Green power sell-off scheme slated as 'not radical enough'

Nick Mathiason
The Observer,
Sunday November 2 2008

Government plans to let communities sell renewable energy to the grid have been criticised for being insufficiently radical by an unlikely alliance of giant retailers, housebuilding groups and country landowners ahead of a Lords' vote this week.
Last week, new Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband published an amendment to his Energy Bill, which stated that renewable projects of under two megawatts would be eligible for so-called feed-in tariffs, allowing owners to sell power and so reduce the cost of schemes.
But Friends of the Earth and bodies such as the Country Land and Business Association argue that to make renewable energy schemes take off, a ceiling of 10 megawatts needs to be adopted.
Furthermore, there is concern that the government has failed to set a time-table for bringing in the measure. An alternative amendment could be tabled, supported by such groups as The British Retail Consortium and the Home Builders Federation.
While the government is struggling to meet the EU target that 15 per cent of UK energy should come from renewables by 2020, power firms are concerned that allowing individuals and communities the chance to profit from energy creation will mean companies make less money.