I picked this up from a post on the Octopus Energy forum, as it says in the title, Ofgem is consulting on proposals to change the inflation measure used for FIT from RPI to CPI
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/feed-in-tariffs-fit-scheme-indexation-changes
Consultation ends on 12th December
My own FIT experience has been positive. I have 16 FIT panels, generating a nominal 4kW, installed in January 2006. They have worked flawlessly, and other than when I had the scaffolding up to install additional panels for my GivEnergy inverters, they’ve never been cleaned or had any maintenance.
I was a relatively late participant in FIT so didn’t get the really exceptional payments that some did, but we receive about £600 a year from our installation which generates about 4MWh a year. My payments dropped by £100 a year from August 2023 when I gave up the deemed FIT export payments in return for measured export. I calculate that I will have received full repayment for the original £6k installation cost by the end of this year meaning the next 10 years of FIT payments will be profit.
Anyone can respond to the consultation. but knowing who these things work i would be surprised if they move too much from the proposal to move to the lower CPI measure next year. its not a good look to change agreements before intended end. rpi ends 2030 currently as it wont be updated by the ONS. there are more relevant energy measures that could be used but suspect they will cost the gvt more than proposed CPI.
I missed this post and have only become aware of this consultation/proposal from a tweet by Martin Lewis earlier today -
_"Solar Feed In Tariff (FiT) Concerns. Consumers who signed up to this pre 2019 were given a guaranteed payment rate for energy they generate for 20 or 25yrs linked to RPI inflation. Govt is now consulting on changing that to linking with the lower CPI inflation measure.
While this change is questionable, as it takes a very small cost off individual energy bills, you can see an argument.
However @energygovuk also has an consultation option to freeze the FiT tariff until [say 2035] the CPI rate catches up - in reality this is retrospectively changing the rate that people were given. That feels a breach of promise and of natural justice to me, and my team and I will be further researching and feeding into the consultation."_
As an early adopted - Jan 2011 - I am on the original tarif - currently 74.37p/kWh. I'm doing very nicely from the scheme as have recovered my original £14,5k investment and now in profit but this proposal leaves a very bad taste in my mouth! I signed up for this scheme on the basis of the published terms and conditions at that time - which was that the payments were subjected to an annual review every April based upon RPI the in the previous September. It was apparent at the outset that the original terms were (too) generous but that is what they were and what I and many others signed up for. Now to suggest reducing the terms of the scheme to be based on the generally lower CPI may apparently be legal but it is certainly not honourable nor decent from the Government. Grok suggests my 'loss' over the remaining 10 years of the scheme will be around £2.2k for the CPI (26/27 onwards) option or £5.8k for the freeze option.
I will be making a formal response (which can be done online) before the 12 December closing date and suggest others in a similar position consider doing the same.
Ivan I will be making a formal response (which can be done online) before the 12 December closing date and suggest others in a similar position consider doing the same.
Have you a link to make a formal response?
This is the link from the consolation document Geoffrey linked above https://energygovuk.citizenspace.com/clean-electricity/feed-in-tariffs-indexation-change/ . Alternatively you can email RO@energysecurity.gov.uk
I'm personally not responding to the consultation. I can see the argument for changing from RPI to CPI and as it says in the consultation it will have to change in 2029 (?) anyway as RPI is being discontinued as a measure.
Ultimately it is all of us who are paying for the cost of these schemes as part of the surcharges and levies on our bills. The terms and conditions do allow the government to vary them, and we all agreed to that when we signed up.
I believe there'll be such a backlash against the option to freeze rates until CPI catches up that that option won't be progressed. Its almost in there to provoke feedback and enable the lesser switch to CPI to be accepted as a "we listened to consumer feedback" response.
Just to throw a spanner in on our personal outrages on FIT terms and conditions, if we receive FIT deemed export payments, we have told our FIT supplier that we would cease those deemed export payments and go onto measured output when we had a smart meter fitted? Or we don't have a smart meter fitted and are on single time of day or Economy 7 twin rate charging? No smart tariffs?
The reason I say this is that its in the FIT terms and conditions that deemed export won't be paid if a smart meter is fitted.
Personally I didn't know this until I was giving up my deemed export for measured export, and when I looked into it I found this was true.
Just saying.
Interesting about seemed export.
Certainly hasn’t been enforced, I’m still getting deemed export and get no direct payment for actual export that is logged by my smart meter. Hence I export very little outside of peak summer.
treborUK likewise for me, it was only brought to my attention when I was giving up my deemed export and it was explicit on the form
Here’s the ofgem generator guidance, see 6.8, 6.9, 6.22
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-09/Guidance_for_FIT_Generators_V18.pdf
Deemed export is actually a waiver if you don’t have a meter capable of measuring actual export, which at the time when there was few smart meters was the case.
Ivan may apparently be legal but it is certainly not honourable nor decent from the Government
Especially when they have now prevented companies from changing prices mid term in a contract - this is no different
I am not on a FiT tariff, but this seems hugely unfair on people who made a decision and signed a contract. This is like buying a house for an agreed price and the vendor coming back and asking for more money "because a new Waitrose has opened nearby and we could have sold it for more"
Watching the video it seems the survey is very carefully "framed" to get the answer HMGov want.
I guess if enough people don't respond, the consensus will be "we did a survey and this was the result".
I hope enough people raise a protest about varying a contact and refuse to accept the outcome. Stick with what was agreed.
If HMGov think it was a poorly written contract, they should sack the individuals responsible for drafting it.
More public sector incompetence
SteveCook am not on a FiT tariff, but this seems hugely unfair on people who made a decision and signed a contract.
I have not yet recovered my investment as we choose to back a company using solar slates. I have 80 which don't perform as well as the larger panels.
My decision to invest was based upon the 25 years to attempt to recoup my investment. Our choice was to kick start the solar take up.
We have a period property which we wanted to use solar but in a sympathetic manner. 14 years ago our investment was considerable and on the basis of the contract then. Changing it because it now doesn't suit is not great.
Just my 2p and you have to remember that 14 years ago they wanted to kick start the solar economy and people were brave enough to put up the investment on the basis of what was offered then.
M_J Just my 2p and you have to remember that 14 years ago they wanted to kick start the solar economy and people were brave enough to put up the investment on the basis of what was offered then.
I agree and that's my point. You made a decision to invest based on your anticipated return. You took the risk on agreed contract terms. It is wrong that the terms can be varied by one party.
I bet if you said "it has not been as sunny as planned and i would like some capital (£) back, you would be sent packing pretty swiftly
Conversely, should people on a deemed export contract be prosecuted for fraud if they have an AC inverter and battery? 😃 :
mrand31
Sorry I do not understand.
I thought FiT was based on an assumed generation rather than any measured export, and if installation equipment changed and a smart meter was fitted a different set of calculations/payment came into force
SteveCook FIT is based on measured generation, you have to have a meter on the AC side of your FIT solar panels. You get a payment for what you generate (the generation payment). Separately you get a payment for export (the export payment). Export payment is based on what you export, but if you don’t have a means of measuring export (i.e. no smart meter) then you can be paid export based on an assumed 50% of generation - this is the deemed export payment.
If you have a smart meter fitted then you have to go onto measured export as there is a means of measuring your actual export. However suppliers seem not to chase you for that, but it is an explicit part of the T&C.
You can at any time choose to forgo the FIT deemed export and move to measured export, i.e. a normal SEG export payment. I chose to do this about 6 months after having my GivEnergy panels installed (August 2023). I gave up about £100 of deemed export per year, and received £301 in measured export in the remainder of that year and about £1100 of measured export in each of the following two years.
FIT generation and FIT deemed export are both at different rates depending on when you signed up for FIT. The early adopters got really good rates, as the years went on the rates progressively dropped. I was a relatively late joiner, getting mine in January 2016, my initial generation was 12p/kWh and deemed export 4.9p/kWh.
Both the payment rates increase annually by RPI, and it’s that change that the government is consulting on. The contract does allow the government to vary the increases, and we did sign up for that so the projected income was never guaranteed, it was a risk.
I’m currently being paid 18p/kWh for my generation and by the end of Q1 next year my FIT payments will have recouped my investment, so 10 years payback. Plus of course the generation has reduced my electricity bill.
PS: You can have a battery fitted to your FIT solar, either changing the FIT inverter for a hybrid or having an AC coupled one after the export meter. If you have a hybrid inverter then the generation meter still measures what you generated (either solar or from the battery), but of course all energy that comes from the battery is less conversion losses so your FIT generation will go down as a result. You can charge the battery as well, the FIT meter needs to be a ‘net meter’ that gives a figure for export-import.
Confirmed yesterday that from 1 April 2026 FIT payments are to be revised going forward by CPI and not RPI - meaning a lower increase than that what otherwise would have been paid.
Chatgtp suggests that CPI is typically 1 to 1.5% lower than RPI.
Ivan Least worst option, and was probably the option the government was always going to take anyway. A tiny reduction in the annual inflation rate.