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Cost controls removed twice, RHI inquiry hears

The inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is being chaired by retired appeal court judge Sir Patrick Coghlin. Picture by Mal McCann
The inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is being chaired by retired appeal court judge Sir Patrick Coghlin. Picture by Mal McCann The inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme is being chaired by retired appeal court judge Sir Patrick Coghlin. Picture by Mal McCann

THE inquiry into the controversial Renewal Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme has heard that cost controls were removed twice.

A former partner in Arthur Cox Solicitors, a law firm specialising in energy, gave evidence to the inquiry yesterday about the role it played in helping DETI officials to draft regulations for the scheme.

The firm was told to mirror the rules around cost controls in Great Britain and provided draft NI regulations, which contained the cost measures.

But when the plan was put out to public consultation in 2011, there was no mention of cost controls.

Alan Bissett told the inquiry that he only found out several months ago that the regulations consulted on were not the ones provided by his firm.

The hearing also heard that DETI had received a report from energy consultants CEPA suggesting a cost control, known as "tiering", was not necessary.

Tiering pays a set subsidy rate for a set number of hours and then reduces it for all subsequent heat generated. Arthur Cox was not told about the CEPA work and the second version of the regulations without cost controls.

When it was asked to review the draft RHI regulations after the public consultation, the firm went back to the version of the regulations which they had produced ,which included tiering.

When the law firm sent the updated draft regulations to DETI in March 2012, tiering was taken out again by officials within DETI. The scheme went live later that year without cost control measures.

Mr Bissett told the inquiry he thought it was "very strange" that DETI had produced its own draft of the regulations.

Inquiry chair Sir Patrick Coghlin questioned Mr Bissett about why he did not use his "expertise to push for cost controls", given that the RHI scheme had a "volatility and unpredictability".

"Would that not have been an energy lawyer's response to that?" he asked.

Sir Coghlin also said it appeared that DETI had two sets of regulations in the summer of 2011, one with cost controls and one without.

The public inquiry at Stormont was set up after it emerged the scheme ran massively over budget, with a potential overspend of up to £700 million over the next 20 years as costs of the fuel for heating systems less than subsidies paid.