Britains energy ministry submits new plan to cut feed-in tariff

19.01.2012: The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced contingency plans to delay the cut to the country’s solar feed-in tariff (FIT), in the event that it loses a legal case at the Court of Appeal about the tariffs. DECC wrote in a statement that it is laying before Parliament draft license modifications that make provisions for a reduced FIT rate from April 1, 2012, onward for new photovoltaic (PV) installations with eligibility dates from March 2012 or later. DECC Minister Greg Barker said, “I know this is a difficult time for the sector and I want to do as much as I can to end the current uncertainty created by the legal challenge. We must reduce the level of FITs for solar panels as quickly as possible, to protect consumer bills and to avoid bust in the whole feed-in-tariff budget." The Court of Appeal recently postponed making a decision on the DECC’s challenge to a December High Court ruling that questioned the legality of the government’s proposed changes to the solar FIT scheme. The High Court said that bringing forward the cutoff date to Dec. 12, which fell in the middle of an ongoing public consultation on changes to the FIT scheme, would be unlawful. ... Source: DECC; summary: PHOTON

More info:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/fits_jan12upd/fits_jan12upd.aspx
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/wmsch_fits/wmsch_fits.aspx