Council to protest over cuts to solar electricity subsidies, says schemes now unviable

A local authority is to protest to the government over proposed cuts to the subsidies for solar panel feed-in-tariffs, claiming that the changes would render many of its schemes economically unviable.

Last week the Department for Energy and Climate Change put forward for consultation plans for a more than 50% cut in tariffs. The government is also looking at a further cut on FITs for owners of solar panels on more than one site, such as local authorities and housing associations.

The fall in FIT rates had been expected to come into effect in April 2012, but the proposals would see the changes come into effect from a new cut-off date in December this year.

Reading Borough Council warned that this change left the authority with just six weeks to introduce solar panels onto their buildings.

It said council officers would have to use the proposed lower rate to re-model the business cases for individual buildings. “Early indications are that a 50% cut in feed in tariffs means many of these schemes will no longer be economically viable,” the council claimed.

Reading also warned that the additional reductions for multi-installation tariff rates would have “a significant negative effect for the many local authorities, including Reading Borough Council, who are planning to take advantage of the solar power scheme”.

The local authority added that there would be a significant impact on the viability of school solar power schemes. Reading had partnered with 10:10, an international carbon reduction organisation, to help primary and secondary schools raise funds to buy their own solar panels.

The council’s Cabinet has agreed to write to DECC, outlining its objections to the proposals.

Paul Gittings Reading's Lead Councillor for Environment and Climate Change, said: "The announcement by the government has cast severe doubt over Reading's ambitious scheme to spend up to £5m on solar pv schemes which would have gone in the main on local schools and our own council buildings.

“We will be making the strongest representations to the government to reconsider their decisions on both the drastic cuts to the feed-in tariff and the new date off cut off date of December 12 to attract the higher tariff on which the financial modelling for our scheme has been based."