Do not repeat past mistakes by banning cheap solar power, Energy UK boss warns
13 October 2022, 11:44
Emma Pinchbeck said the Government should be careful in how it treats renewable power or risk putting off investment.
The chief executive of the energy trade body has called on the Government to proceed “carefully” when putting a cap on how much revenue wind farms can make to avoid repeating past mistakes which put off investment in the UK.
Energy UK boss Emma Pinchbeck also told a conference in London that banning cheap solar power would be a “false economy”.
“Cuts to green policies in 2015 have added to the cost of bills today,” she said at the Energy UK conference.
“It seems scarcely believable to me that we would make the same mistakes again with, for example, reforms that make it harder or ban cheap solar power.
“False narratives often lead to false economies.”
Reports in recent days have suggested that the Government could ban farmers from putting solar panels on their land.
Ms Pinchbeck said: “On which note it is also very important that the Government proceeds carefully with the revenue cap on low carbon generators and other measures announced in the energy price Bill.”
On Tuesday the Government announced that it would put a “cost-plus-revenue” limit on what some wind and solar farms in England and Wales could make.
The Government insists that the policy is not a windfall tax, however industry figures say that it amounts to one.
Speaking after Ms Pinchbeck, climate minister Graham Stuart said the country is facing a crisis and acknowledged not everything was down to the war in Ukraine.
“Long before (Russian President Vladimir) Putin launched his attack… it was clear that we needed to reform our energy system,” he told the audience.
Energy bills have soared in the last year, forcing the Government to step in to cap the price that households have to pay for their electricity at 34p per unit and 10.4p per unit for gas.
For the average household this means they will pay around £2,500. However those that use more will pay more than that, and those who slash their use might end up with lower bills.
The average household is counted as one with 2.4 people in it.
