The Scottish Government

RENEWABLES OBLIGATION (SCOTLAND) ORDER 2005 ANNEX B

Summary of responses to Statutory Consultation (21 responses received)

95% of those responding on this point (20 out of 21) in favour of this increase. Some wanted profile extended still further.

Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO)

80% (16 out of 20) expressed support for mutual recognition between GB and Northern Ireland, with no opposition to the proposal. Strong support for NIRO mirroring other two Obligations as far as possible.

Surcharges on late payments:

Almost all of those responding (15 out of 16) agreed with proposed level of surcharge (i.e. 5% above Bank of England Rate).

44% (7 out of 16) considered proposed duration of late payment period too long at 3 months; the favoured option is one month, although Ofgem has asked for a minimum of two.

Mutualisation

Level of trigger: 56% (9 out of 16) disagreed with proposed level of trigger, looking for a lower and more transparent level (i.e. linked to a cash figure or level of the Obligation rather than the level of the buy-out fund).

Cap on mutualisation: 44% (7 out of 16) disagreed with the idea of a cap (mostly suppliers), with others looking for a more transparent cap than that proposed.

Basis of assessing suppliers' mutualisation payments: 8 out of 16 opposed proposal to assess payments on basis of market share at time of default, and favoured using share at the time of recovery, with only three in favour of our proposal for the time of shortfall.

Of those who responded, 88% (15 out of 17) favoured a merged mutualisation process, with mutualising shortfalls in the fund affected and recycling the payments across all ROC-holding suppliers seen as an interim solution.

81% (13 out of 16) favoured the increased flexibility to small generators to claim ROCs on either a monthly or annual basis.