Can premium tariffs for micro-generation and small scale renewable heat help the fuel poor, and if so, how? Case studies of innovative finance for community energy schemes in the UK

In the UK, the introduction of micro-generation Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) and a proposed Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for domestic and small scale schemes have re-energised the market for investment in domestic scale renewable energy. These incentives may provide financial opportunities for those with capital to spend but for the record numbers with low incomes in ‘fuel poverty’, these benefits may seem out of reach. This paper shows that with appropriate financial intermediaries it is possible for renewable energy incentives to be used to alleviate fuel poverty.

[1]  Colin Nolden,et al.  Governing community energy: feed-in tariffs and the development of community wind energy schemes in the United Kingdom and Germany , 2013 .

[2]  H. Herring,et al.  Improving the energy performance of UK households: Results from surveys of consumer adoption and use of low- and zero-carbon technologies , 2008 .

[3]  P. Devine‐Wright,et al.  Trust and community: Exploring the meanings, contexts and dynamics of community renewable energy , 2010 .

[4]  Gordon Walker,et al.  What are the barriers and incentives for community-owned means of energy production and use? , 2008 .

[5]  Dick Morris,et al.  1 COMPLEXITY , SYSTEMS THINKING AND PRACTICE skills and techniques for managing complex systems , 2022 .

[6]  T. Foxon,et al.  The co-evolutionary relationship between Energy Service Companies and the UK energy system: Implications for a low-carbon transition , 2013 .

[7]  Richard E. Blanchard,et al.  UK microgeneration. Part I: Policy and behavioural aspects , 2009 .

[8]  Jim Watson,et al.  Domestic micro-generation: Economic, regulatory and policy issues for the UK , 2008 .

[9]  John Mingers,et al.  The Use of Soft Systems Methodology in Practice , 1992 .

[10]  Geoffrey P. Hammond,et al.  Prospects for and barriers to domestic micro-generation: A United Kingdom perspective , 2008 .

[11]  Jo Williams.  The deployment of decentralised energy systems as part of the housing growth programme in the UK , 2010 .

[12]  Jim Watson,et al.  Strategies for the deployment of micro-generation: Implications for social acceptance , 2007 .

[13]  J. Foster,et al.  Feed-in tariffs for promoting solar PV: progressing from dynamic to allocative efficiency , 2012 .

[14]  Miguel Mendonça.  Feed-in tariffs , 2007 .

[15]  A. Druckman,et al.  Household energy consumption in the UK: A highly geographically and socio-economically disaggregated model , 2008 .

[16]  Jennifer Rogers,et al.  Public perceptions of opportunities for community-based renewable energy projects , 2008 .

[17]  Christopher Biggs.  Renewable Energy Association , 2009 .

[18]  Kate Hutchison,et al.  Renewable Heat Incentive , 2013 .

[19]  W. Buckley.  Society as a Complex Adaptive System , 2008 .

[20]  Simon Roberts,et al.  Energy, equity and the future of the fuel poor , 2008 .