Local authorities are in some cases hampering plans to roll out
a renewable energy network, cheap energy customers might be
surprised to hear. According to a report by the Renewable Energy
Installer magazine, many councils argue householders have to ask
their permission before installing micro-generation equipment
such as solar panels, Click Green reported. This is despite an
amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted
Development) Order 1995, which places solar panels in the
'permitted development' category. Charlotte Linacre,
spokesperson for the TaxPayers' Alliance, told the news source:
"This appears a completely unnecessary waste of time, money and
effort - local authorities should be reducing the red tape
surrounding renewable energy, not increasing it." Under the
government's feed-in tariff scheme, homes and small businesses
can install small-scale green energy generating equipment and
send any surplus energy to the national grid. However, ministers
announced a review of the scheme an