Good Energy’s Feed-in Tariff campaign gathers political support

2nd March 2010 sheridan

MPs urged to support Early Day Motion to get fair deal for energy entrepreneurs

Good Energy, the UK’s only dedicated 100% renewable electricity supplier, is leading a national campaign urging the Government to re-assess its reward scheme for early adopters of microgeneration.

Under the Government’s recently announced Clean Energy Cash-back scheme, householders who install microgeneration technology will receive a feed-in tariff payment of up to 41.3 pence per kilowatt hour. However, these payments will only apply to new generators who installed their technology after 15th July 2009. Those who installed their renewable technology before this date will only receive 9p/kWh under the scheme.

Good Energy’s ‘Fair Deal for Energy Entrepreneurs’ campaign calls for the Government to address this discrepancy which effectively penalises early adopters of microgeneration technology.

Juliet Davenport, CEO and founder of Good Energy, said: “The UK microgeneration industry owes its existence to early adopters who took on the costs of installing their own generation equipment. The jobs created in this sector would not be here if it weren’t for them, and the Government must understand that by doing this it discourages any business or individual to be pioneering or move ahead of government policy.

We are proud that one in 25 of our customers is also a generator and we are committed to getting the best deal for them. We were the first company to introduce our own financial reward system and were delighted when the Government decided to follow suit. However, its failure to recognise the contribution of early adopters simply sends the wrong message, and will stop individuals and business from taking leadership in the world of technological innovation”.

Good Energy’s campaign has received widespread cross-party support, with a growing number of MPs lending their name to an Early Day Motion tabled by Alistair Carmichael MP.

Mr. Carmichael said: “If the Government is serious about wanting people to develop small-scale renewable energy projects then they will have to treat everyone fairly instead of punishing those who demonstrate initiative and commitment.”

Good Energy was the first company to introduce its own version of a Feed-in Tariff before the Government’s announcement and continues to lead the market with the highest paying financial reward to microgenerators. Under its award-winning HomeGen scheme, the company pays generators 15p for each unit of electricity they generate. Good Energy has already pledged to continue paying its existing accredited small generators this amount for a year, rather than reverting to the 9p rate set by the Government, while it lobbies for a fairer system.

Good Energy is urging everyone who supports a fair deal for energy entrepreneurs to write to their MP and sign the following petition: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Microgenerators/

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