The High Court has agreed to hear applications from Solarcentury, Home Sun and Friends of the Earth to challenge the Government’s plans to cut Feed-in tariffs for solar electricity on 15 December, the UK’s largest solar energy company revealed today.

On 31 October the Government announced its plans to impose lower feed-in tariff payments but surprised the industry by saying that the lower rates would apply to any installations which are not completed by 12 December.

Solarcentury says that this cut-off date, two weeks before the consultation ends, is unlawful, irrational and unreasonable and has already lead to unfinished or planned projects being abandoned. These include major projects for Housing Associations and Local Authorities which planned to complete by 31 March 2012, the original tariff change date, but which have no hope of completion by 12th December. The Housing Associations have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds themselves preparing for these schemes.

A recent report Commissioned by Friends of the Earth and Cut Don’t Kill – an alliance of solar firms and consumer and environmental organisations – revealed that the soar cuts could cost up to 29,000 jobs and cause the Treasury to lose up to £230 million a year in tax income.

The High Court will hear the three separate legal challenges to the Government’s feed-in tariffs, by Solarcentury, Home Sun and Friends of the Earth, together on the same day. All claimants want to stop any cuts to tariff levels being made until DECC has completed its consultation on the changes correctly. The group regards the 12th December cut-off date as a cynical move made without due regard to the inevitable and negative commercial consequences for thousands of new businesses, their staff and customers.

Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Solarcentury said: “I expect the Court to look very carefully at this decision which Government has cynically disguised as a consultation. We were given six short weeks and now, when we want answers, they say “it was only a consultation” and it’s not urgent. Our customers who have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds preparing long term projects see it very differently.”

John Faulks, General Counsel for Solarcentury said, “To get a permission hearing on 15 December is actually good progress. That may sound ridiculous given the impact of the 12th December, but this is Judicial Review. It’s an involved court process. We’ve managed to get the standard timetables significantly reduced on this case. It doesn’t help that some people new to Judicial Review are panicking that it’s all over when really it hasn’t even started yet. We got knocked back on the written arguments at the initial application stage. That’s not unusual. The case starts for real on 15th December. Let’s focus on that permission hearing and not lose sight of the fact that we all need to make sure DECC hears plenty of response to the consultation itself. “