Court Gives Green Light to Solar Incentive Cuts

Friends of the Earth are keen on fighting the dramatic cuts announced by the government for solar power industry, despite that their first court battle is officially lost. Their legal action was rejected by a High Court.

The eco-group is still eager to find ways of blocking the anticipated governmental initiative of slashing feed-in tariffs for solar power installations. Their strategy is currently adopted by two companies operating in this line of business, BusinessGreen reports.

Since they think shrinking feed-in tariffs can slow down the development of the entire industry, while costing millions and destroying up to 29,000 jobs, they intend to appeal against the High Court's controversial decision.

Once again, they will be able to count on Solarcentury and HomeSun as reliable partners. The three game changers will share their theories in court on December 15th, just two days after the expected solar cuts will reveal the rate of incentives.

The partners are against the decision of reducing incentives by more than half for solar projects developed after December 12th, stating that this strategy creates a lot of uncertainty and is responsible for the abandoning of several projects aiming to exploit the great eco-friendly potential of renewable energy. Moreover, Friends of the Earth say the timeline set for this harmful plan is “unlawful” and want to fight it in court.

"We were disappointed because we think we've got a strong case," stated Laura Gyte, a solicitor for Friends of the Earth, for Business Green. Even so, somehow they managed to preserve their optimism while hoping the High Court will change its attitude and reverse its decision during the next hearing that will take place next week.

“This study shows that the tariff cut is utterly counterproductive for the Government - added to which tens of thousands of workers are facing redundancy before Christmas. This was meant to be the greenest Government ever, but if they push ahead with their plans they will become famous only for shooting themselves in the foot,” states Howard Johns, of the Cut Don't Kill campaign.

The court battle is not the only path people have come up with to manifest their disapproval regarding the governmental decision of cutting down feed-in-tariffs. The Cut Don't Kill campaign want to make their initiatives more and more visible and they have recently announced a protest on December 13th.

All in all, the three supporters know they have lost an important fight, but the war is definitely not over.