Commons refuses to budge on grace period for wind subsidies

The House of Commons has refused to budge on an extended grace for period for the early closure of the renewables obligation (RO) to onshore wind, once again voting down an amendment to the Energy Bill which would give more leeway to developers in certain situations.

Last month Lord Grantchester tabled an amendment which would have enabled projects to remain eligible for RO certificates even if they did not secure planning permission by the cut-off date – 18 June 2015 – so long as they had already received “democratic local consent”.

After that amendment was voted down in the Commons, the Lords put forward a fresh amendment limiting eligibility to those projects which went on to receive planning permission within three months of the cut-off date.  The Commons has once again blocked it, this time by 286 votes to 260.

Earlier in April the government confirmed that early closure of the RO would not be enforced retroactively after the planned closure date – 31 March 2016 – came and went before the Energy Bill could be passed.

The bill is currently at the ping-pong stage and will return to the Lords this afternoon (10 May). If they accept the Commons’ decision the bill will then receive royal assent and become law.