Brown's backbench bruising on renewables

Last night Gordon Brown suffered his biggest backbench rebellion since becoming Prime Minister.

37 Labour MPs voted against the Government by supporting an amendment to the Energy Bill which would provide far better financial support for homes, businesses and communities producing their own renewable energy.

The Government still defeated the amendment by 250 to 210 votes by insisting all its MPs were present in the House of Commons for the vote.

However the strength of MPs' feeling towards renewables was clearly shown by so many Labour MPs voting against their party on the eve of the local elections.

I just want to be part of a Labour government that does not have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the present, let alone the future.

Friends of the Earth have been campaigning for more measures to support renewables since the launch of Home Truths - a low-carbon homes report - in November 2007.

Why is a renewables amendment important?

Many European countries have successfully increased their renewable electricity generation by creating a renewable energy reward, otherwise known as a feed-in tariff.

A feed-in tariff is a duty on energy companies to pay a guaranteed, long-term, premium price for electricity generated by renewable sources and exported to the National Grid.

The price paid is substantially higher than the cost of electricity used in the home. This gives homeowners who want to invest in, say, solar panels:

• Better return on their money
• Long-term guarantee of that return for up to 25 years.

The amendment to the Energy Bill called for a feed-in tariff to support renewables in the home, for businesses and community.

What happens next?

The Energy Bill is now due to go to the House of Lords where we are hoping it will be amended by the Lords to once again introduce a feed-in tariff.

Resource

What is a feed-in tariff and why does the UK need one to support renewable energy?
(PDF† - 24K) April 2008

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

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