NextEnergy Capital is urging the UK Government to reject retrospective changes to the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariffs schemes that it argues would raise consumer costs and harm long-term investment.
The company said the proposed adjustments, consulted on before the New Year break, would alter how inflation is applied to revenues earned by renewable generators across projects built between 2002 and 2019.
It added that modelling with LCP Delta found the changes could lead to a net increase in the overall cost to consumers of between £584 million and £2.5 billion from 2026 to 2050.
NextEnergy Capital stated that share prices for listed renewable funds fell following the launch of the consultation as increased policy risk translated into more expensive financing for new projects.
It said this would slow deployment, delay projects and leave households exposed to volatile global gas prices despite the Government stating the change could cut bills by about £5 a year.
The company responded directly to the consultation on behalf of NextEnergy Solar Fund, its shareholders and industry partners.
Ross Grier, chief investment officer of NextEnergy Capital, said: “Changing these schemes retrospectively will reduce confidence, increase political risk, and make it more difficult for the UK to attract investment, at precisely the time when the UK needs to attract billions of pounds in order to achieve its Clean Power 2030 goals.
“We strongly believe that the Government’s proposed changes will increase the overall cost to consumers and that any potential short-term benefits will be far outweighed by the long-term impacts on electricity prices.”