UK Government to launch solar appeal at supreme court

The British Government is poised to launch an appeal at the Supreme Court against the two court rulings that they lost over the Feed in Tariff (FiT's) incentives. The government had planned to halve the payments for solar power projects, but when this was challenged in the British courts, the courts ruled against the government saying their actions were illegal.

At a Court of Appeal ruling last month, three judges said the government would be acting unlawfully by trying to impose retrospective cuts to the solar incentive scheme. They set DECC a deadline to request another appeal to the Supreme Court, which the government is now expected to meet. Read more ...

Department of Energy & Climate Change loses solar appeal

The Court of Appeal this week ruled that under the Energy Act 2008 the government does not have the power to change feed-in tariff rates retrospectively. This rejection of a Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), appeal means that higher (pre December) rates for solar projects will most probably continue to apply until a government compromise deal comes into effect.

However, the government has sought a further appeal at the Supreme Court, which could yet impact upon the rates from December to March. It will be known whether they receive this in the next few days. Read more ...

Solar issue to be challenged by UK government

The recent decision by the High courts that the government cuts to solar power feed in tariffs are illegal, are to be challenged by the government in an appeal confirmed by the Energy Minister Greg Barker. The Friends of the Earth believe that an appeal would be a waste of the tax-payers money and is urging the ministers to focus on helping the solar industry to get back on a stable footing.

The High Court also said that the government had no realistic prospect of winning an appeal. Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns Andrew Pendleton said: "Trying to appeal the High Court's ruling is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money. The government must expand the scheme with all the tax revenue the scheme generates, this can be done at no extra cost to bill payers". Read more ...