Skip to main content

Microgeneration

Volume 464: debated on Wednesday 17 October 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will estimate the value of the Merton rule to the UK’s microgeneration industry in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. (159364)

In line with the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Planning Policy Statement 22 on Renewable Energy, some 120 local planning authorities have set targets for the use of on-site renewable energy in new developments. As recognised by our Microgeneration Strategy, such policies play an important role in stimulating the renewables industry and create a market for microgeneration technologies. The first authority to formalise the policy was the London borough of Merton. While we have not estimated the monetary value of Merton style policies, I know that the microgeneration business regard them as an important driver for their market.