Energy Secretary to take solar payments battle to Supreme Court

The government plans to take the legal battle over its plans to cut solar energy feed-in tariff payments to the Supreme Court.

The move by the Department for Energy and Climate Change comes after the Court of Appeal yesterday found in favour of the claimants, Friends of the Earth and two solar energy companies.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, did not have the power to do what was proposed. Mr Justice Mitting had previously blocked the proposals in the High Court on the basis that the government's consultation was inadequate.

Huhne said: "The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court ruling on FITs albeit on different grounds. We disagree and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

“We have already put before Parliament changes to the regulations that will bring a 21p rate into effect from April for solar pv installations from 3 March to help reduce the pressure on the budget and provide as much certainty as we can for consumers and industry.”

The minister said the government wanted to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations.

He added: “Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FITs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry.”

See also: High price to pay? by David Hart QC.