2011 was an exciting and, at times, frustrating year for those campaigning for renewable energy. With two highly controversial reviews of the Feed-in Tariff, energy bills in the headlines and the Government pushing through the biggest market reforms for 25 years, Good Energy has had plenty to keep us busy when it comes to campaigning. A look ahead to the next 12 months, however, suggests that 2012 will also present some exciting challenges and opportunities….

Fighting for a fairer FIT
The simple and straightforward nature of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) – the government scheme for rewarding small, independent green generators -- makes it the best option we’ve got for delivering a more decentralised energy market.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about the Government’s plans for the FIT but despite the current cloud hanging over the scheme we hope that it will continue to play a major role in encouraging microgeneration. Our experience shows that this is one of the best ways of changing the relationship people have with the energy they use.

In 2012 we’ll be campaigning for the Government not to clip the wings of the scheme through a new energy efficiency standard which in fact has very little to do with energy efficiency.  Good Energy aims to be a constructive partner when working with Government, so we’ll also be doing what we can to help develop reforms that put the scheme on a sustainable footing. That’s important so that Ministers and officials spend less time worrying about tariff levels and more time focussing on how to use the FIT as a vehicle for delivering the decentralised energy market of the future.

Electricity Market Reform
Last year, Energy Ministers boldly announced the most far-reaching reforms to our electricity markets since it was first privatised in the 1990s. In 2012, the Government will announce the final details of those reforms, as it seeks to attract some £200bn of investment in our energy infrastructure by 2020.

The cost of Electricity Market Reform (EMR) has hardly been out of the news headlines in recent months. Critics of renewable energy have taken the opportunity to incorrectly blame those costs for driving up energy prices, and Good Energy continues to play our part in arguing how investment in renewables is essential to wean the UK off imported energy so that we have more stable prices in the future.

Good Energy’s CEO, Juliet Davenport, has been invited to join a new group chaired by the Climate Change Minister Greg Barker to examine how the reforms can encourage a more decentralised approach to our energy market. The group has already got stuck in, with Good Energy playing a leading role in drafting proposals.

EMR will continue to form a key part of our work in 2012 as we build on this activity – not only to argue for the more certain, renewable energy future that UK needs but to change the very DNA of our market through a more decentralised approach.

Changing energy supply
Reforming our energy market shouldn’t stop just at the way we generate our electricity – it has to include how we put households, businesses and communities in charge of the energy they use.

Energy tariff reform is essential to changing our system for the better. The complex array of tariffs that the Big Six players put out there can make the market a minefield to negotiate, and reduces people’s engagement.  We will support proposals which make it easier to compare tariffs, but oppose simplifications that run against giving people greater control over their energy and prevent smaller, newer suppliers from offering innovative new products the really deliver power to the people.

Over the next year, we’ll be working across a number of different areas to ensure that this is the case. We want to see changes so that domestic customers choosing renewable energy tariffs aren’t penalised for doing so, so that businesses choosing zero-carbon renewable electricity are recognised when it comes to reporting carbon emissions and so that tariffs are simplified in a way that leaves people more, not less, engaged with the energy they use.

Other areas
Other developments we’re looking forward to in 2012 are the Green Deal being launched, more details on the Green Investment Bank to be announced and the Renewable Heat Incentive progressing to cover domestic users. We’re also hoping to have one or two other exciting campaign announcements to make over the next 12 months, so watch this space!