The letter of complaint sent to the new administrators at Derril water, then their reply, then finally my response.

To Whom it may concern

I am writing as a member of Derril Water Solar Co-op to formally complain about your repeated failures to meet legal, regulatory, and co-operative obligations—especially around clear communication, sticking to project timelines, and keeping members properly informed. These shortcomings have cost members expected revenues from delayed power generation and exports, while causing real emotional distress through months of uncertainty about our investment returns and the project’s future. This is worsened by your early evasive replies to my direct questions, which dodged accountability by redefining “summer energisation” and avoiding firm dates.

Breaches in Project Timelines and Commissioning

Co-operatives must follow the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 (Sections 1 and 7), which requires democratic control, members sharing in economic benefits, and providing clear information and education. You’ve broken these rules directly through the project’s delays:

• June 2025 updates said mechanical works and meters were “completed” by week of 30 June, with cold commissioning “on track”—but 30 July revealed a failed pre-energisation test that closed the G99 grid compliance window, pushing everything to week of 4 August, with no explanation of causes or penalties on partners.
• Members weren’t told the impact on valuable summer peak generation revenues.
• 9 August reported incomplete G99 tests despite NGED engineers on site; 18 September then revealed MVS2 damage (a shipping container-sized unit) found late, causing a 20% export limit even after G100 tests passed on 10 September—the cap stayed due to this one faulty unit.
• “Leak discovered during access” suggests poor post-install checks; by 5 November, after manufacturer repairs (warranty intact, no extra co-op costs), you were still “waiting for Ethical Power to book G100 retest.”
• Full commissioning only hit in December—losing ~4 months of full output, directly hitting member savings under the fixed Virgin Money loan rules (6 months revenue buildup in Proceeds Account before distributions).

Your June reply citing volunteer status and full-time jobs excuses nothing—the law (s.7(2)) holds all officers equally accountable, regardless of pay. Courts reject “good faith volunteer” defences, prioritising member rights. Phrases like “diligent work,” “weekly RES calls,” or “holding partners accountable” fall flat without proof of penalties, liquidated damages (LDs), or escalations pushed at the time.
The AGM delay also breaks Section 30 (must hold within 6 months of 30 June 2025 year-end, so by 31 December) and Section 31 (21 days’ notice). Pushing to “early next year” due to PKF Francis Clark audit delays denies votes on accounts, Francis Clark’s auditor appointment (flagged for August 2025), and distributions—your job was to ensure timely accounts, not blame auditors.

Regulatory Breaches in Communications and Fair Treatment

As an FCA-regulated society under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, you must follow core FCA Principles (PRIN 2.1): Principle 7 (clear, fair, not misleading communications) and Principle 11 (co-operative, transparent relations). You’ve breached these and consumer duty rules (FG22/5):
• Updates like 16 July (“on track” for July milestones) contradicted later delays; no revenue forecasts despite sharing SCADA data snapshots from 5 November.
• “High volumes of queries,” “Ripple transition,” or “minor winter 20% cap impact” don’t excuse lack of upfront quantified harm warnings—FCA demands proactive steps to avoid foreseeable damage (PERG 22/1.1), not after-the-fact FAQs.
• Switching payments from monthly PPA bill credits to biannual Ethex bank transfers alters the original share offer without prior EGM approval or full FCA disclosure; claims the “FCA-approved relationship is unaffected” or “tax stays the same” dodge the need for member consent to big changes.

Statutory Breaches in Project Governance and Contracts

Directors of Derril Water Solar Limited (company no. 10196127) owe duties under Companies Act 2006 (ss.173-175): exercise care/skill, independent judgment, avoid conflicts. You’ve fallen short:
• No early reporting of contract breaches—e.g., “completed” 16 July works led to cascade delays without prompt liquidated damages claims against Ethical Power (only vaguely mentioned 17 December).
• Promising exports week of 28 July misled on returns (negligent misstatement risk), like early replies urging “patience” without answers.
• G99/G100 grid tests and Electricity Act 1989 processes should wrap in weeks post-construction, not months—“NGED window closed,” technical issues, or MVS transit damage aren’t excuses without proof of backup plans, parallel bookings, or insurance/mitigation. Even with warranty intact, board oversight clearly failed to catch/prevent these.

I request that you address the following:

• Corrective actions for AGM/audit delays.
• Timeline for payments, with revenue projections and delay quantifications.
• Disclosure of damages claims, Ethical Power/RES contracts, and G100 status.
• FCA notification on payment changes and communications.

I await a response from you.

Their response;

Thank you for your email. 

 

I can confirm that your comments have been acknowledged and passed on to our Board members. 

 

We will be updating members on completion of the solar farm and new member payment model as part of our upcoming Annual General Meeting. The accounts have now been finalised and we will be sending an invite out to members shortly. 

 

Thank you 

Ross

Derril Water Communications

My reply;

To whom it may concern

Thank you for your email of their response date, which merely acknowledges receipt of my formal complaint dated 18/02/2026.  

Regrettably, this constitutes a wholly inadequate, evasive, and unprofessional reply that engages with none of the substantive issues I meticulously detailed—deferring everything to the AGM without any justification.

Your response disappointingly sidesteps every specific point raised, offering no articulation whatsoever on:
• Corrective measures for the impermissibly delayed AGM and audit under Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 (ss.30-31), which denied members their statutory rights to vote on accounts, auditor appointments, and distributions.
• Timelines for member payments, including quantified revenue projections and calculations of lost summer peak generation revenues directly attributable to commissioning delays.
• Full disclosure of liquidated damages claims pursued (or not) against Ethical Power/RES, together with relevant contract excerpts and current G100 retest booking status.
• Confirmation of FCA notification regarding the unilateral and unauthorised alteration of the payment model—from monthly PPA bill credits to biannual Ethex bank transfers—without EGM approval or member consent.
Furthermore, no explanations have been proffered for the cascading project timeline failures, the contradictory communications breaching FCA PRIN 2.1 (Principles 7: clear/fair/not misleading; Principle 11: co-operative relations), directors’ breaches of care/skill/independent judgment duties under Companies Act 2006 (ss.173-175), or the tangible financial losses and emotional distress inflicted on members through prolonged uncertainty over investment returns.

Deferral to AGM constitutes a clear and serious breach of statutory and regulatory duties: Requiring individual operational complaints, disclosures, timelines, and breach explanations to be addressed only at an AGM directly contravenes:

• Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, s.7(2): The statutory duty of committee members to ensure members receive clear, timely information about the society’s affairs—not deferred to periodic meetings.
• FCA Principle 11 (PRIN 2.1.1R): Obligation to deal with regulators and clients (including members) in an open, co-operative, and transparent manner—formal complaints demand direct board-level responses, not AGM deferral.
• FCA Consumer Duty (FG22/5): Proactive avoidance of foreseeable harm through delayed revenues and uncertainty, requiring immediate remedial information—not postponed to collective meetings.
• DISP 1.4 (FCA Dispute Resolution Rules): Formal complaints must be investigated and substantively addressed by the firm within specified timelines—AGM deferral evades this entirely.

The AGM’s statutory remit is narrowly confined to annual accounts approval, officer elections, and high-level resolutions (Co-operative Act ss.30-31)—it provides no legal mechanism or requirement for resolving specific formal complaints such as this. Your deferral is therefore a deliberate evasion tactic that compounds existing governance failures.

Compounding these failures, your email omits the full name and job title of the individual responding, representing a serious lapse in the professional standards expected from a regulated co-operative society handling formal member complaints.

Mere “acknowledgement” without substantive engagement constitutes a further dereliction of your duties to members and a clear mishandling of this formal complaint process.

I formally require a comprehensive substantive response from a named officer with appropriate authority, addressing each point above with supporting documentary evidence, within 7 working days of this email.

For the avoidance of doubt, this correspondence is copied to complaints@fca.org.uk, the Financial Ombudsman Service (for record purposes), and retained in my personal files for potential escalation.

I await a response from you

Regards