Times Online , 01 May 2005

Prince backs 'good chap' at wind farm firm

THE PRINCE OF WALES has given his personal backing to a wind farm company that has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for misleading householders. He has written a letter praising Ecotricity and its founder and owner, Dale Vince.

The ASA is conducting a second formal investigation after receiving a complaint about Ecotricity.s claim that a turbine in Swaffham, Norfolk, could meet the needs of 3,000 people. The company denies inflating the figure by a third.

The prince wrote to one of Ecotricity's key opponents, Sigrid Rausing, 43, youngest daughter of Hans Rausing, the Tetra Pak billionaire.

In the letter, sent during his honeymoon last month, he says he shares her dislike of the impact of wind turbines on the landscape and her worries about the danger they pose to birds. However, he urges her to make an exception for Ecotricity because it is a 'fine company' and Vince is 'a good chap'.

The firm has spent £7m in the past year on wind farms.

The prince's efforts to persuade Rausing appear curious because he knows her socially and is aware that she is battling to protect her Highland estate from being overshadowed by a neighbour's proposal to build 36 turbines, each nearly 360ft tall. She fears they will kill the golden eagles she is attempting to restore to the estate.

It was claimed this weekend that Charles wrote at the prompting of the Soil Association, a charity of which he is patron. The association promotes organic farming and certifies the organic credentials of the prince's Duchy Originals brand of foods.

It was apparently worried that Rausing might withdraw her offer of a large donation in protest at a deal it has struck with Ecotricity whereby the company pays the charity £16 for every Soil Association member who signs up with Ecotricity. So far the deal has earned £16,000.

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, declined to comment on whether he had asked the prince to intervene. Clarence House declined to comment.

One source said: "Charles appears to have been put in a compromising position. He is using his personal influence at the behest of a charity to keep its finances straight."

Vince said he expected the ASA investigation to 'come to nothing', adding: "We are proud of what we do."

STOP PRESS!

6th July 2005

...and Dale was right. The complaint was dismissed. The ASA found in our favour and dismissed the complaint against us. We had said that single standard household consumption figure does not exist and figures in the industry vary. When calculating the number of homes powered by any of our wind turbines we use an average annual domestic consumption figure of 3300 kWh per household, firstly, because the average annual consumption of our domestic customers is close to 3300 kWh per household per year, and secondly, because it's the figure recommended by Energywatch and used by Ofgem. The Authority considered that the consumption figure was reasonable for advertisers to use, and it did not object.