Thank you for contacting me about export tariff payments for rooftop solar installations.
As you will be aware, the Government is currently considering the responses received to a recent consultation on Feed-In-Tariffs export-payments alongside the generation tariff for new applications after March 2019. I understand that its response will be published in due course.
I can assure you, however, that the Government is committed to ensuring the UK has secure energy supplies that are reliable, affordable and clean. Our country generates electricity from increasingly low carbon sources and the electricity powering the UK's homes and businesses in 2017 was the greenest ever, with 50 per cent coming from clean sources, up from 19 per cent in 2010.
Ultimately, the UK has been a world leader in cutting emissions while growing our economy, and in doing so has demonstrated to the world what is possible when government and industry come together to tackle big strategic challenges. Much of this however has been paid for through consumer bills, and the Feed-In-Tariff scheme alone carries a legacy cost to bill payers of around £1.2 billion a year for the coming decade.
Last year saw the launch of the Clean Growth Strategy which sets out 50 major policies and plans that will help us to cut the cost of energy, drive economic growth, create high value jobs right across the UK, and improve our quality of life. The Feed-in-Tariff call for evidence reaffirms the Government's ambition set out in the Clean Growth Strategy to consider its approach to small-scale low-carbon generation and to explore the clear cross overs with a smart energy system.
Ultimately, I believe distributed generation may have a role to play a part in a smarter, more efficient energy system and Ministers should ensure small scale low-carbon technologies have a level playing field as the market for smarter services evolves, rather than continuing to rely on public subsidies.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
