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Policy Exchange estimates renewable energy policies will add £400 a year to household costs by 2020, prompting angry response from DECC

Patience is obviously wearing thin. Following the release today of the third major report in the last two months criticising the cost of the Department of Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) renewable energy policy, officials have hit back branding the latest report from the Policy Exchange thinktank as "flawed" and "not credible".

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Virgin founder Richard Branson has today joined in the call to the Government to stop the cuts on the Solar PV Feed in Tariffs.

Mr Branson, writing on his Virgin blog, said it was an 'absolute necessity' and criticised a current focus on 'short term goals and profits'.

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The first recipients of the criticised and delayed Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) are an umbrella maker and holiday cottage rental business.

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Furious homeowners fear they have lost hundreds of pounds to a solar energy company that has gone out of business.


Money Mail has received dozens of emails and letters from angry readers who paid £500 each to Energy Saving Group (ESG) to have solar panels fitted. All complain they have received neither panels nor cash refunds.

Customers say ESG had promised to slash their fuel bills if they had the solar panels installed.

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/b...#ixzz1jv2E4Zoi ...

Five of the 'Big Six' energy firms have now confirmed cuts to prices coming in the next few weeks.

With EDF (5%) , British Gas (5%) , SSE (4.5%) and npower (5%) all announcing price cuts last week E.ON's decision today (January 16) to cut its standard electricity price by 6% leaves only ScottishPower to not have cut bills.

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Solar electricity installations in the last week of 2011 fell by two-thirds on the same period in 2010 following the government's cut to solar subsidies.

Only 35 installations were completed in the final week of last year compared with 103 in the final week of 2010, according to data from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

It also shows that immediately after installations ceased to be eligible for the higher tariff on 12 December, the number of installations ...

The Church of England and the National Trust have written to the government saying recent policy changes put community solar power schemes at risk.

They fear the changes "signal a retreat" in government plans to move towards localised renewable energy.

This week, the High Court ruled that a plan to halve subsidies for solar panels was "legally flawed", and MPs' committees said it was "panicky".

The church and the charity want a UK target ...

Planned government changes to subsidies on solar power may deal the industry a "fatal blow", two parliamentary committees are warning.

The Environmental Audit Committee and Energy and Climate Change Committee say ministers are right to make changes, but are doing so "clumsily".

Government plans include restricting access to solar subsidies to houses meeting energy efficiency standards.

Thousands of solar industry jobs could be at risk, ...

The Government's planned cuts to the Feed-in Tariff have been thrown into disarray this afternoon after a High Court judge ruled they were "legally flawed".

The ruling to order a judicial review was made by Mr Justice Mitting following a two-day hearing at London's High Court.

During the hearing, Energy Minister Chris Huhne was likened to Shakespeare's Macbeth with his slash-and-run plan to cut the Feed-in Tariff for solar electricity, which was argued ...