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thought I'd copy this here
Hopefully you will have seen the briefing document that we issued earlier this week and we will be following this up with our draft response to the consultation which you will receive shortly. The thrust of our response will reflect the submissions that we have received via the membership survey launched earlier this week. So far we have had over 100 responses but we need more – not just for informing our consultation response but also for a national newspaper interested in running a story about what you are telling us the impact on solar companies will be. We will be keeping the survey open for a few more days so we urge you to complete it if you have not already done so. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/50PerCentTariffCut
We will be holding a members meeting at Eversheds on Monday 14th November 2011 between 10:00 and 12:30 where we will focus on our response to the consultation and gaining members feedback. To register please email [email protected]. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
The Association has also been continuing its lobbying activities:
· We have a very good dialogue/relationship with the Minister and civil servants.
· We are analysing the stated rates of return for the new FITs using our own internal solar model
· We are conducting an initial early survey of member views for media and political work
· We will be holding a session with members to develop our formal position around our draft of the response to the consultation (underway)
· We are giving evidence at a forthcoming Common's Select Committee inquiry on solar
· We are briefing the opposition spokesperson
· We are regularly speaking to press
Apart from that various meetings with MPs, Special Advisors, civil servants etc. and we are supporting the new campaign.
Our Solar Future ‘Cut But Don’t Kill’ Campaign Update - A message for the Campaign team
A group of companies from across the sector have come together to run a campaign to try to reduce the scale of the cuts to the feed in tariff and the crazy implementation date. The campaign led by Portland Communications and Martyn Williams (ex FoE) is now well underway and has received lots of coverage in all the national papers, some local papers and significant amounts of national radio.
The campaign is raising awareness of the FITs issue both in parliament and in national media – we have had some early success but are only just picking up pace. Its vitally important that we keep the campaign going and the more resources we have, the more we can do. We have learnt the value of having experienced professionals handling a media and political campaign and given the future of our companies are at stake.
There are many ways you can get involved in the campaign first ones are up on the campaign website: Home | Solar Needs You. Go there to download an action pack with letters ready to be sent from your employees and customers; sign up for regular updates and get info about our march on Westminster on 22nd November. It is essential that you get all your employees and customers engaged in this and writing and visiting their MPs, and along to the action day on the 22nd.
Some people are questioning if we are already too late and there is no chance of changing the terms of the consultation document - there could not be a bigger mistake – it is essential we fight this very publicly and forcefully or we will continue to be sidelined. We are in this situation because few in Government, and very few in the media, take solar energy seriously. Current policy treats solar very differently to other energy technologies; it features nowhere in DECC’s renewables roadmap, the Treasury budget is capped at a ludicrously small amount and returns are kept at a level where they deliberately deter private investment. This is crazy considering that solar can easily make up 30% of this country’s electricity supply and will be cost-competitive with traditional energy sources in just a few years. Even after the consultation, whatever is left of the industry will face being cut down again because of the budget cap - the time to make our case is now.
We are still short of the full amount we would like in order to do everything we have planned and we really need your help. We are typically collecting £3k from participating companies (smaller amounts are accepted from small companies, and larger amounts from large companies or organisations – the contribution is discretionary); the campaign is independent of any individual company or trade association, decisions are led by the campaign agency and all funders get regular updates from the campaign and are actively encouraged to contribute to it. If you would like to contribute or want more information please contact Toby Ferenzi on [email protected] or Howard Johns on [email protected]
Letter to the Times
The Campaign Team will be sending a letter to the Times which we hope will be printed in Monday’s paper. We would like as many CEOs / MDs of solar companies to sign up to it. You can find the text for the letter the team will send here. All you need to do is email your Name, Job Title and Company Name to [email protected] by this Saturday 10pm for inclusion. Please address the emails with the title: Letter to the Times.
Early Lobby Action for STA Members.
We urge you to stay closely in touch with the Cut Don't Kill campaign at Home | Solar Needs You which has a wide range of live asks. Prepare for a day of action in London on the 22nd November.
We urge all STA members to contact your MP as soon as possible detailing the impacts of the proposed new Tariffs, and the time-scale, on your business. If you do not know your MP you can quickly find them with contact details on the Parliament website link below. In your own words please set out the potential impact on your business. We are particularly concerned that LibDem MPs are contacted - we need their support, but they are not yet visibly engaged in supporting the industry.
Contacting your MP - UK Parliament
Please do impress on your MP;
· The 12th December implementation date is unfair – it must be delayed
· The sector has achieved exceptional costs reductions
· Solar is the second biggest renewables resource in the UK and it now needs to be taken seriously
· 25-30,000 people are employed in the UK sector
· The budget risks running out well before the end of this Parliament, even if industry adapts to the new Tariff rates
· Solar can be subsidy free with a few more years of structured support, transforming choice and competition in the electricity sector
· FITs will add under £1 to people's energy bills this year according to Ofgem
Please do also contact your local press detailing impacts on your business. We will be making public the industry survey next week, and you may be able to use this in your local papers, detailing impact on your own business.
Our usual newsletter service will be resumed next week.
Stuart Pocock
Solar Trade Association
Hopefully you will have seen the briefing document that we issued earlier this week and we will be following this up with our draft response to the consultation which you will receive shortly. The thrust of our response will reflect the submissions that we have received via the membership survey launched earlier this week. So far we have had over 100 responses but we need more – not just for informing our consultation response but also for a national newspaper interested in running a story about what you are telling us the impact on solar companies will be. We will be keeping the survey open for a few more days so we urge you to complete it if you have not already done so. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/50PerCentTariffCut
We will be holding a members meeting at Eversheds on Monday 14th November 2011 between 10:00 and 12:30 where we will focus on our response to the consultation and gaining members feedback. To register please email [email protected]. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
The Association has also been continuing its lobbying activities:
· We have a very good dialogue/relationship with the Minister and civil servants.
· We are analysing the stated rates of return for the new FITs using our own internal solar model
· We are conducting an initial early survey of member views for media and political work
· We will be holding a session with members to develop our formal position around our draft of the response to the consultation (underway)
· We are giving evidence at a forthcoming Common's Select Committee inquiry on solar
· We are briefing the opposition spokesperson
· We are regularly speaking to press
Apart from that various meetings with MPs, Special Advisors, civil servants etc. and we are supporting the new campaign.
Our Solar Future ‘Cut But Don’t Kill’ Campaign Update - A message for the Campaign team
A group of companies from across the sector have come together to run a campaign to try to reduce the scale of the cuts to the feed in tariff and the crazy implementation date. The campaign led by Portland Communications and Martyn Williams (ex FoE) is now well underway and has received lots of coverage in all the national papers, some local papers and significant amounts of national radio.
The campaign is raising awareness of the FITs issue both in parliament and in national media – we have had some early success but are only just picking up pace. Its vitally important that we keep the campaign going and the more resources we have, the more we can do. We have learnt the value of having experienced professionals handling a media and political campaign and given the future of our companies are at stake.
There are many ways you can get involved in the campaign first ones are up on the campaign website: Home | Solar Needs You. Go there to download an action pack with letters ready to be sent from your employees and customers; sign up for regular updates and get info about our march on Westminster on 22nd November. It is essential that you get all your employees and customers engaged in this and writing and visiting their MPs, and along to the action day on the 22nd.
Some people are questioning if we are already too late and there is no chance of changing the terms of the consultation document - there could not be a bigger mistake – it is essential we fight this very publicly and forcefully or we will continue to be sidelined. We are in this situation because few in Government, and very few in the media, take solar energy seriously. Current policy treats solar very differently to other energy technologies; it features nowhere in DECC’s renewables roadmap, the Treasury budget is capped at a ludicrously small amount and returns are kept at a level where they deliberately deter private investment. This is crazy considering that solar can easily make up 30% of this country’s electricity supply and will be cost-competitive with traditional energy sources in just a few years. Even after the consultation, whatever is left of the industry will face being cut down again because of the budget cap - the time to make our case is now.
We are still short of the full amount we would like in order to do everything we have planned and we really need your help. We are typically collecting £3k from participating companies (smaller amounts are accepted from small companies, and larger amounts from large companies or organisations – the contribution is discretionary); the campaign is independent of any individual company or trade association, decisions are led by the campaign agency and all funders get regular updates from the campaign and are actively encouraged to contribute to it. If you would like to contribute or want more information please contact Toby Ferenzi on [email protected] or Howard Johns on [email protected]
Letter to the Times
The Campaign Team will be sending a letter to the Times which we hope will be printed in Monday’s paper. We would like as many CEOs / MDs of solar companies to sign up to it. You can find the text for the letter the team will send here. All you need to do is email your Name, Job Title and Company Name to [email protected] by this Saturday 10pm for inclusion. Please address the emails with the title: Letter to the Times.
Early Lobby Action for STA Members.
We urge you to stay closely in touch with the Cut Don't Kill campaign at Home | Solar Needs You which has a wide range of live asks. Prepare for a day of action in London on the 22nd November.
We urge all STA members to contact your MP as soon as possible detailing the impacts of the proposed new Tariffs, and the time-scale, on your business. If you do not know your MP you can quickly find them with contact details on the Parliament website link below. In your own words please set out the potential impact on your business. We are particularly concerned that LibDem MPs are contacted - we need their support, but they are not yet visibly engaged in supporting the industry.
Contacting your MP - UK Parliament
Please do impress on your MP;
· The 12th December implementation date is unfair – it must be delayed
· The sector has achieved exceptional costs reductions
· Solar is the second biggest renewables resource in the UK and it now needs to be taken seriously
· 25-30,000 people are employed in the UK sector
· The budget risks running out well before the end of this Parliament, even if industry adapts to the new Tariff rates
· Solar can be subsidy free with a few more years of structured support, transforming choice and competition in the electricity sector
· FITs will add under £1 to people's energy bills this year according to Ofgem
Please do also contact your local press detailing impacts on your business. We will be making public the industry survey next week, and you may be able to use this in your local papers, detailing impact on your own business.
Our usual newsletter service will be resumed next week.
Stuart Pocock
Solar Trade Association
