Government loses appeal on solar feed-in tariffs

Court of Appeal rules that High Court rejection of December cut-off date should stand.

The Government has lost its appeal to overturn a High Court ruling on changes it wanted to make on solar power feed-in tariffs (FiTs).

It had proposed cutting the amount homeowners could receive from selling their excess electricity to the National Grid from 43.3p per kilowatt hour (p/kWh) to 21p p/kWH on any installations approved after 12th December.

This was challenged by Friends of the Earth and two solar installation firms, who argued that the deadline was actually earlier than the end of a consultation period into the changes. That ended on 23rd December.

The High Court ruled in their favour, saying the Government’s proposal was “unlawful”.

However, the Government has now sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In a written statement, Chris Huhne, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: "We respectfully disagree with the judgment and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. In the light of that, we cannot rule out the possibility that lower tariffs could be applied to installations which became eligible for FITs on or after the proposed reference date."

So if the Government wins its legal challenge, it will reimpose the original cut-off date of 12th December.

Last week, it proposed an alternative date of the 3rd March in the event that it lost its legal challenge.

The high take-up for the scheme and the falling cost of solar photovoltaic panels led to the Government introducing a deadline for installation.

The Government will announce the outcome of the consultation on the scheme on the 9th February, with any changes to be made law by 1st April. There will then be another consultation.

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