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GOVERNMENT BACKTRACKS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY

18 Apr 2000

The Government has asked Labour MPs to vote against a clause in the Utilities Bill which would set a 10 per cent target for renewable energy. The move comes despite a recent pledge by Energy Minister, Helen Liddell, that she wants to see “all electricity supply companies supplying 10% of their power from green sources by 2010" [1]. The vote will take place on Wednesday, the 19th April 2000, when the report stage of the Utilities Bill is before Parliament.

The Government has tabled an amendment to the Bill deleting a clause stating “that 5 per cent. of Great Britain's electricity requirements shall be met from renewables by the end of the year 2003 and 10 per cent. by 2010" [2]. Friends of the Earth supports the inclusion of the clause as it would lead to an overall cut in greenhouse gas emissions from UK electricity production - crucial if the Government is to achieve its 20% CO2 reduction target by 2010.

Friends of the Earth's Climate Campaigner Roda Verheyen said:
“If the Government is really committed to a 10 per cent renewable energy target it should have no problem with making it legally binding. The Government should be putting its efforts into ensuring that the target can be met - not scrapping the amendment.”

The 10% renewables target already forms part of the emission projections for the UK. If it wasn't achieved, the Government would have to reconsider its climate change figures in general and readjust its projections in the recently published draft climate change strategy. The target should be easy to achieve: last month, in its report on the UK Climate Change Programme, a Parliamentary Committee supported a 20% target for renewables by 2010 and 50% by 2030 [3].

The Government is also opposing an amendment which would support small scale renewable generators like solar photovoltaics installed on roofs and would ensure fair prices for those who decide to “go green” (net metering). This mechanism could greatly contribute to renewables development in the UK [4].

Notes:

[1] DTI Press Release 1 February 2000 “Liddell: Green is go”In the Utilities Bill Standing Committee,Helen Liddell reinforced the target: “I have said about half a dozen times this morning that the Government's target is that 10 per cent of energy should be generated from renewables by 2010"(Hansard, Standing Committee on the Utilities Bill, 30 March 2000).

[2] The clause allows the Secretary of State to impose on an electricity supplier an obligation to generate electricity using renewable sources, or to ensure that between suppliers they have done so. This mechanism is also known as “percentage obligation”. It must be specified through an order. In the Standing Committee for the Utilities Bill Helen Liddell said: “The Government will lay a new renewables order before Parliament as soon as is practicable, and I wish that to be within one year of the Bill coming into force...”(Hansard, 30 March 2000)

[3] Environment, Transport and the Regional Affairs Select Committee, UK Climate Change Programme, released 20th March 2000. Helen Liddell also tried to reassure investors that the Government is committed to a long term strategy for renewables: “Committee members are discussing the policy of supplying 10 per cent. of power from renewable sources by 2010. Our view is that the programme should continue until 2025-a long way away-and place specific obligations on electricity suppliers. We are also examining the scope for limited additional support for longer-term technologies, such as offshore wind and energy crops.” (Hansard, Standing Committee on the Utilities Bill, 30 March 2000)

(4) Net metering,is supported by the UK renewables industry, Friends of the Earth and over 120 MPs. Currently, it is at the discretion of the distributors to install a meter that records outflow of electricity and the price paid for such “exported” electricity is also not fixed. This leads to a situation where house owners who install solar PV on their roofs might not only have to wait months for the installation of an appropriate meter, and also only get 2-3p per unit electricity they export into the grid, while they pay up to 9p for the electricity they get from their supplier.

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