The MUA Prioritises Carbon Emissions over Green Energy

By a letter received on 14 April 2021 from Manx Utilities (MUA) many private residents and businesses in the Isle of Man who produce renewable electricity from solar panels were told that the MUA will be reducing the price it pays to buy renewable energy from the current price of 9.2p per unit, to 7.2p in 2022 and potentially as little as 4.7p a unit in the future.

The Isle of Man Green Party decries the inexplicable decision of the MUA as a backwards step and an act contrary to the Government’s and Tynwald’s declarations of a Climate Emergency nearly two years ago.

By law the MUA has a monopoly on the commercial supply of electricity in the Isle of Man, meaning that there is no alternative available in the Isle of Man to residents who want to buy renewable energy. Currently, renewable energy is bought by the MUA from private owners of solar panels at a cost of 9.2p. This is sold to residents at a price of 16.9p.

Isle of Man Green Party Leader, Andrew Langan-Newton responded to the MUA’s decision:

“The decision of the MUA appears to be intending to reduce the competition of green solar power energy to the fossil fuel electricity the MUA is generating at the Pulrose. Solar panels are falling in price and we urgently need more green energy. The Chief Minister must intervene to direct the MUA and Minister Baker to the climate emergency declaration.”

Reducing the incentives for adopting solar panels is exactly the opposite of what we currently need as a society. The Green Party’s First Carbon Budget of the Isle of Man (The First Isle of Man Carbon Budget: An Inconvenient Truth — Isle of Man Green Party) released last year set out that if we carry on releasing carbon dioxide at current levels, the Isle of Man will have burned through its carbon budget to avoid extreme climate change by 2026.

Added to this and as Climate Reality member Paul Craine has recently publicly stated, the Isle of Man will need to treble or even quadruple its electricity supply to account for the extra demand from electric heating and electric cars. The MUA needs to act today to increase solar panels and our green energy capacity, not to try to crowd it out and reduce competition with the gas power station.

In particular, the Green Party expresses the following concerns with the MUA’s proposals:

The incentive for private households and businesses to invest in solar panels has been reduced. In order to reduce our carbon emissions to zero before the Isle of Man carbon budget runs out, we need to reduce our emissions in the region of at least 13% each year. The MUA’s decision is going to materially impact that necessity.
The MUA should not be using its monopoly on energy generation to capitalise on individually owned generation in an attempt to raise revenue to help pay off its debt.
The MUA should not be getting the same amount of profit from individually owned solar generation as it is from the gas power station, as it is the individuals and businesses who have paid for and installed the infrastructure.
The suggested price of 4.7p to buy solar power generated electricity for (which is the estimated cost of energy production at the gas power station) only takes into consideration the running costs of the power station, not the capital cost or a future carbon tax which would make the price of generation much higher (meaning Isle of Man consumers would be missing-out on cheaper renewable energy).

The Isle of Man Green Party is a registered political party building a sustainable vision for the future of the Isle of Man. Further information can be found on the Party’s website www.greenparty.im and via email to committee@greenparty.im