Councils 'hindering roll out of renewable energy network' - 05/05/2011
Local authorities are in some cases hampering plans to roll out a renewable energy network, cheap energy customers might be surprised to hear.
According to a report by the Renewable Energy Installer magazine, many councils argue householders have to ask their permission before installing micro-generation equipment such as solar panels, Click Green reported.
This is despite an amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, which places solar panels in the 'permitted development' category.
Charlotte Linacre, spokesperson for the TaxPayers' Alliance, told the news source: "This appears a completely unnecessary waste of time, money and effort - local authorities should be reducing the red tape surrounding renewable energy, not increasing it."
Under the government's feed-in tariff scheme, homes and small businesses can install small-scale green energy generating equipment and send any surplus energy to the national grid.
However, ministers announced a review of the scheme and proposed to cut subsidies for solar panel installations above a certain size.
Switching to a green energy tariff can slash your CO2 footprint by two tonnes and also save you £100s a year! Click here to compare green energy tariffs.
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