We want to use the day after the FITs deadline to make our voices heard again about the devastation this Government is wreaking on a growing, green industry.
We could gather in London again to take the message direct to Government.  Or we could stage a series of regional demonstrations that get our message into local and regional media across the country.  We have had interest from Friends of the Earth in supporting such demonstrations – but they would only work with a big turn out from the industry.
Both have their pros and cons – but much depends on how many of you would get involved with each idea – and in the case of regional demonstrations, whether there are volunteers out there who can actually organise the events.
So please make a note of the day and let us know whether you would
•         travel to London
•         attend a more regional demonstration
•         actually be able to organise something in your area
Your responses will really help us plan.

So, we now have a new briefing for you to send to your MPs detailing the misinformation being used to justify FITs cuts.

A lot has gone on in Parliament since the announcement – there was the intital statement Ministers were forced to make, the full debate on 23^rd November, DECC and Treasury Ministers giving evidence to joint hearings of two Select Committees, as well as the regular monthly DECC questions – all of which have repeatedly forced Ministers to justify their position.

And as they have done so the gaps have appeared.  Ministers have claimed that proposed FITs tariffs are “exactly in line” with Germany.  In fact German solar rates will be up to 121% higher.  They have claimed solar will remain the most highly subsidised form of renewable.  But a 250kW wind turbine would attract a tariff 132% higher.

Please go here to download the full briefing, and send it to your MP with a covering letter demanding he or she takes the issues up with Ministers and ask how they can correct the record.

There is a good write up if you haven’t seen it here:

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/uk_solar_supporters_descend_on_parliament_5478/

and a nice little film on Business green here:

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/analysis/2127153/solar-protesters-lobby-mps-oppose-feed-tariff-cuts

The rally was full and great supportive speeches were made by Caroline Flint and Caroline Lucas, as well as a stirring call to action from Alan Simpson.

The hearing was split over three sessions with evidence being given by industry in the first session, DECC Ministers and officials in the second session and Treasury Ministers and officials in the last one. Speakers were as follows:

Representing industry:

• Daniel Green, Chief Executive Officer, HomeSun
• Howard Johns, Chairman, Solar Trade Association
• Peter Capener, Chair, Bath and West Community Energy
• Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Solarcentury

• Gregory Barker MP, Minister of State for Climate Change
• Moira Wallace OBE, Permanent Secretary, Department of Energy and Climate Change
• Simon Virley, Director General, Department of Energy and Climate Change

Representing Treasury:

• Chloe Smith MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury
• Jonathan Mills, Director General, Energy, Environment and Agriculture, HM Treasury

The audio of the Treasury session can be found here: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=9593

It is interesting to watch the Minister and official attempting to give a straight answer about the cost of the feed in tariff scheme.

Comments on Select C. Hearing: Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Solarcentury:

“It is incredible that only a few months ago the Prime Minister and Chancellor said to me directly that companies like ours would be the flip-side of austerity in terms of providing employment, and now his government delivers a deliberately deadly assault to maim or even kill this industry; just because the nuclear and gas industries wish it so.”

“It also strikes me a ludicrous that senior civil servants from DECC invest so much time in constructing so chaotic and threadbare a case at the time their fellows in the treasury are scrambling to save the British economy. To think that private sector jobs and revenue creation are simply not being considered at this time is quite staggering, this decision could cost the treasury up to £230 million and destroy 29,000 jobs. What a mess, the treasury needs to wake up.”

Alan Simpson, Renewable Energy Advisor, Friends of the Earth:

“From the greenest government ever to the meanest government ever. The co-coalition has done a huge u-turn and is now doing nothing less than demonising solar power as a matter of course. It is simply unacceptable, too many are set to loose out on this trajectory. We must wake up to this absurdity, and quickly.”

Coalition MPs may not want to vote with the Labour Party – MPs can be very tribal – but if they vote against this but have told you that they are asking Ministers to reconsider the deadline, they are completely undermining any support they have given to a rethink.  It would be a total u-turn.

SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS
•    The speed of the announcement is ridiculous.  How can the cut come before the consultation is finished?  Cutting demand by 70-90% with six weeks notice (that’s the level of cuts in the Government’s Impact Assessment) will destroy many jobs and businesses before Christmas
•    The very worst that the industry could have expected on the basis of the 2008 Energy Act legislation and Ministerial statements this year was a “proper” fast track review making changes after a full and proper consultation and Parliamentary process ie March 2012.  The 12/12 announcement was a complete shock and has prompted three separate legal challenges
•    The money saved by such rapid cuts is tiny – making the cuts in April saves just £10m less than rushing them through in December (again, according to the Goverment’s own Impact Assessment.)
•    The total cost of the feed-in tariffs to date for all technologies is just 2p per month on a typical domestic energy bill.  In the first year of the feed-in tariff the actual spend of £11m on all technologies was three-quarters below the Government’s projected spend for the scheme.   Householders pay just 35% of that £11m.
•    The aim of FITs was to develop a solar industry in the UK.  Cutting so fast and so deep will dismantle what we have built.  If a Government project to build a piece of infrastructure like a railway or road scheme goes over budget, do Ministers normally demolish it again?
•    Before the election all parties agreed we needed to build a solar industry to bring down prices.  Since then, solar prices have fallen faster than expected.  Why is this a reason to shrink the solar industry?  It should be an argument for greater growth!
•    Everyone accepts the tariff should be reduced – but it should be predictable, in line with cost savings and with enough notice to adapt.
ANSWERING YOUR MPs ARGUMENTS
•    If your MP is a Conservative or a LibDem and tried to blame the previous Government for setting the scheme up badly, remind them their parties called for the FIT to be more ambitious.  92 Conservative and 62 LibDem MPs signed a Commons motion calling for a much more ambitious scheme before the election.  The Liberal Democrats promised to “triple” the ambition of the scheme before the election.  The Conservative party’s “Power to the People” document written by Energy Minister Greg Barker MP promised an uncapped feed-in tariff precisely to move us away from the stop start of previous grant schemes.
•    If your MP says “the money has run out” tell them that this is nonsense.  The FIT scheme is covered by a Treasury agreement which allows for an overspend or “headroom” of 20% on the headline budget.   The immediate crisis caused by the 12/12 announcement could be removed by a sensible application of that “headroom” if only there was the political will to do so.
•    Also remind them the industry called for a 25% cut in rates almost 6 months ago.  In February 2011, Chris Huhne promised Parliament a full review by the end of the year – but this still has not started.   Why should the industry now carry the can?
•    If your MP says we cannot put more money on the bills of the fuel poor, remind them that Conservative policy was to fund these through a “Decentralised Energy Fund”, not a levy on Bills.  They should find money to put into this now – just as they found money to empty bins weekly.  Point out that the total “burden” on domestic bill payers to date of funding the tariff has been just 2p per month at a time when the big six energy suppliers are making £175 profit per household.

Mass Lobby of Parliament  – 22^nd November

We have now fixed a date for a mass lobby of Parliament on Tuesday 22^nd November.  It will begin at 2.30pm, and continue through the afternoon until around 5.30pm.  Please get the date in your diary.

This is an opportunity for people across the industry – as well as from environmental groups and other supporters – to meet their MP and protest about the savage cuts to support for solar.  The more people who turn up, the more MPs will get lobbied – and the more our message will be heard.  So please book this day now and encourage anyone else you can to come to London with you.

For those who have never been on a mass lobby before, they are a long established tradition to put pressure on MPs. Technically you are entitled to go and lobby your MP in the House of Commons whenever Parliament is sitting.  You ask to go to the rather grand Central Lobby, and fill in a form known as a “green card” summoning your MP to see you.  A mass lobby simply makes sure this is much more noticeable by all doing it on the same afternoon.

We will be putting much more detail on what you need to do nearer the time at the website here.

Charles Hendry MP vs Jeremy Leggett in East Sussex

Forest Row in East Sussex has a “Home Energy Saving Fair” tomorrow which begins at 11am with a discussion between Energy Minister Charles Hendry MP and Solar Century founder Jeremy Leggett.  Given all that has happened this week, it should be an interesting discussion.

If you can get there, it would be a great chance to put questions to Mr Hendry.

More details here.

Greg Barker MP lobbied in Bexhill

Around 20 local solar employees and members of environmental groups demonstrated outside a Greg Barker’s constituency surgery earlier on Friday afternoon.  Two members of the group were able to meet Mt Barker and delivered a statement from the much wider group outside, asking him to attend a public meeting to hear the concerns from those across his constituency.

Latest news and media coverage

In an interview on the Business Green website, Alan Simspon calls the changes “economically illiterate and ethically fraudulent”.  Alan Simpson is the former MP who led the Parliamentary campaign for Feed-in Tariffs, and is now helping this campaign to stop them being trashed.

Also on Business Green, Seb Berry of Solar Century points out where Greg Barker misled Parliament over solar FITs, and editor James Murray tries to figure out the real reason for the cuts.

In the news today Business and Leadership have covered the cuts to the FIT and the industry’s reaction with reference to the Cut Don’t Kill campaign.

In The Guardian letters this morning Cllr Joel Goldberg of the Haringey, Jon Abbatt of ADAS UK and Dr Brenda Boardman of Oxford University have written in response to the cuts in the tariff.

In a report on Solar Buzz this morning, urgent action is needed to put the solar industry on a steadier, clearer and sustainable growth path, avoid boom and bust and protect the wider Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs).

The FT Money Show this week featured a segment on solar power and the impact of FIT cuts for consumers, investors and solar businesses. Money journalist at the FT, Elaine Moore, argued that the turnover time for the changes were too quick and that a 50% cut would dramatically decrease the incentive for consumers to install panels on their home.

Plans to install solar panels on 40 schools in Reading have been thrown into chaos following the Government’s announcement to slash the FiT by 12.12 according to the BBC.

More support needed

We still need more support to defend the solar industry from these cuts – both in terms of action, and in terms of money to fund this campaign.

To help you take action, we have prepared an action pack, which is available here. It will help you to lobby your MP, get stories into your local papers and radio stations, ask your customers to lobby on our behalf.  You can also download banners to put on your website, or in your emails to help more supporters find us.

And if you can support the efforts of this campaign financially, please let us know at [email protected]

Howard Johns, of the Cut Don’t Kill campaign, said:

“Such deep cuts to the tariff would kill the UK solar industry stone dead. We are happy to accept some cuts, but the Government must recognise that wiping out 4,000 companies and 25,000 jobs by cutting too deeply would be an appalling waste of economic potential. Our message to the Government is cut us, but don’t kill us – we want a sustainable cut that would allow us to survive and deliver the green growth that David Cameron said he was committed to.”

“The Government has a choice – either they can cut like this and make an entire industry go bust, or they can work with us to properly plan the phasing out of the tariff bit by bit, which will produce a flourishing industry that won’t need any subsidy or support.”

The Cut Don’t Kill campaign is organising a day of action in Westminster, scheduled for 23^rd November, when the industry will rally to persuade MPs and Ministers to reduce the planned cuts to the Feed-in Tariff.

Read the full article on Solar Power Portal website by clicking HERE

Under sections 15 and 16 of the ‘Feed-in Tariffs (Specified Maximum Capacity and Functions) Order 2010’ document, developers are able to install a system over the microgeneration amount before the August 1 deadline – thereby receiving the higher FiT rate – and then install an extended capacity within 12 months. Importantly, this extended amount would also benefit from the higher rate. Read the full article here – Solar Power Portal