Davey urged to 'draw a line' under solar feed-in tariff legal battle

The new secretary of state for energy and climate change has been urged to end an ongoing legal battle over government plans to rush through solar feed-in tariff cuts, after Chris Huhne stepped down from his post to fight criminal charges.

Arriving to take up his new position at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on Friday afternoon, new energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey said he would continue to champion Huhne's priorities, including keeping down consumer energy bills and creating green jobs.

"Chris Huhne has had a real vision for a green economy and has done fabulous work as secretary of state," he said. "I've now got to take up the challenge of climate change and energy security, and I'm particularly conscious of the impact of consumers' and households' high energy bills.

"But I'm determined to follow on Chris' priorities... I want us to have a green economy, where there are lots of green jobs to help grow our economy."

Solar companies called on Davey to reverse an application to the Supreme Court to appeal against a second court ruling that branded its plans to cut solar incentives as unlawful.

Parties involved in the legal battle, including HomeSun and Second Nature, urged Davey to "draw a line" under the solar subsidy fiasco, arguing it has caused uncertainty over the future of feed-in tariffs.

"HomeSun, and I imagine the rest of the industry, would like to draw a line under the mismanagement of the recent feed-in tariff review. I am sure DECC will wish to take this opportunity as well. Avoiding the cost and time of a Supreme Court appeal would be a great start," said HomeSun chief executive Daniel Green.

"We are really looking forward to working with Ed Davey and DECC to build a fantastic future for renewables in the UK."

David Hunt, a director for Eco Environments, also said an end to the solar legal battle would boost green investor confidence.

"Such a move would send a positive message to Britain's beleaguered renewable energy that the government does not want to send hundreds of solar businesses to the wall and throw tens of thousands of workers on to the employment scrapheap," he said.

"It was always going to be hard for Chris Huhne to make such a decision, but there is no reason why his successor should not make this the first priority in his in-tray and give a much-needed shot in the arm to an industry that offers so much exciting potential for Britain's economy."

The government is this week expected to launch a consultation on plans to introduce phased reductions in subsidies for solar panels that come into force once a certain level of installations is reached.