Letter: Many in the dark on energy issues

RE: "ITALY'S new power brokers" (International, 3 October). It is not accurate to say "the costs of renewable energy have been falling rapidly".

If they had, the subsidies to the wind industry, such as the ROCs (Renewables Obligation Certificates) in the UK, would have been coming down. They haven't.

In fact, the energy produced by wind farms is very expensive, and that's why it is subsidised. In Spain this costs the government 4 billion a year, contributing to the country's disastrous financial situation. Generous subsidies are also being paid in other EU countries, and the town of Tocco is actually making money at the expense of every Italian taxpayer, before electricity consumers bear the brunt of these unsustainable costs.

Mark Duchamp, Pedreguer, Spain