Annual FIT Adjustment

Hobbo2006

Does anyone know when the RPI figures come out, what they are and when they'll be applied to our tariffs?

If you have any links to the information that would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

WestonDave

Probably around the middle of the month - last year inflation was announced on 18th Jan. Not sure when they apply from - possible April.

spgsc531

FiT rate changes 1 Apr and increases by RPI from the previous year. Dec 12 rate should be announced around the middle of the month.

should be about 3% +/-

spgsc

Un_Pigeon

Sort of on-topic: the Office for National Statistics ran a study last year (Google "National Statistician’s consultation on options for improving the Retail Prices Index")
Option 4 of this was to " Change the RPI so that its formulae align fully with those used in the CPI."

Due to the way CPI is calculated it is generally less than RPI and mathematically can never be more. Generally CPI is around 0.5% to 1% less than RPI. Office for Budget Responsibility have suggested that this may increase, so CPI is generally 1.5% less (see "Working paper No. 2. The long-run difference between RPI and CPI inflation").

I had solar PV installed last year at the 21p FIT rate and 25 year contact period. Worse case (option 4) and if the OBR is right, using 1,5% instead of 3% the overall return (across 25 years) appears to be down by 18%. It's going to be less than this - but still a sizeable dent that gets more noticeable as the years pass.

Has anybody else looked at the possible impacts, to their solar PV return, of a change to the way RPI is calculated?

The ONS were due to report their findings this month. I haven't seen anything yet. But in their document Release Calendar there is a "Consumer Prices Advisory Committee papers - 8 January 2013 - CPAC Meeting" tomorrow (10 January 2013 at 7:00am). Is this it?