Large businesses using more than 6,000 Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity annually have until 30 September to register for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, or face up to £45,000 in fines.
Launched by the Department of Energy and Climate Change in April, the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory energy efficiency scheme aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions of large public and private sector organisations (those using more than 6,000 Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year). Qualifying organisations must register as participants in the scheme and provide annual information on their energy use. Additionally, organisations with a half-hourly electricity meter have to register as an information declarer, confirming that they do not use enough energy to qualify for the scheme.
Participating organisations that miss the deadline for registration could face an initial fine of £5,000 and additional fines of £500 for each day they fail to register, to a maximum amount of £45,000. Those organisations that continue to fail to comply with the rules of the scheme would be named and would be included at the bottom of the CRC scheme annual league table detailing participant energy efficiency performance.
Organisations missing the deadline for registering as information declarers could face a fine of £500 for each half-hourly electricity meter they fail to declare.
Issuing a reminder for registration, Energy and Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, said:
“This new Coalition Government wants to boost energy efficiency in business because we know that saving energy saves money. The CRC will encourage significant savings through greater energy efficiency and importantly will make carbon a boardroom issue for many large organisations.
"My message to businesses today is to register now. I understand the original complexity of the scheme may have deterred some organisations and I want to hear suggestions as to how we can make the scheme simpler in the future.”
Scheme administrators, the Environment Agency, added that only 1,200 organisations have so far registered as participants, which is significantly short of the estimated 3,000 to 4,000 organisations required to register.
Similarly, around 4,500 organisations have registered as information declarers, whereas an estimated 15,000 are required to register. The Scheme comes into full effect next April.
See the Department for Energy and Climate Change website for further details on the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/crc/crc.aspx
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