Scorecard: Home Generated Energy

Labour

• Feed-in-tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive for homeowners to claim cash for electricity and heat generated

Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) for small scale low carbon electricity were announced earlier this year. Householders can claim payments for the renewable electricity produced using a range of renewable technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines.
However any homeowner who installed small scale renewable electricity technology before 15 July 2009 is not eligible for the high payback rates under the current Government scheme.

Renewable Heat Incentive: similar to the FIT, householders will be able to claim cash back for generating renewable heat using ground/air source heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar-thermal water heaters, and combined heat and power (CHP) plants that use renewable energy sources. The RHI consultation closed in late April and is due to be introduced in 2011. However the policy lacks environmental robustness as there is no proposed requirement for homeowners to have achieved a particular standard of energy efficiency in a home before qualifying for the RHI tariff.

District heating: Government is supporting the development of district heating by: establishing a forum to advise Government on how to protect the interests of consumers and will drive the deployment of local heat networks through planning rules and local guidance.

Conservative

• Will review effectiveness of FiT/RHI in 2013 and consider how decentralised energy will play a role

The Conservatives would continue with the provision for Feed-in-tariffs (FiT's) and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), as set out by Labour, with a view to review its effectiveness in 2013.

FIT for small scale low carbon electricity were announced earlier this year. Householders can claim payments for the renewable electricity produced using a range of renewable technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines.

However any homeowner who installed small scale renewable electricity technology before 15 July 2009 is not eligible for the high payback rates under the current Government scheme.

RHI: similar to the FIT, householders will be able to claim cash back for generating renewable heat using ground/air source heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar-thermal water heaters, and combined heat and power (CHP) plants that use renewable energy sources. The RHI is currently being consulted on and is due to be introduced in 2011. However the policy lacks environmental robustness as there is no proposed requirement for homeowners to have achieved a particular standard of energy efficiency in a home before qualifying for the RHI tariff.

They will also work with stakeholders to include decentralised energy technologies where those technologies demonstrate long-term cost-saving potential in the Green Deal finance package. They will also pay attention to where decentralised energy can assist with fuel poverty particularly in terms of incorporating community-scale energy in the whole-street/estate approach.

However, there is a note of caution as they specifically note that not every energy technology is owed a living and this could pose a threat to the long term policy direction for renewable technologies which is an issue if people are to invest in these technologies in their homes.

Liberal Democrat

• Continued support FiTs and RHI

The Liberal Democrats would continue with the provision for Feed-in-tariffs (FiT's) and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), as set out by Labour, and say that homeowners will able to sell the energy back to the National Grid with a more attractive feed-in tariff than under current government plans.

FIT for small scale low carbon electricity were announced earlier this year. Householders can claim payments for the renewable electricity produced using a range of renewable technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines.

However any homeowner who installed small scale renewable electricity technology before 15 July 2009 is not eligible for the high payback rates under the current Government scheme.

RHI: similar to the FIT, householders will be able to claim cash back for generating renewable heat using ground/air source heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar-thermal water heaters, and combined heat and power (CHP) plants that use renewable energy sources. The RHI is currently being consulted on and is due to be introduced in 2011. However the policy lacks environmental robustness as there is no proposed requirement for homeowners to have achieved a particular standard of energy efficiency in a home before qualifying for the RHI tariff.

They will also encourage community-owned renewable energy schemes where local people benefit from the power produced.

This multi-manifesto analysis explicitly does not recommend or endorse any one political housing policy over another. All the Great British Refurb campaign partners are politically neutral.