Auditel Consultant:
Denis & Rhys Brennan

Carbon Reduction Commitment – It’s here!

11 Aug 2010 | Filed under: energy

This morning’s Daily Telegraph blazoned it across two columns

“Business facing a wave of green taxes
Thousands of British businesses will be liable for significant fines and charges under a new government “green tax” scheme.”

The story referred to the imminence of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme which may well be able to lay claim to the unenviable title of ‘least known government initiative” if we are to believe some of the content of the story. One consultancy “estimated that a total of 7,500 businesses would miss the deadline” this from a possible total number affected of some 19,000. You can read the whole story here.

But what is CRC and is your business affected?

The idea behind the scheme is to identify the major users of electricity and, by using a combination of chargeable permits and bonuses or rewards for a reduction in use, to force firms to reduce their carbon footprint. Only very significant users, those who spend perhaps more than £500,000 per annum on electricity will initially have to buy the permits but some 15,000 smaller organisations are required to register – namely any organisation that had a half-hourly electricity supply in December 2008. Failure to register by September 30th will result in a fine of £500. If your company falls into the group of large consumers, using more than 6,000 MWh (Megawatt hours) per annum, such failure will cost £5,000 plus £500 per day thereafter up to £45,000, perhaps worth 10% of the company’s electricity bill.

Registration is online via the Environment Agency’s website or you can ask Auditel to help you register.

Don’t delay, act today! Email Auditel now or call on 01554 770816.