policy

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.

UK solar has continued to break records after generation reached a new peak of delivering almost a quarter of electricity demand.

Renewable energy companies and associations have unanimously welcomed this morning’s confirmation that the government has set the fifth carbon budget at the recommended level.

The UK takes to the polls today to deliberate over something which stands to have far greater repercussions than last year’s general election. But whichever way the result goes, with the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s leadership split it is all but certain there’ll be a changing of the guard.