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DECC hosts workshop on dRHI third party finance

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Following DECC’s launch of a Call for Evidence in January regarding the possible introduction of third party financing options into the domestic RHI, it will be holding a workshop to discuss policy development.

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Stakeholders are duly invited to the workshop in Bristol on Wednesday 25 February.

A spokesman said: “We believe that by opening the scheme to allow third party financing, this will help consumers overcome the upfront costs of purchasing and installing renewable heating systems. Although we have strong interest from the installer and finance industries we currently do not have a strong evidence base to develop policy and seek State Aid approval.

“The purpose of this workshop is to discuss the potential changes to be made to this policy and to answer any queries relating to either the policy or the Call for Evidence itself. We are keen to gather as many views as possible from a variety of different stakeholder groups before the Call for Evidence closes on Friday 13 March.”

The Call for Evidence document and details on how you can respond can be found online at: https://econsultation.decc.gov.uk/decc-policy/rhi-call-for-evidence

When?
Wednesday 25 February, 15.00 – 18.30

Where?
Osborne Clarke LLP offices, 2 Temple Back East, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6EG

Osborne Clarke offices are located five minutes’ walk from the main Temple Meads railway station, adjacent to Temple Way (the A4044) and on the Temple Quay development.

Agenda:
There will be both a presentation and breakout groups to discuss the Call for Evidence. They will cover:

Presentation and Q+A

  • Our rationale for the Call for Evidence to Introduce Third Party Finance Options;
  • The pros and cons of Third Party Ownership (TPO) and Assignment of Rights (AOR) (see document for an explanation of this);
  • The proposed amendments to the current scheme and the possible impacts on different groups and changes to scheme administration that may be required;
  • Existing ‘Third party’ models.

Breakouts groups to discuss the questions and issues about the three key areas: 

  1. The third party financing model:
  • Discussions of the overall impact of introducing third party financing and whether we should use Third Party Ownership (TPO) or Assignment of Rights (AOR);
  1. Amendments to the RHI scheme:
  • Discussions regarding the potential changes that introducing third party financing may require to scheme administration (for example changes to Ofgem’s powers, whether third party financing would require a different tariff and whether it would be possible for all technologies);
  1. Consumer protection:
  • Discussions regarding consumer protection implications and whether additional consumer protection measures are required;

If you are interested in attending the Bristol workshop, please reply back to Alastair Mumford amumford@regensw.co.uk