Crossing the Rubicon: The 2015 Renewable Electricity Reforms and Implications for Scotland

This chapter describes the UK renewable energy policy reforms implemented in 2015, placing these events in historical and European context and analysing the discourse and underlying rationale from which they emerged. Presenting a detailed overview of reforms implemented around renewable energy support mechanisms, we examine the implications for different technologies and scales of deployment, focussing on renewable electricity. Drawing on reports and statements issued by the newly elected 2015 government and analysing reforms in the context of UK’s broader energy and climate mitigation policy, we find that historical and deep-rooted party political narratives around renewable energy have remained virtually unchanged since debates leading up to the 1990 Electricity Act. Finally, looking forward, we explore the prospects for Scottish Government public support and for ‘subsidy-free renewable energy’.