Mary supports Wakefield's solar industry

Following meetings with Wakefield company Crompton Solar in Parliament about the government's cuts to Feed-in-Tariffs, Wakefield MP Mary Creagh visited the company's Monckton Road site on 1 December to meet with staff and tour the factory.

Mary met with Managing Director John Bradley following the Tory-led government’s decision to slash support of the solar industry through reckless cuts to Feed-in-Tariffs.

Mary commented: “I met Crompton’s Managing Director in Parliament last week and was pleased to accept his invitation to visit the Monckton Road site this week. The Tory-led government’s cuts to Feed-in Tariffs go too far, too fast and threaten to wipe out thousands of jobs in the solar industry. Ministers must think again, revise their scheme and extend their tariff deadline beyond 12 December. I will continue to work with Crompton and others to support green jobs in Wakefield.”

John Bradley, Managing Director of Crompton Solar, said: “I am proud that as a business, through the quality of our people and products, we have contributed to an industry that has driven costs down by around 25% since the FiT was first introduced. I am also excited by the very real prospect that within 5 years our systems could be producing electricity equal to the price from the grid. A FiT cut of over 60% on multiple installations, e.g. 16.8 p per KWh, is so much deeper and faster than the reduction in costs that it puts everyone in the industry under extreme pressure. I feel very sad that solar employees have retrained to do a job the Government said was essential, only to have the rug pulled out from beneath them for being successful in such a short period of time.”

He added: “We are all truly grateful for Mary’s support and determination to protect employment in Wakefield, along with her colleagues headed by Caroline Flint, Shadow Energy Minister who bravely fought our corner in Parliament. Crompton will keep working to persuade legislators of the need to support this fledgling industry supported by Mary. In the meantime we must continue our creativity and help our customers to survive this uncertain time.”