The clock's ticking on the Carbon Reduction Commitment CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, or Carbon Reduction Commitment as it used to be called, is a new piece of UK legislation to encourage medium to large public and private sector organisations to cut energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Starting in earnest in 2010, the scheme is likely to include any organisation that uses 6 GWhr of electricity in a year; that's the same as having 220 kettles on continuously.  This will include many factories, call centres, hospitals, prisons, large schools and office blocks with an electricity bill of around £500,000 per year or above.

Smaller organisations that use 3 GWhr to 6 GWhr won't have to comply with the scheme, but will still need to report their energy use.

Organisations that fall into the scheme will have to report their energy use to the same standard as their financial accounts and buy "carbon credits" to cover each tonne of carbon that they emit because of their activities.  Each organisation will have to name a director and two other people who will be responsible for complying with the new regulations.

Organisations already operating under a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) or the European Union Energy Trading Scheme (EUETS), will be exempt from the CRC scheme, but are expected to need to register anyway.

Please Contact Us for more information and a free fact sheet "CRC Basics" .