No subsidies for green power projects before 2025, says UK Treasury
By Paul Homewood
And now for the good news from the Budget:
Renewable energy project developers have been dealt a huge blow as the government said there will be no new subsidies until 2025.
The budget for support schemes, such as Contracts for Difference (CfDs), has so far been set through the Levy Control Framework (LCF) and since the Spring Budget announcement to end the LCF, the government has been developing its new Control for Low Carbon Levies.
It is designed to limit the green taxes or levies that are added to consumer energy bills.
A document published by the Treasury, alongside the Budget yesterday, suggests the government wants to keep energy costs “as low as possible” and therefore there will be no new low carbon electricity levies “until the burden of such costs is falling”.
It states: “Until the total burden of these costs is forecast to fall in real terms over a sustained period, the Control will not allow for new low carbon electricity levies to be introduced. Based on the current forecast, this will rule out new levy spend until 2025.”
The Control, which covers CfDs, Feed-in Tariffs and the Renewables Obligation, does not rule out future support for any technology and all existing contracts and commitments “will be respected”, including the £557 million for further CfDs confirmed in the recent Clean Growth Strategy.
The document adds: “New low carbon levies may be considered if the aggregate of existing levies is forecast to have a sustained and significant fall in real terms.
“New levies may still be considered where they have a net reduction effect on bills and are consistent with the government’s energy strategy.”
http://www.energylivenews.com/2017/11/23/budget-2017-no-subsidies-for-green-energy-until-2025/
Naturally the renewable lobby is squeaking loudly, despite previously telling us how cheap wind and solar power has become.
According to the Guardian, the government is also planning on freezing the carbon price, effectively a carbon tax. Bob Ward has been moaning.
It is disappointing that the Treasury is continuing its indefinite freeze of the carbon price support rate, a move that could endanger the achievement of the UK’s emissions target for 2030,” said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
He added that the current price of around £24.50 a tonne of CO2 was likely to be too weak to drive the energy market to shift from gas power stations to renewables and nuclear.
I quite agree, Bob. In which case, can we cancel the thing completely?
Unfortunately, all of this is simply shutting the stable door after most of the horses have bolted. As I pointed out earlier, the climate policies advocated by Bob and his chums will already cost us £66bn in the next five years. Worse still this cost will remain with us for many more years to come, and will only rise as Hinkley Point and other expensive white elephants come on stream after 2022.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
There has also been a lot in the news about this country’s low productivity. However, I notice that there has been no mention of how the productivity in the electricity generation sector has dramatically fallen (as the result of successive governments’ policies) such that the electricity sector now employs hundreds of thousands whereas 20 years ago it employed tens of thousands. Well we have been told repeatedly how many millions of green jobs have been created – and highly skilled too; cleaning solar panels is a highly skilled job.
Also collective bleating in the MSM about the lowest growth in living standards EVAH, but no mention that a significant part of that is due to the glorious fight against “Climate Change”.
“Solar energy in the US employs more people than traditional coal, gas and oil combined, a report has found, in a revelation that could undermine Donald Trump’s argument that green energy isn’t good for the economy.”
Undermine or underline?
climanrecon
What they fail to point out is that, as I understand it, the energy output from 70 (seventy) renewables workers is equivalent to 1 (one) coal worker.
Nothing more than a job creation scam……sorry, scheme.
And the creation of taxpayer funded green jobs kills off real jobs. Look at Siemens laying off 6000 staff in their steam turbine section as a good example. And with delicious irony even their windmill section wasn’t doing too well.
As usual typical doublespeak all revolving around the definition of ‘new.’ I would imagine this will make little difference to the additional costs we’ll either beat through taxation or on energy bills over the next 15 years or so.
One thing I have noticed over the years is how well organized the “money” folks have become. This reads to me like the gov and their wealthy cronies are keeping track of both budgets and reactions from society. It is time for a pause in the financial rape of the folks. Their tolerance limit has been reached re energy prices, and a good parasite doesn’t kill the host, so we’ll back off for a while. Even the Bilderberg/Davos crew know that future huge profits will require squeezing more blood from the commoner stone.
A very good comment.
I had a close up and personnel encounter with a parasite (Giardia) in the summer of 2015.
At first, I thought I had bad pizza and too many beers. Then I started to feel better, so did not go to the clinic. Then I got worse. I didn’t want to leave the house. Luckily, my better half went to a function where our Doctor came. He asked of me, and then told her to get me in to see him.
There is a medicine to kill the little buggers.
Not that I think “the gov and their wealthy cronies” should be treated likewise, but they should be stopped and the ill-gotten gains should be taken back and redistributed.
It might just be a realization that continuing to make electricity more expensive will bite back on Blue Labour at the next election.
Bob Ward says :
-“He added that the current price of around £24.50 a tonne of CO2 was likely to be too weak to drive the energy market to shift from gas power stations to renewables and nuclear.-”
He must know that the present carbon tax and preferential rates for renewables has already caused the cancellation and mothballing of gas power stations in the UK and is responsible for such a loss of orders for gas turbines by the major EU manufacturer , Siemens . that the latter has cut 6000 jobs , probably skilled engineers , production workers and designers. Replaced by kits of parts from China that only require skill in the pouring of concrete, in bulldozing environmentally precious peatlands (remember when the BBC was telling us all to use peatfree compost – how politics changes things ) and clicking together the solar panel or wind turbine Lego parts.
7.46 Euros is today’s European Emission Allowances price.
http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/co2-emissionsrechte
I doubt that Bob Ward has any connection to reality. I have a global warming zealot in my office who thinks he can convert me to believe that BS but stays clear of any facts.
He’s right unfortunately, the rest of the price is traditional UK goldplating courtesy of Miliband’s CC Act and the Carbon Price Floor.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/unpopular-but-tenacious-a-guide-to-the-uk-carbon-price-floor
No repeal of the climate change act so this will simply increase our bills and not help us at all.
It’s good to forego new subsidies, but as Paul points out, there is a lot of waste already locked. And the article notes there is considerable “green crap” still in the budget:
“The Control, which covers CfDs, Feed-in Tariffs and the Renewables Obligation, does not rule out future support for any technology and all existing contracts and commitments “will be respected”, including the £557 million for further CfDs confirmed in the recent Clean Growth Strategy.”
“Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget announcements included £540 million for EVs and charging infrastructure, a tax hike for diesel cars which will finance a new £220 million Clean Air Fund, tax breaks for the North Sea oil and gas sector and plans to introduce a tax on single-use plastic items”
“A document published by the Treasury, alongside the Budget yesterday, suggests the government wants to keep energy costs “as low as possible” and therefore there will be no new low carbon electricity levies “until the burden of such costs is falling”.”
But decarbonisation requires high energy costs.
It is almost as if Politicians are simply trying to remain Politicians
“New levies may still be considered where they have a net reduction effect on bills and are consistent with the government’s energy strategy.” is a worrying sentence. Firstly, all I hear on the BBC and other news media is that RE is reducing consumers’ bills. Yes, I know it’s not true, but most people think it’s the “rip-off energy companies” quoting the PM. Secondly, consistent with what government energy strategy. Justifying a new levy may not be that difficult.
Does this mean that Mark Shorrock and his wife are not about to benefit from the Swansea Bay scam?
Looks like it!
I hope it puts the kibosh on this appaling solar subsidy farm plan on an important bird migration route. There’s a presentation at the town hall on 6th December. I planned to go primed with as much as I can remember from this site. It would be great to know that the project is almost certainly dead!
https://www.clevehillsolar.com/
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/whitstable/news/britains-biggest-solar-farm-could-be-built-in-kent-134959/
No new subsidies. How about old subsidies?
We’re stuck with them for 15 yrs unfortunately, even for schemes not due to start until 2023
What can we do to teach climate vermin like Bob Ward and Jeremy Grantham a lesson? And what about Davey, Huhne, Hendry and the other prat who have got Knighthoods and Peerages from ‘bent’ Cameron and his elite mates.
The Lib Dems are the worst. Lord Stephens, one of the ‘Scottish fascists’ behind Salmond who has plastered the Highlands with subsidy machines and made the false claim that Scotland can be self-sufficient with renewable energy, when it will always rely on English Grid Inertia. That makes a good weapon against independence – turn off the power at the border.
Unless of course the SNP intends to force the poor to die early in the new LIA, now upon us, whist the survivors fish and croft, and weave.
Little Ms Sturgeon needs no urgeon to make ludicrous false virtue statements ‘cos she is a racist idiot.
Blobby Bobby of the Grantsuck Institute is a cheerleader for crooks and scamsters.
He should be in jail.
I have a question for researchers familiar with England.
I am seeking some help in finding a study that I have seen in past, but I cannot find it now. And Google searching is not helping me. (I will post this on a couple of threads to see if anyone can direct me to the studies.)
In England, the demise a certain moth (I think) was blamed on humans. Despite set-aside of areas to protect the moth, the moth numbers continued to plummet. Of course, the skin-deep analysis was to blame increases in CO2 concentration. However, painstaking analysis showed something different. The moth required certain ground temperatures for reproduction. In the set-aside areas, the grass was not cut and trees were not pruned — which made the ground too cool for the moth reproduction. It turned out the moth flourished when humans devoted land use for sheep grazing. The short grass enabled the moth to enjoy warmer ground temperatures. When humans phased out sheep grazing the ground temperature sank, leading to the demise of the month.
Thanks! I would appreciate help in finding this study. The detailed research was phenomenal!