower rates, as set out in the October 31 announcement.
Domestic customers installing system up to 4kWp can benefit from the higher rate of 43.3p for 25 years, if commissioned and installed before 3rd March 2012 deadline.
Commenting on the decision, Daniel Green, CEO of HomeSun, said: “Four judges, including three in the Court of Appeal, have now called the Government’s actions illegal. That’s a four-nil victory and a decisive ruling that Government may not make retrospective changes to the FiT because, as Lord Justice Moses concludes, to do so ‘would be to take away an existing entitlement without statutory authority.’”
“Both this appeal and the Judicial Review in The High Court would not have been required had DECC simply followed its own process and allowed the industry, that it claims to support, time to prepare for a lower feed-in tariff,” continued Green.
Tweeting post judgement, Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, said, “Win, lose or draw today, important we move forward together, drive down costs + step up deployment.”
Clare King, a renewable energy lawyer at Osborne Clarke, said: “This decision will be a surprise to many observers. We, like many others, will be studying the judgment closely so as to fully understand the implications for the UK solar industry.”
Appeal court have denied appeal to Supreme Court. however the government can still appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
Keep checking Energi blog pages and our Twitter feed for up to date details.
Some information source from Solar Power Portal
