{"id":377263,"date":"2025-05-06T09:40:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T07:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377263"},"modified":"2025-05-06T09:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T07:40:16","slug":"dale-vince-says-ecotricity-has-received-net-zero-in-state-subsidies-but-his-definition-of-subsidies-is-a-little-narrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377263","title":{"rendered":"Dale Vince Says Ecotricity Has Received \u2018Net Zero\u2019 in State Subsidies, but His Definition of \u2018Subsidies\u2019 is a Little Narrow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Chris Morrison<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Last Thursday, I appeared on Ian Collins afternoon TalkTV show (with comedy climate turn Jim Dale \u2013 don\u2019t ask) and noted that Dale Vince and his Ecotricity onshore wind operation had received over \u00a3100 million in state subsidies over the last 20 years. Appearing next on TalkTV, Vince denied his company had been subsidised \u2013 \u201cNet Zero\u201d was how he described the state subsidies he\u2019d received \u2013 and claimed I had misread his accounts. See my initial \u00a3100 million claim here<\/a> (start 35.30) and Vince\u2019s reply (52.50) soon after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He claimed I had been confused by the money paid by the government to reduce gas bills in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. This money was paid to energy companies, who then passed it on to consumers. His explanation was a red herring. I did not misrepresent this money, which \u2013 conveniently for Vince\u2019s argument \u2013 is labelled a \u2018government grant\u2019, as seen in his own accounts shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, it is curious that Vince is so shy about promoting his own entrepreneurial acumen. To get the windmills turning again across the land, UK governments have been handing out huge amounts of money to subsidise a process that would, to put it kindly, struggle in a free market. Your correspondent ran his own financial publishing company for nearly twenty years and is full of admiration for anyone who has built their own business. Such are the risks and difficulties of running a business that the first concern of any entrepreneur should be to pick the \u2018low-hanging fruit\u2019 \u2013 the easier stuff that puts cash in the bank and provides a buffer for money that is inevitably lost elsewhere. It was a no-brainer to put up onshore windmills and sit back, collecting all the generous incentives offered by a political class starting to go climate and Net Zero crazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2023, the Daily Sceptic<\/em> published an article that noted Ben Pile\u2019s calculation that Ecotricity had received \u00a389 million<\/a> from the State-run Renewables Obligations Certificate (ROC) scheme, dating back to 2002, with \u00a353 million of that since 2014-15. In addition, David Turver found another \u00a39 million of subsidies within subsidiary companies. It was also noted that Ecotricity had declared over \u00a316 million in \u2018other income\u2019 for administrative feed-in tariff schemes, another form of subsidy for electricity production. In all, it was noted that subsidies amounting to over \u00a3100 million were collected, while Vince had taken \u00a343 million (pre-tax) from his businesses in the form of salary, share buybacks, loans and receipts from the sale of a subsidiary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ROC scheme operated until 2017, with the state handing out tradable financial certificates for the production of renewable energy. It is difficult to think of any word to describe it other than a subsidy. Basically, it was moolah for megawatts. It has been replaced by a Contract for Difference scheme, which essentially guarantees a minimum, can\u2019t-lose price for wind operators. Again, the word subsidy comes to mind. If it looks like a subsidy and involves a transfer of wealth from consumers to producers via the state of \u00a315 billion every year, it probably is a subsidy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it is not difficult to understand how Vince arrives at a different definition of subsidy. He is playing an increasing political role in the Net Zero transition, and before the last election, he gave \u00a35 million to the UK Labour Party. He is a constant presence on the airwaves, promoting the virtues of renewable energy and the evils of hydrocarbons. Activists like Vince frequently claim that oil and gas companies receive huge subsidies, although their claims tend to revolve around imaginary numbers for \u2018climate damage\u2019 \u2013 not having to pay billions for supposedly harming the environment is, apparently, a \u2018subsidy\u2019 \u2013 and tax breaks that are available to other companies making large investments in industrial equipment. Unlike a subsidy, a tax break is simply a reduction in a confiscatory charge \u2013 for instance, allowing a UK consumer to invest \u00a320,000 tax-free in an ISA account cannot be counted as a gift from the government, since the money belonged to the investor in the first place. Needless to say, these activist arguments never reference the enormous sums of money paid by oil and gas companies to the state in the form of tax. In the US, ExxonMobil paid $13.8 billion in tax in 2024, while in the UK, around \u00a324 billion is collected in revenue every year from the fuel used by British motorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must be careful in how we bandy the word \u201csubsidy\u201d about. Alas, Vince\u2019s plan to power the UK with grass has come a cropper, and \u00a312 million has had to be written off<\/a>. I wouldn\u2019t call that a subsidy \u2013 that\u2019s just a business loss, and he will be able to write it off against tax on future profits. But life might be getting a little more difficult for Vince in the future. His onshore wind turbine fleet is aging, with no new machines added since 2017. The entire fleet has an age of between seven and 29 years. Assuming good maintenance, the typical life of a wind turbine is around 20-25 years. The Labour Government has lifted restrictions on onshore turbines, but getting planning permission to install them can be notoriously slow in the UK. And the political tide is rapidly turning against Net Zero, with a rampant Reform Party seizing control of 10 local government councils in recent elections, including the mayoralty and council in Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The words of Reform\u2019s deputy leader Richard Tice have suddenly thrown heavy political risk<\/a> into the prospects of renewable energy companies looking to raise finance for future projects. He told the Daily Telegraph:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I\u2019m now going to write again to them, saying now that we\u2019ve won these elections, you need to be under no illusion. This is war. We will wage war against you people and your terrible ideas. If you think that you\u2019re going to do this in the county of Lincolnshire, you are going to regret it. You\u2019re going to waste your money. It\u2019s going to be very painful financially, so you might as well take your money and your daft ideas elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Like all the best entrepreneurs, Dale Vince seems to operate one step ahead of the rest of us mortals. Last month, he hired KPMG to investigate the sale of his Heckington Fen solar farm. This is based on 644 hectares of prime \u2013 and sunny \u2013 Lincolnshire farmland and was recently given the green light to start building by Ed Miliband. For Dale Vince, Heckington Fen represents a \u201cfabulous investment<\/a>\u201d. Not if the Ticeman has anything to do with it. Across the 10 English councils now run by Reform, he promises to use \u201cevery lever\u201d available to block renewable power projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Morrison is the<\/em> Daily Sceptic\u2019s Environment Editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday, I appeared on Ian Collins afternoon TalkTV show (with comedy climate turn Jim Dale \u2013 don\u2019t ask) and noted that Dale Vince and his Ecotricity onshore wind operation had received over \u00a3100 million in state subsidies over the last 20 years. Appearing next on TalkTV, Vince denied his company had been subsidised \u2013 \u201cNet Zero\u201d was how he described the state subsidies he\u2019d received \u2013 and claimed I had misread his accounts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":365948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820942,691834879,691819239,691818154,691819094],"class_list":["post-377263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dale-vince","tag-ecotricity-onshore-wind-operation","tag-green-subsidies","tag-net-zero","tag-renewable-green-energy","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Net-Zero-City-Blackout.jpg?fit=2543%2C1649&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1A8T","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":390166,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=390166","url_meta":{"origin":377263,"position":0},"title":"Dale Vince Collects Wind Farm Subsidies of \u00a3145 Million Over 20 Years \u2013 And Still Charges His Customers More Than the Ofgem Price Cap","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/22\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Onshore renewable energy operator Dale Vince has collected over \u00a3145 million of state subsidies over the last 20 years,\u00a0according to recent research\u00a0compiled by David Turver from published accounts and government sources. But profits may be at risk, concludes Turver, with current subsidies running out and an aging wind fleet declining\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Dale Vince\"","block_context":{"text":"Dale Vince","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=dale-vince"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0Dale_Vince.jpeg?fit=1116%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0Dale_Vince.jpeg?fit=1116%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0Dale_Vince.jpeg?fit=1116%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0Dale_Vince.jpeg?fit=1116%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0Dale_Vince.jpeg?fit=1116%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 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