policy

The newly formed Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) could see energy policy relegated to a ‘steady as she goes’ approach while other policy areas take precedence, according to a government MP in the energy and climate change (ECC) select committee.

Scottish energy minister Paul Wheelhouse is said to be seeking urgent talks with the UK government following its decision to scrap the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in favour of a new business-led department.

The government is facing calls for clarity after a coalition of 30 trade bodies, NGOs, pressure groups and think tanks signed an open letter to the new secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, urging him to confirm the UK’s 2020 climate change commitments.

The UK’s energy policy will now be a decided by a new department headed up by former communities minister Greg Clark, who has been appoint secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.

The scheduled rise in business rates on companies owning solar installations on their properties has been raised in the House of Commons, with shadow energy minister Barry Gardiner accusing the government of “sleeping on the job”.

Fresh rumours of the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) being folded into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have emerged, with energy minister Andrea Leadsom doing nothing to dispel them during this morning’s House of Commons session.

A further three Chinese manufacturers have been pulled from the minimum import price (MIP) after they were found to be selling in the European Union at rates below those stipulated by the price undertaking.

In his latest blog for Solar Power Portal, independent consultant and local authority expert Stephen Cirell discusses the recent announcement by Portsmouth City Council to roll out solar over the next four years using a series of PPA funded deals, and calls on other local authorities to follow suit.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has provided some clarity on the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme by outlining the proposed transitional year before the new scheme is introduced in 2018.

The economic viability of commercial rooftop solar installations could be severely damaged next year under plans to increase business rates taxes by up to eight times the current levels following a re-evaluation of how these assets are valued.