CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme - Potential for Penalty Fines

30th September saw the last official day when organisations, both commercial and public sector must register in the UK Government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC).

The Environment Agency have stated that not all the expected organisations have registered, there may be some unexpected fines being issued as all organisations that fail to comply with this requirement risk up to £45,000 in penalties.

The CRC is central to the UK’s strategy for improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The programme is designed to raise awareness especially at senior level to encourage changes in energy behaviour and infrastructure.

Organisations that use more than 6,000 MWh of electricity annually must register for Participant status. This requires them to provide detailed information on their energy use annually.

A second tier of registration is for organisations that have half-hourly electricity meters but whose consumption is less than the target annual MWh usage. Such organisations must register for the status of Information Declarer.

Based on the technical requirements it is unclear exactly how many organisations should be registering in each category, but with only about 3000 organisations registered as Participants, it is thought the shortfall could be as much as 2000 organisations.

The penalties are set out to be charge on a daily basis with an initial penalty of £5000 for unregistered Participants followed by £500 for each additional day. Organisations who fail to declare as Information Declarers will be penalised £500 for each meter that is not declared.

With so many organisations potentially failing to sign up for the CRC it may be several weeks before they are informed of their fine by the Environment Agency by which time they may have stacked up a significant, and unnecessary penalty charge.

It is recommended that action is taken by any organisation that meets the criteria stated above to verify that they have met their compliance requirements or to confirm their registration at the earliest possible time so as to avoid an increasing level of penalty fine.

Further information is available from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) at their website.

Dimension 85 specialises in Data Centre Energy Efficiency Management.  You can contact Dimension 85 on the Dimension 85 website.