ESOS Update

The “Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme” legislation of 2014, ESOS for short, is a mandatory scheme requiring reporting of an organisation’s total energy consumption on a four year cycle.

The qualification date for the first phase of the scheme was 31 December 2014 and the compliance reporting deadline date was 5 December 2015.

Energy consumed by buildings, transport and industrial processes must be considered.

The Regulations also demand the preparation of cost-effective, energy saving recommendations. There is no compulsion to implement these initiatives but the Government is optimistic that organisations will see the financial benefit of their implementation.

ESOS applies to large undertakings defined as follows:-
1) An undertaking which has 250 or more employees, or
2) An undertaking which has fewer than 250 employees, but has an annual turnover exceeding 50m Euros and a balance sheet exceeding 43m Euros.
3) Part of a corporate group which includes an undertaking which meets criteria 1) or 2) above.

In England the Environment Agency is responsible for managing the Scheme.

It should be noted that:-
1. Organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are required to comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 are exempt from the scheme.
2. Where organisations are covered by an accredited Energy Management System to ISO50001 then there will be partial or full exemptions.

The Environment Agency have advised that the first phase of ESOS had 6,800 participant organisations with many others claiming they are not captured by the legislation. The EA have issued 300 Enforcement notices and fines which can extend to £50,000 may follow!

The second phase of ESOS has now started with a compliance period of 6 December 2015 to 5 December 2019. The qualification date for the second phase of the scheme is 31 December 2018 and the report of annual energy consumption must include this date.

Participants do not need to wait until the end of the period as Energy Audits which form part of ESOS compliance can be scheduled on a planned basis from today leading to compliance reporting on 5 December 2019.

Early Energy Audits can avoid last minute ESOS stress and provide the opportunity to benefit from identified energy savings much earlier than otherwise!

Please follow the link for more information on ESOS:-
https://www.gov.uk/energy-savings-opportunity-scheme-esos#about-esos

Critical to compliance with ESOS is the appointment of an accredited Lead Assessor qualified to undertake ESOS Audits and prepare Evidence Packs.

As an experienced Energy Consultant Michael Carr was one of the first Lead Assessors to be accredited by the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers – CIBSE.

Contact Michael for a chat or to discuss how to achieve ESOS compliance for your organisation.