Feed in tarriffs and the huge increase in electricity prices

M1ke_bd

We have solar panels and regularly pump 2kw or more into the national grid during the day.  Our electricity bill is set to increase considerably, should not our feedin tariff be increasing inline???  Or are the energy companies simply being allowed to greatly profit from everyones solar panels which they didn't pay for???

Benny2020

Don't put 2kw into the grid, use it all.

M1ke_bd

I try but that's not the point.

gefnew

The point is that you have a contract for  fit which is fixed for twenty years at what ever your year of install was,
so you get paid for your generation and a deemed export of 50% of total output plus rpi inflation increases.
You cannot expect the rules to change because prices rise a contract is a contract.

Verdigris

FITs go up with inflation. Went up a big bump this year, from what I've read.

matelodave

I'd guess that your FIT was a contract that you took out when you had the panels installed and therefore the payment and any cost of living/inflation increases were agreed at the time the contract was taken out.

The actual price of energy had nothing to do with the FIT payments and, if I remember rightly, in the early days the FIT payment per kwh was considerably more than the price of electricity. That may well have reduced over the years depending on when you became eligible for FIT payments but the payments and any increases were defined in the legislation.

If your fixed price contract with an energy company suddenly increased during the validity of the fix because the price of energy has skyrocketed you'd be pretty annoyed, so why should your FIT contract be any different.

gefnew

Feed in tariff will rise by7.5% on April first. So for some early installs they will receive 62.35pence combined per Kw generated.
Also for twenty five year contract.

Exiled_Tyke

Do consider that a lot of what you pay for electricity is also to cover the infrastructure costs. FIT payments were never meant to reflect market prices of leccy but to compensate for the investment made (for the benefit of society!).  As matelodave points out. That inflation increases for FIT payments are very welcome especially the next one coming up.   

Perhaps the numbers may finally stack up for a battery which Mart has asked about on domestic battery thread? 

QrizB

M1ke_bd said:

We have solar panels and regularly pump 2kw or more into the national grid during the day.  Our electricity bill is set to increase considerably, should not our feedin tariff be increasing inline???  Or are the energy companies simply being allowed to greatly profit from everyones solar panels which they didn't pay for???

I don't know which FIT rate you're on but even the final one is paying 7p/kWh even if you use it all yourself.

Earlier FITs pay up to 62.35p/kWh, as gefnew mentioned above.

Funding the FITs still costs consumers money; unlike CfDs, the FITs aren't making a profit for anyone.

Verdigris

If the OP wants the market rate they are free to terminate their FIT contract and go on Octopus Agile.

Petriix

Verdigris said:

If the OP wants the market rate they are free to terminate their FIT contract and go on Octopus Agile.

You can opt out of the export part and still retain the generation payments.