Energy Saving News
Six Times More Businesses Affected By New Legislation
According to the Financial Times the UK government has underestimated by up to six times the number of businesses affected by the new CRC Energy Efficiency (Carbon Reduction Campaign) greenhouse gas emissions legislation, with the scheme due to start on April 1.
For more than a year government ministers stated that about 5,000 to 6,000 companies in the commercial sector will be affected by the new regulations, but the FT claims that as many as 30,000 could be involved.
This massive revision to the estimates will cause consternation among small to medium-sized businesses, thousands of which will be unaware of the restrictions they may now face.
The regulations cover companies whose electricity is metered by the half hour and whose total electricity consumption exceeded 6,000 megawatt-hours in 2008, requiring them to monitor and report their electricity use.
Between now and September, the Environment Agency will be working on establishing exactly how many businesses must be included.
Many companies, particularly smaller businesses, are often unaware of exactly how much electricity they use, if bills are paid at the branch level rather than centrally or maybe from several suppliers.
Retailers, banks, owners of large offices, and hotels are all covered by the scheme along with public sector organisations that may operate large estates of buildings, and hospitals, universities and some large schools will also qualify.
Once companies have calculated and submitted details of their energy use, the UK government will publish a league table ranking them based on their efficiency, with companies at the bottom being penalised, and the money raised will be redistributed to those at the top.
Friday 5th March 2010
