Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement that the Government intends to roll-back green regulation risks “severely undermining investors confidence” in renewable energy, according to the Renewable Energy Association (REA).
At Prime Minister’s Question Time, he said that green regulation was pushing up the price of energy bills and the Government would seek to investigate ways to reduce regulation to lower bills.
REA chief executive Nina Skorupska said: “David Cameron must clarify which levies he is looking to roll back and how, or risk severely undermining investor confidence at a time when this country desperately needs investment in new low carbon capacity. Renewables are the only low carbon options on the table to bridge the near term capacity crunch, which will bite well before new nuclear or shale gas come on-stream.
“Renewables policy makes up only 3 per cent of average bills overall and less than a third of the Government’s ‘green levies’, so politicians and the media are simply wrong to say that green energy is to blame for pushing up bills. It is the ever-increasing cost of gas which has been the main cause of rising bills in recent months and years. With more energy-efficient homes and more home-grown renewables we become less exposed to these volatile gas markets.
“In return for investing in renewables now, we create skilled green jobs in innovative new industries, bringing areas of previous industrial decline back to life. In the long-term we will also get lower, more stable energy prices and preserve a climate which is safe for our families in the future.”
