The REA has established a series of working groups to formulate the industry’s input into the design of the incentives for user-scale renewable installations introduced in the Energy Act 2008.

For convenience we refer to these as Renewable Energy Tariffs, though the Act refers to them respectively as:

• Feed-in tariff for small scale electricity
• Renewable Heat Incentive

This group was formed initially from members of the wider coalition, which originally promoted the tariffs.

This working group will follow the general process and outputs being adopted by the REA working groups.

Scope

The group’s main remit is to consider the user considerations, and in particular:

• Who would be the eligible recipient of the tariff
• What plant would be eligible (especially existing plants and grandfathering arrangements)
• How plants would be registered for the tariffs
• Payment arrangements and the effects of metering & deeming
• 'Pre-capitalisation' arrangements (within or outside the mechanism)
• Interactions with other measures (CRC, CERT, CESP, RO, RTFO, green tariffs etc)
• Meeting the costs of the tariffs - socialisation, fuel poverty etc.
• Administrative and regulatory efficiency
• Other user issues

Interfaces with other groups

This group will ensure a coordinated approach with the other working groups, especially:

• RETe1 and RETh1 concerning the way in which the tariffs are levied and paid out.

• RETe2, RETh2 and RETe3 in respect of any user specific issues related to individual renewable technologies.