Court Unanimously Throws Out Government Solar Appeal

Jan. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- Today, Sam Grodzinski, HomeSun’s QC, led HomeSun, Friends of the Earth and Solarcentury to victory as the Government lost its appeal against The High Court ruling that Government acted unlawfully.

HomeSun CEO, Daniel Green, said:

“Four Judges, including three in The Court of Appeal, have now called the Government’s actions illegal. That’s a 4-Nil victory and a decisive ruling that Government may not make retrospective changes to the FIT because, as Lord Justice Moses concludes, to do so ‘would be to take away an existing entitlement without statutory authority’.

“The Secretary of State has failed to have proper regard for the rights conferred by the FIT, which aims to encourage homeowners to generate their own energy. Like a Government bond, that rate is fixed depending on the date the installation becomes eligible and Government cannot change it as they choose.

“Both this appeal and the Judicial Review in The High Court would not have been required had DECC simply followed its own process and allowed the industry, that it claims to support, time to prepare for a lower Feed-in Tariff.

“Almost everybody except DECC have appreciated the potential and importance of the solar industry – from The National Trust, the Church of England through to the CBI as well as the British people. Surely this must be the point at which Chris Huhne stops taking the side of the big six energy companies and realize that solar is part of our future.”

On the next steps Government should take, HomeSun CEO, Daniel Green, said:

“The Government must now move on and deliver a Feed in Tariff which is fair and not just for the rich.  This means, dropping the so called ‘aggregator tariff’ which will discriminate again companies trying to provide free solar or low cost solar and punish private homeowners that don’t have £1000s in the bank. Solar should not be just for the rich.

“The big six energy providers have been shown in many surveys to be amongst the least favourite companies in the UK. The recent court case successes, in both The High Court and now The Court of Appeal, further demonstrate that HomeSun is prepared to stand up on behalf of the British public against unfair practices and relentless energy price rises even if it means taking them, or the government, on in court.”
The Government has been refused permission to go to appeal to the Supreme Court.

About HomeSun

HomeSun, the solar specialist, has been making it easy for thousands of homeowners to generate their own energy with Free Solar and SolarShare, with free maintenance for 25 years.
HomeSun has a big vision that is almost breathtakingly simple: we want to revolutionize the way that people power their homes by making domestic renewable energy commonplace, easy and affordable, starting with Solar PV. At HomeSun, we would like to think that homes that are not self-sufficient in some way will be the odd ones out, not the other way round. In the not too distant future, most homes could be able to produce some of their own energy in some way - energy that is clean, that saves money, improves the homes' value and cuts carbon emissions.

Visit http://www.homesun.com/ to find out more!