Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Written Statement of 18 June 2015, HCWS 40, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the early closure of the Renewables Obligation to new onshore wind on the Levy Control Framework.

The Government has a responsibility to manage support schemes efficiently within the Levy Control Framework to ensure that costs to consumers remain affordable. We now have enough onshore wind in the pipeline to help us meet our renewable electricity commitments. Unless we close the Renewables Obligation to new onshore wind projects, we could end up with more deployment of this technology than we can afford. This would lead either to higher energy bills or other renewable technologies losing out on support.