The DECC and EAC held a joint select committee hearing this week into the handling of the feed in tariffs by Government.
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
Representing DECC:
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
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.”
Comments from the Select Committee
The DECC and EAC held a joint select committee hearing this week into the handling of the feed in tariffs by Government.
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:
Representing 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.”