Sian Crampsie
Two of the UK’s leading solar energy firms are mounting a legal challenge to the UK government’s decision to cut subsidy funding for solar farms.
Solarcentury and Lark Energy argued in the Court of Appeal that the government acted unlawfully in 2014 when it decided to close the renewables obligation (RO) scheme for large-scale solar farms two years early. They are also claiming that the government should not have used spending constraints under the levy control framework (LCF) to supersede other policy decisions.
The outcome of the case would have implications for the way in which the government approaches future renewable energy support mechanism decisions, Lark said in a statement. The Appeal Court will in particular look at the lawfulness of the government’s tactic of announcing retrospective changes backdated to the first day of a consultation period.
The two companies are appealing an earlier ruling by the High Court that the government’s policy changes were lawful. However they say that the government has failed to produce any evidence to show that early closure of the RO would help to reduce spending under the LCF, the government’s budget for renewable energy subsidies.
"Repeated attempts by MPs to obtain a proper breakdown of LCF spending have been met with evasion and reliance on the ‘commercial confidentiality’ argument," Lark said in a statement. It added: "We argued to the contrary that the LCF must also safeguard investor and stakeholder confidence and policy decisions need to reflect that balance. Retrospective legislative change fundamentally undermines confidence in the renewables industry, costs companies money, threatens jobs and makes medium-term business planning impossible."
