Policy & advocacy news
DfE draft standardised PPA for school solar could “stop the sector in its tracks”
As part of a Market Engagement process ending on 28 August the Department for Education has published a DRAFT standardised Power Purchase Agreement for solar on schools that will be compulsory once permitting for school solar projects resumes in the Autumn. The standardised lease will be published soon.
Initial reactions from members is that, in its current form, “it stops all of our orgs, and the wider sector, in our tracks”, cutting out a key area of activity that community energy has pioneered for decades. Solar on the local school is the obvious starting point for many new community energy organisations. Commercial operators have neglected it as too difficult. DfE seems to want to swing the balance in favour of big business – contrary to mainstream government policy to double the size of the cooperative sector and support “the biggest expansion of community energy in history”.
CEE encourages members to support CEE in arguing for the sector by bringing your practitioner expertise to bear in critiquing the PPA. CEE has created a shared document of the draft PPA to aid access and enable members to think and respond collaboratively. We encourage you to comment and share your thoughts there and directly with us at [email protected]
Access the shared document, other background documents and the DfE questionnaire via our Consultation page
Members can also use the discussion thread on our Loomio Forum where we will post regular updates. https://www.loomio.com/d/XAwFdqC0/dfe-standardised-ppa-and-lease-agreements-