CRC deadline – only five weeks to go!

03.09.2010

The Environment Agency (EA) has expressed satisfaction this week after releasing figures showing that almost half the businesses and public sector bodies eligible for the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme have now registered.

The figures provided by the EA show that 1,698 organisations have registered as participants in the CRC scheme, representing more than half the electricity consumption expected to be covered by the CRC energy-efficiency scheme. With just five weeks to go until the 30 September deadline for organisations to register for the CRC scheme, large numbers of businesses and public sector bodies could miss the deadline.

Organisations using more than 6,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year must register as participants in the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme and provide annual information on their energy use. Meanwhile, any organisation with a half-hourly electricity meter has to register as an information declarer, confirming they do not use enough energy to fully qualify for the CRC scheme.

Despite warnings from green business consultancy WSP Environment and Energy saying that up to 7,000 organisations were likely to miss the deadline, the EA signalled this week that with between 3,000 and 4,000 organisations expected to register as full participants in the CRC scheme the vast majority are on track to meet the deadline.

The Environment Agency also undertook a survey recently of prospective participants in the CRC scheme and found that 93% of respondents were aware of the deadline and the need to register. The survey of 500 organisations found that 94% of public sector bodies had heard about the CRC scheme, while in the private sector 92% of Participants and 86% of Information Declarers were aware of the CRC scheme. These are very optimistic figures following several reports saying that the registration for the UK’s CRC Energy Efficiency scheme legislation was progressing very slowly and there was still a long way to go to reach the predicted 20,000 marks.

As previously reported by Envido, participating organisations that miss the 30 September deadline for registration for the CRC scheme face an initial fine of £5,000 and additional fines of £500 for each day they fail to register up to a maximum of penalty £45,000. Equally, those organisations that miss the deadline for registering as information declarers face a fine of £500 for each half-hourly electricity meter they fail to declare. For this reason, the EA is urging organisations to complete their registration documents as quickly as possible and has set up a helpline and advisory service to help them comply with the rules.

Above all else, officials have indicated that they would be reluctant to fine organisations that make a genuine effort to meet the deadline, but are unable to provide all the information required under the CRC scheme by the end of the month.

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