In August, as explained in the last newsletter, the Energy Group responded to a Government consultation on removing certain benefits to Community Renewable Energy Companies such as we are proposing to create. The gist of our response was the removal of pre-accreditation will make our project virtually impossible due to the risk and uncertainty of degressing FIT rates over the course of the next 12 months or more that it might take to get to the point of having a completed an installation. We copied our MP, Mel Stride, with the details of our response and he has forwarded it to Amber Rudd, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change . We await her response with baited breath.

To add insult to injury the Government is now consulting on substantially reducing subsidies for all new renewable energy projects as from the 1st January 2016. in the Government's words "We are therefore proposing measures to place policy costs on bills on a sustainable footing, improve bill payer value for money, and limit the effects on consumers who ultimately pay for renewable energy subsidies. This review follows an earlier consultation in July - August 2015 on removing FITs pre-accreditation to limit the impact on bill payers of deployment surges."

The proposed Feed-in-Tariff rates for January 2016 have been reduced by 70% compared with the current rates. If there is no dispensation for community groups, then our project will not be economically viable.

The consultation runs until the 23rd October and we shall be responding in robust terms.

What can you do? Please petition Amber Rudge via the 38 Degrees website.