James Murray
The government’s controversial efforts to roll back a host of green
policies have been dealt a dual blow by the House of Lords this week, after
peers voted to retain subsidies for wind farms that boast local community
support and backed an amendment to effectively reintroduce the scrapped
zero carbon home standard.
The House of Lords yesterday defeated the government by 50 votes over a
clause in the Energy Bill that would end Renewables Obligation (RO)
subsidies for all onshore wind farms.
Labour successfully argued for an amendment to the bill that would extend
the grace period for projects that command local support and were at an
advanced stage of development when the government announced its intention
to bring an end to access to the RO earlier than expected.
The opposition said there were around 66MW of projects in Scotland that
would benefit from its proposals.
Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary Lisa Nandy said Labour would
seek to defend the amendment when the Energy Bill returns to the Commons.
“Ministers should stop standing in the way of these wind farms, which enjoy
local support and that could provide valued jobs and cheap, clean energy,”
she said. “At a time when the UK is struggling to keep the lights on and
meet our climate change commitments they should not be blocking the
cheapest source of low-carbon energy.”
However, BusinessGreen understands the government is likely to oppose the
amendment given it was defeated in the Commons the last time the Lords
attempted to add it to the bill.
Ministers maintain an end to subsidies for onshore wind farms was a
manifesto commitment, despite widespread opposition from a renewables
industry that has repeatedly argued onshore wind farms are compatible with
a separate manifesto commitment to deliver cost effective cuts to carbon
emissions.
“This Energy Bill will help provide clean, affordable and secure energy
whilst protecting bill payers,” said a spokesman for the Department of
Energy and Climate Change. “Consensus has been reached in the House of
Commons and we shouldn’t accept any further delay in introducing these
important changes for families and businesses. We remain committed to
delivering these measures when the Energy Bill returns to the House of
Commons.”
The defeat for the government came less than 24 hours after peers voted for
an amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill that would effectively revive
the controversially scrapped zero carbon homes standard by requiring the
government to ensure “all new homes in England built from 1 April 2018
achieve the carbon compliance standard”.
The amendment was approved by 48 votes during the Lords report stage of the
bill.
The move was welcomed by Julie Hirigoyen, CEO of the UK Green Building
Council, who urged ministers to now reconsider last summer’s decision to
scrap a regulation that had widespread industry support.
“During the 10 years prior to July 2015, the leading players spanning the
housebuilding industry – developers, product manufacturers, contractors and
engineers – got behind Zero Carbon Homes, investing heavily and innovating
to make it a reality,” she said. “The unexpected and unwanted scrapping of
the policy made a mockery of the government’s green credentials, and
demonstrated complete disdain for the quality of the nation’s new homes and
the industry’s investment.
“Having supported the Paris climate agreement with much fanfare, cutting
carbon from new homes and buildings will be vital to achieving our
commitments. Re-introducing the zero carbon homes standard would be a clear
next step on this journey, and would provide the certainty the industry
needs to continue investing in new skills and technologies.”
A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government defended
the decision to axe the zero carbon standard, arguing it would help speed
up the development of new housing projects.
“We are already building some of the most energy efficient homes in the
world,” he said. “Our current standards are tough and already have the full
support of the industry. Our aim is to speed up house building and not add
extra costs and bureaucracy. We do not need extra legislation as existing
legislation is already in place to allow energy performance standards to be
set in Building Regulations.”
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