Cameron's renewables plan will put wind up Labour

David Cameron has stolen a march on Labour yet again with today’s announcement that the Tories will introduce a scheme giving householders a decent rate of return for selling power generated from renewables back to the grid.

Instead of the pathetic sums currently paid by the big power generators, householders will enjoy a much higher rate said to give them an 8-10% return on their investment. Scrapping the grant scheme for renewable technologies will help pay for it.

Why nobody has proposed this before is a mystery as it’s hardly a new idea. The Germans have enjoyed an enhanced rate for renewably generated electricity sold back to the grid since 1991.

It’s no surprise then that the UK generates just 2% of its power from renewables compared to 9% in Germany, which is enjoying a booming renewable technologies market resulting in the added benefit of driving capital costs down. With Cameron’s scheme we should get a bit closer to our targets of generating 20% of our power from renewables by 2020.

Few people will weep over the proposal to scrap the grant scheme. Not only is getting the grant convoluted and bureaucratic but the money usually runs out hours after announcements of more funding.

A simple and straightforward scheme like this is much better. In fact it is so simple there is little else to say other than if the way Labour seized on Cameron’s inheritance tax initiative is anything to go by we won’t have to wait until the next general election to see this idea become reality.