Ed Davey as energy secretary and the
Conservative ministerial team leave with what
might be described as a mixed scorecard. For
industry, Feed-in Tariffs brought bounty and
then ruin in equal measure before eventual
recovery and stability. The Renewable Heat
Incentive took a long time to be implemented,
but has shown encouraging signs of growth.
Closely related policies targeted at the
consumer have also seen mixed success with
significant volumes deployed under ECO but
few measures delivered under Green Deal.
The election’s outcome
has the potential to
impact upon livelihoods
much further afield than
Westminster
Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats will point to one or two
successes (particularly at international climate
change negotiations) but claim Conservatives
did not allow them to go far enough at home
on areas such as Green Deal. Conservatives
meanwhile are losing a number of key
champions of the green agenda with Greg
Barker, Charles Hendry and Laura Sandys all
leaving Parliament this year.
Labour
The Labour energy team have perhaps
devoted the greatest amount of energy
to developing new ideas for solving the
challenge of refurbishing Britain’s buildings.
New proposals to focus funding on fuel
poverty, develop area based energy efficiency
schemes and the provision of interest
free loans to homeowners could all have
a significant impact if Caroline Flint and
Jonathan Reynolds find themselves at DECC
on May 08.
Labour is also likely to focus carefully
on the equitability of energy policy and seek
to address areas where they see vulnerable
consumers losing out, or unequal distribution
of subsidies. This scrutiny could result in
modifications to renewable incentive regimes
such as FiTs and RHI if they are seen to be
balanced too far in favour of higher income
households.
Conservative
If the Conservatives secure victory, David
Cameron has committed to delivering an EU
Referendum by 2017 or potentially sooner.
This could have a significant impact on
funding because the UK renewable energy
targets extend only to 2020 and are based on
EU agreement. A significant unravelling of
support is unlikely in the short-term (even if
the UK voted to leave) but an EU referendum
could significantly complicate discussions
over what happens after 2020.
Many pollsters are predicting that no
overall majority is a significant possibility
at the next election. What happens in these
circumstances will depend on the electoral
arithmetic and established positions of the
parties that win seats. Generally speaking,
the largest party (number of seats) will have
first opportunity to seek to form a coalition
government. If this can’t be achieved, the
second largest party will have an opportunity
to form a government.
In the event that no party is able to form a
coalition, the largest party would be invited to
form a minority government. This would mean
the party would be reliant on the votes of MPs
from other parties in order to pass legislation
in the House of Commons. Such arrangements
are historically rare in British Politics, but have
occurred most notably in 1974 leading to a
second general election within the space of a
year.
Other parties
I should also mention UKIP and the Green
Party who will have a role to play nationally
and pivotally in a number of constituencies.
UKIP’s energy policy , entitled ‘keeping the
lights on’ disputes theories around manmade
climate change and centres on a rejection of
existing approaches to tackling our energy
challenges, calling for a refocusing on building
new fossil fuel based power stations. The
Greens strongly support the renewable
agenda and state that ‘’by investing in
renewable energy and reducing our reliance
on fossil fuels, we will build a stable and
sustainable society that protects our planet
from climate change’’.
Chief among the early tasks for whoever
is given the keys to DECC on May 08 will
be the Comprehensive Spending Review or
budgeting process across government for the
period 2016 through 2020. The outcome of this
Hit and miss: Outgoing energy secretary Ed
Davey can look back on his time in office with
mixed feelings following the boom and bust of
the Feed-in Tariff and limited appeal of Green
Deal
is likely to directly affect the budget allocated
for the Renewable Heat Incentive.
Renewed effort is also required to try
to make the Green Deal or an alternative
energy efficiency finance scheme work and
to update the Heat Strategy, ensuring that
plans to deliver long-term emissions reduction
from heating take account of changes in
the heating market and the wider energy
system. Success here, could finally unlock a
convincing ‘whole home’ upgrade proposition
for consumers and create significant
opportunity for installers.
So whether you are out campaigning,
glued to the television, or switching over at
the mere sight of Miliband, Cameron, Clegg
or indeed Nick Robinson in the coming weeks,
change is almost certain and we may be about
to enter uncharted territory.
An EU referendum could
significantly complicate
discussions over what
happens after 2020
www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk | 7