The High Court today gave Ecotricity and Greenpeace leave to proceed with a Judicial Review of the government's decision to loan £650 million of taxpayers money to private nuclear generator British Energy. The case will be heard the week of 27th January, 2003.
Ecotricity and Greenpeace argued in court that the loan was a breach by the UK Government of European Union law, which requires member states to get EU approval before providing state aid to companies (1). They also argued that the loan is distorting the electricity market and damaging renewable energy companies like Ecotricity.
Greenpeace Campaigner Emma Gibson said, "We are delighted to be able to go court to try and get this money paid back into the public purse. Greenpeace believes the loan is not only unlawful, but that it is distorting the market and damaging truly clean energy providers like Ecotricity."
She continued, "The fact is the public don't want nuclear power and we don't need it to power Britain. Nuclear power does not add up and to keep it going can only mean pumping millions of taxpayers money into a nuclear black hole for years to come. We hope that our challenge to the Government today shows them that Greenpeace and the public will fight their plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations every step of the way."
Dale Vince, Managing Director, Ecotricity, "I am sure that this news will be welcomed by the public, who don't want to pay for nuclear power and would rather see renewable energy take its place."
