Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, commenting on the Government’s new proposals for small scale renewable energy, said:

“By ending the export tariff in March 2019, the Government is pushing an already struggling solar industry off a cliff edge. These proposals – which are unlikely to be in place by the time the export tariff closes – present a new mountain for small scale renewable energy to climb.

“Rather than a simple flat payment for energy exported to the grid, the Government is proposing a hugely complex market mechanism in which large energy companies – notorious for overcharging consumers billions of pounds – can offer whatever sum they deem fit to households. Furthermore, participation relies on possession of a smart meter which, due to the Government’s bungled delivery of the smart meter programme, many households will not have for some time.

“Such a complex scheme will only be accessible to those with the time and resources to negotiate it. Labour plans to roll out solar on the scale necessary to tackle climate change whereas this appears to be a blueprint for hobbyists, condemning solar power to the status of niche industry.”