Opinion

Pollard’s Patter

So, now we know that the proposed plans for the Feed-in Tariff have exceeded all the forecasts in terms of severity. What will this mean for a fledgling market?

The first thing will be a huge rush to get installations in place before January next year. Those of us who experienced the first ‘feeding-frenzy’ resulting from tariff cuts will view this prospect with dread. How can we invest with any confidence to satisfy inflated demand and then manage costs afterwards?

I have said before that it is a false market that depends on a subsidy to succeed. If the product or service cannot justify itself to customers then it will decline. There are other compelling issues to consider such as the environmental question, the concept of resilience and security of supply. Those consumers who still default to the economic case for making purchasing decisions can be influenced by the positive experiences of consumers who have already taken the ‘renewables plunge’.

Lastly, the fragile issue of confidence is something which affects all markets. Vast fortunes have been made and lost on the financial markets through the immeasurable factor of confidence. The whole renewables market has had its fair share of challenges to confidence which would test even the most committed participant. Confidence is like trust; once compromised, it is difficult to recover.

Nonetheless, renewables remain the smart way forward and Plumb Center remains dedicated to supporting our customers to benefit from them.