Government to axe CRC, moots subsidies for energy efficiency

0
Cuts can be good...
Cuts can be good…

The government is set to axe the carbon reduction commitment (CRC) as part of a purge on green tape. It plans to scrap the tax and replace it with another based on the climate change levy (CCL).

Treasury has also indicated that it will consider tax-funded incentives for energy efficiency.

The government is consulting on streamlining a raft of overlapping environmental taxes and policies. If successfully implemented, business will welcome the move, seen by many as long overdue.

George Osborne announced plans to reduce the so called alphabet soup of environmental policies and taxes in July. The government now seeks views from businesses on which policies to ditch and how to construct a clearer landscape that incentivises energy efficiency.

The consultation notes that current policies can lead to businesses investing in renewables over energy efficiency. Treasury wants to correct that and the consultation states that it may subsidise energy efficiency measures “subject to strict value for money criteria”.

Detail of the design of such incentive programmes will likely be published pending the outcome of the consultation, but the document moots options including feed-in tariffs (FITs) for energy efficiency, as well as tax relief, competitive funding and supplier obligations.

See the consultation here.

Related articles:

What has the CRC done for us?

Tim Rotheray: Sort out ‘mind-bendingly complex’ green taxes

Government ‘should subsidise energy efficiency over renewables and give Esos teeth’

Energy finance ‘too complicated and too expensive’?

Tell us why you struggle to finance energy efficiency

Esos firing blanks on board level buy-in to energy efficiency

Standardisation the key to growing energy efficiency money markets

Financing energy efficiency – free report

Green Investment Bank: Energy managers must build better business cases to finance energy efficiency

Osborne axes CCL exemption, promises review of green taxes

Click here to see if you qualify for a free subscription to the print magazine, or to renew.

Follow us at @EnergystMedia. For regular bulletins, sign up for the free newsletter.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here