UK SUPREME COURT TOSSES OUT SOLAR TARIFF CHALLENGE

03/26/2012

The United Kingdom Supreme Court rejected on Friday the government's appeal of a ruling deeming its changes to the solar tariff scheme "legally flawed." The ruling ends months of uncertainty for the industry, and determines that solar installations completed between December and early March will receive the original 43 per kilowatt hour (kwh) rate for 25 years, rather than the new 21 per kwh rate proposed by the government. "Permission to appeal was refused because the application does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance," read the ruling. The Department will not be taking the appeal further. Though the industry argued that this will stop the government from cutting solar subsidies with little notice in the future, the ruling raises major concerns about how far the scheme will exceed its budget this year. For the full story, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17490096 and http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2163280/breaking-news-supreme-court-rejects-government-s-feed-tariff-solar-appeal. Earlier: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2141157/breaking-government-loses-crucial-solar-appeal.