What you need to know about energy management in 2020
As we move towards the end of 2019 and look ahead to 2020, it’s important to know what’s on the horizon when it comes to energy management as it becomes an ever-bigger part of government policy and consumers become ever-more conscious of their environmental impact when it comes to who they’re willing to do business with.
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We’ve put together five key areas that it’ll be worth keeping an eye on to make sure you’re ahead of the curve when it comes to energy management.
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)
This has been a big talking point so far in 2019 and it will only continue into 2020 as reporting is required from April next year.
SECR is a new mandatory reporting framework introduced by the UK government. It replaces the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme which is due to end in 2019 and will also extend the scope of the existing Mandatory Carbon Reporting (MCR) regulations.
It will affect all UK incorporated quoted and large unquoted companies and limited liability partnerships, meaning many more companies will be affected compared to previous regulations.
According to the government, SECR is designed to reduce complexity and streamline the carbon and energy reporting landscape, while helping businesses increase productivity energy efficiency as part of the UK’s transition to becoming a low-carbon nation.
If your organisation falls into the above criteria you’ll need to make your energy use, carbon emissions and energy efficiency actions publicly available, meaning now is the time to make sure you truly understand your energy requirements and you have a plan in place to improve efficiency.
Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) Phase Two
Also in the field of legislation, Phase 2 of the ESOS compliance scheme has now begun and has a compliance deadline of December 2019.
Although part of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, it is also part of British law so won’t be affected by Brexit. Again applying to large organisations – defined as those that employ at least 250 people, or that employ fewer than 250 people but have an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euros and an annual balance sheet total in excess of 43 million euros – it has five steps to compliance:
- Appoint an ESOS lead assessor
- Calculate total energy consumption to determine which 90% (minimum) of the energy consumption requires an energy audit
- Conduct a comprehensive energy audit to identify cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities
- Review and get senior management sign off of the energy assessment findings
- Report your ESOS compliance and keep records.
Once again, understanding your energy use and ways to make it more efficient is at the heart of this legislation. By requiring senior management sign off, it also means that this will need to be discussed and understood at the highest level.
