Statement by North Antrim TUV MLA Jim Allister:
“On 12th October I asked the Minister for the Economy if she would publish an audit of how much consumers are paying for renewable energy. I have now received a letter from Minister Dodds confirming that on foot of my query her Department will now undertake this work.
“This is welcome but it raises important questions, not least why did the Department not do this earlier? Why did DfE agree to a 70% renewable target before establishing this basic fact? The Aarhus Convention which we signed up to in 2005 requires legislators to answer such questions about the impact of environmental policies and legislation and then carry out full consultation. These key questions have not been answered. In fact, it seems, they haven’t even been asked within the Department for the Economy.
“For too long the powers that be have been so anxious to be seen as green that the cost of these policies have been ignored. Even after the ruinous cost of the RHI scandal, there is a worrying reluctance to face up to these issues.
“I await the outcome of this audit with interest.”
You can read Minister Dodds’s letter here.